Mother's Day Hawk Walk

As expected, I haven't had any time for paintbrushes so far this week - and its looking highly unlikely that there will be any painting for the next few days... :(  So instead, I thought I'd share my Mother's Day treat with you...a Hawk Walk with my daughter. We had a lovely time with Lon, the Falconer and Caffrey, the Harris Hawk as we wandered the lanes and fields on Sunday morning. It was a crisp, bright morning but heavy grey clouds were looming in the distance - but luckily for us, the sun shone!! Caffrey is a very experienced Hawk but has been out of action for a while, so this was his 2nd trip out on a hawk walk, in the early stages of him returning to full fitness. What a star he was! The following photos show some highlights of our walk...from my point of view as both proud Mum and excited Trainee Falconer!

Ready to 'rock & roll'..!

...and off we go!

Caffrey coming in to land on my glove...

just look at those talons!!!

 

Big smiles!

Caffrey took a detour into the hedge...perhaps he saw a vole???

homeward bound.

I hope these photos give you some idea of just how 'up close and personal' we can be with these stunning birds. As usual, I have bucket loads of inspiration for more paintings from this experience...it happens every time I see them! Just watch this space to see what i paint next...I'm pretty sure there will be a Harris Hawk or two...!

Mandi ;)

Daffodils...lots of them!

Another busy week, and we're only half way through! 

I had a fantastic weekend at the Falconry Centre, the highlight for me was flying Sam, the Harris Hawk, twice on my own (under the watchful eye of Lon). I had LOTS of practice using the one-handed falconry knot, and enjoyed plenty of close encounters with the birds during cleaning & feeding! We had some very keen visitors in the Owl Encounter, and thankfully most of the owls were on their best behaviour..all bar Woolley who, being in mid breeding season was intent on luring us to his 'nest' so we could lay him an egg! He wasn't interested in flying, so he went back to his aviary and his fellow friends were brought out to entertain the visitors instead. A big thumbs up to George, Elvis, Ulu & Irwin who all flew beautifully!

Back in the real world... lots of photo editing has had to be done and today I had the pleasure of returning to my daughter's school to work with the year 5 children...drawing and painting daffodils! Once again, these 9 and 10 year olds did extremely well, and this time I remembered to take some photographs of their work. We began by making observational drawings in sketch books, moving on to a coloured drawing using water-colour pencils on water colour paper, which we blended with a damp paint brush to soften the shading.

A selection of water colour pencil paintings by 9 & 10 year olds...Impressive!

A few more works of art from year 5...WOW!!

This is a series of demonstration sketches I drew for the children to illustrate the 'crazy shapes' made by the petals and how to blend the watercolour pencils with a damp paintbrush.

I managed to squeeze one quick painting for myself in this week..a Tawny Owl. If I'm honest, I'm not really happy with this painting - probably because I used water colours on a slightly light weight paper. I'm used to using really heavy 300lbs/640gsm water colour paper, now I'm used to that, nothing else compares!! On the really heavy paper, the paint reacts much better - for some reason it is easier to manipulate - I suggest, if this interests you - try it! My favourite at the moment is Saunders Waterford 640gsm. you can get Rough, HP (smooth) or NOT (medium)

Tawny Owl Detail: The warm and friendly eyes of a Tawny Owl...so cute

The 'un'-finished painting...I think it needs some more work, but that was all I had time for this week!

Well, that's me done until next week..I'm of to the Big Smoke tomorrow (London) with my hubby for some well deserved R&R - I'll be back in time for some Falconry on Saturday!!!

Mandi ;)

Expressions of an Eagle...

What a week...! Firstly, I have to announce my mega exciting news that I am now 'Trainee Falconer' at Puxton Falconry Centre, with Gary, Claire and Lon!!! I'm so excited - not only do I photograph and paint these stunning birds of prey, but now I get to learn all about them, how to handle them and care for them! There is SO much to learn... I've had a lot of animals in my time, including dogs, cats, horses, cows, pigs, chickens, sheep...this is a whole new ball game.

I'll still be doing all my Art and Photography - Falconry will take up 2 days each week which leaves plenty of time for everything else! Meeting these birds 2 years ago is what initially inspired me to pick up a paintbrush, so it feels perfect that they are becoming part of my life. It would be hard to choose between painting, photography and the birds... Fortunately, for now, I don't have to choose, and they all feed into each other.

This week has been busy with both photography and art. As well as a school photo shoot and lots of editing, I spent an afternoon at school with my daughter's class experimenting with water colour pencils. To my delight (NOT!!) we sketched daffodils. (My Mum said to think of them as yellow birds with green legs!!) The children worked in their sketch books to capture the curly shapes of the petals and trumpets, then worked directly on to watercolour paper using the pencils, finally blending the colours with a damp brush. The children created some beautiful paintings! I wish I'd taken some photos - I'll try to remember when I go back next week, so I can show you.

I managed to steal a couple of hours this morning to work on some head studies of Alfonzo, THE most handsome Chilean Blue Eagle! He is a real character, and as I was getting to know him (or allowing him to get used to me!) last weekend, his expressions and quirky head positions caught my attention...
I played with these studies and used different mediums - Acrylic, watercolour then water colour pencils. I did this purely for practice. I enjoyed the watercolour most, and have yet to blend the pencil drawings with water. I'm hoping this will make them look less 'sketchy'.

Alf, Head Studies in Acrylic

Alf, Head Studies in Watercolour

Alf, Head Studies in watercolour pencil (not blended)

Off to catch some Zzzzzzz's now, ready for a day with the birds tomorrow!!!
Mandi ;)

Paintings, paintings, paintings!!!

My 'drawing day' last week really paid off (despite my grumpiness at missing a great day's wildlife spotting...) Having a great batch of drawings to develop into paintings has been very productive! I've had a good week and made time to paint A LOT this week...so I've got plenty to show you! My brushes have been focused on 'cute, fluffy owls'...possibly because I spent a lot of time at the weekend with the birds themselves! I know I'm obsessed with Eagles and Buzzards, but there's just something so adorable about owls.
(An amusing comment from Lon, the Falconer, I'd like to share with you..."Despite our assumptions that Owls are clever and 'Wise', we are assuming incorrectly: Owls eyes are so big in their skulls, there is very little room for much brain - owls are in fact a bit daft!! They are creatures of habit, therefore easy to train - until they hit breeding season when nature and hormones take over!" ....you learn something new every day!)

So now, some paintings...I began with a couple of drawings, using water colour pencils, just as practice to get my eye in. The subject is a very rare black (mellanistic) barn owl called Eve.













I have since blended these with water which has improved the intensity slightly, but I prefer the following watercolours...

Eve, Black Barn Owl, Watercolour.

Eve, Black Barn Owl 2, Watercolour.

I was on a roll, so also painted 'Irwin' - a very cute Boobok Owl
native to Australia.









Really enjoying the freedom of watercolour, I had another go at a Eurasian Eagle owl....

I love the intensity of his stare!

 Having indulged in a fair few owls, I couldn't resist the temptation to paint Alfonzo, my favourite Eagle...he's a Chilean Blue Eagle Buzzard and I love him! The paper I used for this drawing wasn't suitable for watercolours, so I grabbed the acrylics and accompanying brush set, and escaped into my eagle dreamland!... I always start a new bird with the eye and beak, then work my way down the rest of the body...I got this far and thought 'I've got it - that's him!'

Detail: Alfonzo, Acrylic

I didn't stop here though, I carried on, and although I initially thought I'd 'finished' the painting, I now know I need to do a bit more to the background.

Alfonzo, Acrylic.

I'm feeling a few head detail paintings might well be next on my 'to do' list!

To finish my painting this week, I did 4 small watercolours of owls. I purposely decreased the scale to see if I could keep the freedom within a small image - its much easier to work loosely on a large painting! See what you think...

Grace, Spectacled Owl, Water Colour

George, Barn Owl, Water Colour

George 2, Barn Owl, Water Colour

Irwin, Boobok Owl, Water Colour

That brings me to the end of my Art Week and takes us into March...only 4 months left to complete a whole body of 'exhibition worthy' artwork!! I'm looking forward to a weekend with my feathered friends - I'm sure this will provide more than enough inspiration for some new paintings!

Mandi ;)

Long time, no blog... but I'm back!

Its been a long couple of weeks, including the half term break - lots has happened, and thankfully, quite a bit of drawing and painting has been done too!

The first set of paintings I played with were all of the same bird - The Gyrlin. I drew the bird 3 times - firstly onto a canvas which already had a background in place. Now with the bird in position, I will be able to develop the whole image further, by accentuating the bird in the foreground and knocking back the background to make it hazy in the distance.

Gyrlin over sand dunes - Acrylic

Secondly, I re-drew the same image and painted it again, in acrylic paint on paper. I was interested to see how different the result would be on a different surface. 

Gyrlin 2 Acrylic

To push this experiment further still, I drew the same bird again - this time onto thick water colour paper. What has surprised me the most, is  that using different mediums on a variety of surfaces, the birds have come out almost identical! In all 3 paintings, it is just the first layer and they all need developing (however, the latter 2 might just stay as they are!) I enjoyed painting the same image over again - each time, I became more familiar with the shape and form of the bird...after all, it is the beautiful shape made by the wings in flight that inspired me to paint this in the first place!

Gyrlin 3 - Watercolour

Yesterday, I was in the mood to draw an owl. This European Eagle Owl is resident at the Screech Owl Sanctuary in Cornwall. I've discovered that I really enjoy the flow and 'looseness' of watercolour for painting owls...I start with the eye and the beak which I like to be accurate and precise, then move on to the fluffy feathers using much free-er brush strokes.

Eagle Owl - Watercolour

Happy with my owl, I just had to have another go at Rogue, the Gyrlin. She is such a stunning bird, especially in flight, I love the shapes and angles her body contorts into as she powers through the air, twisting and turning on a sixpence!

Gyrlin, watercolour.

Today's venture into the paint box took me back to the owls... Here we have two British species, the Tawny Owl and the Barn Owl...both SO cute, you could snuggle up for a cuddle!! The Tawny owl is painted in watercolour, the Barn Owl in Acrylic. (Choice of paint medium at this point in time is based on the paper I used for the drawing...that's purely down to what I have available in my folder. As I get more accustomed to the behaviour of each medium, I am starting to make a more informed choice of paper when I do my initial drawings!) I think this time last year, the thought of painting birds in watercolour would have terrified me...now I'm preferring watercolour to acrylic.

Barn Owl, Acrylic

Tawny Owl, Watercolour

So, there you have it, my efforts for the past couple of weeks. Considering how much has been going on, I'm amazed how much I managed to squeeze in. Ooh, just remembered...I spent a whole day drawing last week, so I have the luxury of a whole batch of images ready to paint as and when time permits!!!! A nice mixture of bird portraits (buzzards, hawks and owls) and of course flying hawks and even a pair of fighting starlings! Watch this space...!
Mandi ; )

Paintbrushes, brushing paint...just as they should!

Woohoooo! Paint brushes ready and waiting; Artist ready to paint!!!

This week I've started a new painting of another bird of prey - this one is a 'Gyrlin' which is a hybrid cross between a Gyr Falcon and a Merlin. I was attracted to the beautiful shapes this bird made in flight...probably not clearly visible to the human eye, but using my camera, I managed to freeze the action. This bird is pretty much black and white, so I'll have to think about how I'm going to paint the background. Do I keep the whole painting monochrome or should I splash some vibrant or subtle colour in??? Time will tell... Looking at the image here, it looks like a graphite drawing, but in actual fact, I've used acrylic paint on cream coloured paper. I like to work on different surfaces to see how each one feels. This paper was very absorbent, and sucked the paint in thirstily.

Gyrlin - Acrylic on Paper

As well as the Gyrlin, I've re-worked my most recent sunset, which will be a background for Starling Murmurations. Its getting nearer to how I want it to look but still needs some tweaking. This painting is Acrylic on Canvas - this surface is much more forgiving when using acrylics as it is shiny and allows the paint to be manipulated much more then the absorbent paper.

Sunset Reflection - Acrylic on Canvas

I'm approaching the 'finishing line' on my Sparrowhawk painting...This is probably the 4th or 5th layer now, and its coming together nicely. Today, I accentuated the shading & tones of the wing feathers. I'm at the point now where I'll prop it up and 'look at it' for a few days to see if any necessary adjustments jump out at me...it might be finished, it might not... Initially, it was the sharpness of this bird's eye that grabbed me about this picture - I need to make sure that is what shows in my painting. Here it is...

Sparrowhawk - Acrylic on Canvas Board

 I've also been working on the two Starling portraits. The birds themselves, I'm happy with - its the backgrounds that needed attention...and still do! They're much better now, but both still need developing...

Starling. Acrylic on Canvas

Punk Starling - Acrylic on Canvas Board

As well as all this painting, I've managed to get out and about with my camera this week...and as usual, some unexpected snapshots have presented me with inspiration for new paintings...I've been 'playing' with some photos in the computer and as a taster of what could become a painting, here's something I concocted earlier...Enjoy!

Compostie photograph...starlings heading to roost.

Mandi ;)

Wild with a camera...I love where I live!

Sadly, not much painting to report this week, but on a happier note, I've managed a few trips out into the countryside with my camera. This week's highlight has to be my most recent visit to Ham Wall in the Somerset Levels to  once again witness the natural spectacle that is the Starling Murmurations. This time, being February, the light was much better than early January, and although biting cold, the sky was a beautiful peachy, pinky, purply colour. I was lucky this time to hear the talk given by the RSPB guide, so I came away with a better understanding of why the Starlings behave in this way. We also saw a Marsh Harrier scouring the reed beds for prey as we waited for the starlings to appear out of the distance.

At first they seem like  feint clouds in the far distant sky...then you realise its not a cloud, but a mass of starlings. More and more 'clouds' appear from all directions, and as they fly closer, it becomes clearer that what you are looking at is a massive 'swarm' of birds. These 'clouds' merge together over about 15 minutes and then they begin to gather and swirl, making patterns in the sky as they decide exactly which spot they want to choose for their night time roost site. It is such a breathtaking sight... Here are some photos - some of my favourite so far!

Marsh Harrier over golden reed beds  (centre of pic about 1/3 way down)

Starling murmurations (dark cloudy shadows at the foot of the hills just above the trees)

Murmurations in front of Glastonbury Tor

Starlings in action...!

WOW!! My favourite shot!

Starling Murmurations from Ham Wall.

Its difficult to top a trip like this, but with an hour to fill this afternoon, I coaxed my hubby away from his laptop and we went for a wander along Clevedon's Sea Wall...it was beautiful! This is what we saw..

Clevedon Sea Front

Clevedon Sea Front - looking towards Weston

So, the paint brushes have had a few days off this week, the camera has been working overtime...it all builds on inspiration for new paintings...its all good and its reinforced in my mind that I love where I live!
Mandi ;)