Bird In A Huff

I had a sneaky digital scribble this evening, looking at Richard the Bird through the bars of his cage as he glared malevolently back at me with his yellow beady eye. He was having a hissy fit because I gave him a fresh raspberry, foraged at the local supermarket, but he wanted Husb, the parrotContinue reading “Bird In A Huff”

Bird Proof

Richard the Bird, Senegal parrot, is still holidaying with us, so we’ve been looking at parrot websites to make sure we know what we’re doing. The birds need to come out of their cage every day for exercise. This means that I have to take protective measures since the biting incident a few days ago.Continue reading “Bird Proof”

Teeny Tiny Rugby Fan

I scribbled this from a photo I took of our houseguest parrot, Richard The Bird and Husb at the weekend as they were watching the Wales v Ireland rugby international match together. Richard settled happily on Husb’s shoulder, watching intently and fluffing his feathers and shrieking every time Husb shouted or cheered at the game.Continue reading “Teeny Tiny Rugby Fan”

Pirate Parrot

Husb and I have been looking after a relative’s Senegal parrot for a couple of weeks. His name is Richard The Bird. He’s definitely a man’s man. He mostly ignores me and sits happily on Husb’s shoulder like a proper pirate parrot. But today for some reason he flew onto me. I was okay withContinue reading “Pirate Parrot”

Distortion

I’m doing some drawings from digital photos I took on Swansea Beach recently, to practice drawing detail and movement. Trouble is, when I downloaded the photos onto the computer and made them large enough to draw from, they have a lot of distortion. It’s not a problem, it just looks a bit fuzzy and thereContinue reading “Distortion”

Waiting For Mam

I spent a happy hour puppy sitting the adorable gallery puppies at Galerie Simpson this afternoon. They are two sweet black Patterdale Terriers and when their Mam popped out, they patiently waited for her – before falling asleep. So cute. And very scribblable! I never miss an opportunity for a scribble. It’s interesting drawing differentContinue reading “Waiting For Mam”

Eadweard’s Horses

I rarely work from photographs but I took a series of photos on the beach yesterday and I’m going to use them for sketching for a few days. Drawing directly from life is energising, forces me to focus only on what’s absolutely important in the subject and is good practice but doesn’t give me theContinue reading “Eadweard’s Horses”

Richard The Bird’s Holiday

Richard, our family parrot, has come to stay for a couple of weeks while his trained monkeys are on holiday. He’s fair game for a scribble, but he’s such a fidget and won’t keep still. I tried him with a Koh I Noor graphite pencil in 8B first, then went back to my comfort zone,Continue reading “Richard The Bird’s Holiday”

Way Too Cute!

I took my teenage niece with me to do a spot of puppy-sitting yesterday and I also took a drawing board, some beautiful vintage paper – Saunders from the Wooky Hole paper mill in Somerset – and charcoal, compressed and willow. I intended to do some portrait drawing of my niece, but I reckoned withoutContinue reading “Way Too Cute!”

Beach Dog

On the beach. A dog. And its trained monkeys. This afternoon, in glorious Spring weather, walking with Husb and little nephew along the promenade in Swansea Bay. It was beautiful and sunny and I snapped this little group at the water’s edge and scribbled from the drawing this evening with graphite into my A5 TateContinue reading “Beach Dog”