30 Artists Magazine May 2019
Build DRAWING BOARD
- USE THE FREEZE-FRAME METHOD.
This is a good technique for drawing birds in motion (or those that
are just a little restless). Here’s how it works: Wait for the bird to
strike a pose, and then “snap” a mental picture by shutting your
eyes tight to “fix” the pose in your head. Open your eyes and stare
at the paper. With a little practice, the bird’s “ghost image” will
float for a second or two. Draw it before it dissolves. Then, look
at the bird again. Does it have pointed tips on its tail? Streaks on
its breast? Is there a pattern on its face? Keep looking, and draw
things as you notice them. I like to write color and behavior notes
on the side of the drawing.- USE THE BLIND
CONTOUR METHOD.
The main requirements here are practice,
trust and a sense of humor. Here’s how it
works: Look straight at the bird with your
pencil positioned on the paper. Don’t take
your eyes off the bird as you draw. After a
few moments, check the paper to see what
you’ve drawn. Resume looking at the bird,
adding further lines to the drawing. Results
may be a little unpredictable, but you can
catch a lot of character and life using this
method. Plus, it’s a hoot (pun intended),
no matter what you get.Freeze-framing is useful when birds are moving around. Here I freeze-framed each bird
in my mind’s eye. For a few seconds, I could see the image hazily as I drew, and then
added more lines with each subsequent look. The sketches above show a mixed
foraging fl ock drawn in the Peruvian Amazon.Keep your eye on the bird as you move your pencil across
the paper. The advantage here is that you don’t lose sight
of the bird. After the fi rst lines, keep adding to the picture
until the bird fl ies away or strikes a new pose. I drew this
crested guan and broad-billed motmot in Panama.