Bird drawings and paintings

Drakes

2012-01-30T11:25:00.000-08:00

I am still working on id-illustrations, and this one is showing "black and white" drakes that can be found along the Norwegian coast. I haven't gone into great detail, since it's proably going to be published in a much smaller version. Temeratures are falling now, and any thoughts of outdoor sketching have disappeared. I was considering a trip to Hvaler, where a long staying Great Grey Owl has been showing well, but I have still not found outdoor drawing in temperatures below zero to be anything but sheer pain, so I'll wait for a while before I give it a shot.

Less painful is the fact that I'll go to Southern Spain in the end of March. Among other hotspots, I'll be visiting Gibraltar when the spring migration of several raptors are usually peaking. Needless to say, I'm quite looking forward to it...

Finally, my own studio...

2012-01-14T13:24:00.000-08:00

A happy new year to all of you! I have had a long break from any painting or drawing - I've hardly held a pencil since October, partly because we've done some interior work in our flat in Oslo. This has resulted in a room that has been made in to an office for me and my wife, which means that I have somewhere to paint where I can just leave everything on the table, and then easily return to it later. I have really been looking forward to having my own place, and now it's there. During this time, I haven't even taken the time to comment on the work of my fellow bloggers, but I've looked in, and enjoyed all the new posts.

The first sketch in my new working place is of a Desert Wheatear. Me and Kjell Mjølsnes found this bird on the coast of Jæren in November 2005, a nice reward after endless hours of walking along the shorelines. The small thrushes are definately among my favourites.

Linocut

2011-11-23T12:54:00.000-08:00

We have been engaging in art activities at work lately, and this has given me the chance to explore new techniques. Linoleum was a real treat! I've tried it once before, around ten years ago, but I had forgotten how much fun it is. The process is obviously totally different from working with watercolours, even though both techniques involve some drawing. The advantage, of course, is that once you "nail" one, you can start the mass production, and even experiment with colours. I was quite inspired by the graphic work of my fellow blogger Jose Sencianes Ortega - well worth checking out, if you haven't allready.

Anyway, it's Christmas before you know it, and then spring is right around the corner. I can hardly wait!

By the way, the house is Vestgården at Hvasser - a beautiful island two hours south of Oslo.

Herring Gull 2

2011-10-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

I couldn't restist putting some colour on the Herring Gull sketch. I have to admit - I am so attracted to the rugged shorelines, and painting motives like this somehow takes me back. The large gulls are great models - they've got attitude, and they aren't easily scared. I might seek out a few of them at locations here in Oslo as well over the next weeks.

Herring Gull

2011-10-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

This might well be my last field sketch of 2011. I managed a short trip to Mølen this weekend, and the weather allowed me to sit for a short while to do some sketches. I moved on when I became so cold that the pencil started shaking a bit. An adult Herring Gull landed not to far away, and I made a quick drawing, mostly focused on nailing the shape of the head and the bill, and giving it the right "look". I find that adult Herring Gulls in winter has a rather fierce look, with their penetrating white eyes surronded by dark feathers. The variation is tremendous in these birds, there where to individuals quite close to me, one almost white in the head, and the other with well marked streaking all the way down to the chest. They were both adult argentatus.

It was otherwise a quiet day, with a few Little Auks, Razorbills and Red-throated Divers on the water. Little migration, apart from the odd Bullfinches and Blue Tits.

Dead Eider

2011-10-12T10:33:00.000-07:00

Today's entry is a bit gloomy, but birds do die every now and then, and dead birds are really useful motives. I find that one of the challenges is to refrain from focusing to much on all the details that appear on a bird that is right in front of you. The Eider in the picture was washed ashore on a beach near Stavanger, and the cause of death remained unknown. It is surely one of the most handsome ducks around.

Commissioned work

2011-10-02T04:43:00.000-07:00

For the next year (or more) I will be working allmost exclusively with illustrations for a new book. The emphasis will be on identification, I'll share more details along the way. Right now, I'm working with Cormorants/Shags, and the painting in this post shows some of the species along the coast of Norway that someone without experience might confuse them with, especially in backlight. The birds are Black-throated Diver (first winter), Barnacle Goose, Great Northern Diver (adult starting to moult into winter plumage) and Cormorant (first winter).

Also, I went to Sula last weekend. This is an island located far west in the the county Sør-Trøndelag. Many rarities has been found here in September-October in recent years, among them Norway's first Orphean Warbler. We only found around four Yellow-browed Warblers, but had a nice stay on a beautiful island. Sula is probably best known for birds, but it also held a seemingly massive population of Hedgehogs (introduced, of course), and quite a few Otters (I had never seen this species in the wild before).

Birding World

2011-09-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

I've had a few illustrations published in the British magazine Birding World. This is actually quite a treat for me, I've thought that this might be a long term goal since I started using watercolours around five years ago. Actually, Bjørn Olav Tveit gave me the opportunity when he wanted me to illustrate his article on Asian Red-rumped Swallows. The article is very well written, and tries to shed some light on the different subspecies of Red-rumped Swallows, an issue that has become relevant in Northern Europe since Asian subspecies has been observed in both Norway and England in recent years.

It is a very complex field, with only marginal differences between the subspecies. On the other hand, a few of them stand out enough to raise the issue of whether a split should be considered.

Illustrating them was a challenge, because I have seen only rufula live myself, and had to draw the other ones based on pictures and Bjørn Olavs comments. A good learning experience, though!

The subspecies in the top picture are rufula (top), erythropygia (middle) and nipalensis (bottom). The other picture shows daurica (top) and japonica/striolata-mayri (bottom).

Lesvos

2011-08-22T13:58:00.000-07:00

What do you do when your wife goes to Lesvos for a week, to attend a course for PhD-students? You grab your binoculars and join her, of course. Lesvos in august is HOT, but during a week-long stay, I still managed to spend quite a few hours in the open. Sketching in 35 degrees is not easy - I found that there were usually no shadow available where most of the birds were, and sketching with watercolours was hopeless, since the paint dried out almost before I could put it on paper. I had a wonderful time, though, and got to study a lot of species that I'm not too familiar with. One of the highlights for me was the abundance of shrikes, with four species present. I also enjoyed good views of for instance Orphean Warbler and Middle Spotted Woodpecker - species I had never before seen. I'll draw them some other time.
The sketches in this post are of Little Ringed Plover and Woodchat Shrikes. The 1K Woodchat Shrikes varied a lot in coloration and plumage, from deeply red-brown to almost grey individuals.

Migration

2011-08-06T16:40:00.000-07:00

For most people, I guess it's still summer. For birdwatchers, at least here in the north, autumn arrived a month ago, when the first waders started their migration. Now, Tree Pipits and Willow Warblers are on their way, and thrushes and starlings are allready gathering in restless groups around our flat in Oslo. One of my highlights during the autumn migration has always been to sit along the coast in strong winds and watch shore- and seabirds passing by. The Great Black-backed gulls are always powerful birds to watch, not at least when they're navigating effortlessly through gale force winds along the coast of Jæren.

The King of Varanger

2011-07-19T02:12:00.000-07:00

Earlier this summer, I went on a weekend trip to Finnmark, in the far north of Norway, together with a friend, Bjørn Olav Tveit (the author of an excellent new guide to all the best birding sites in Norway - a must for all birders travelling in Norway: A Birdwatchers Guide to Norway)

The Sea Eagle in this watercolour was one of many that was resting on the shore of Varangerfjorden. This would have been a more exotic experience for a southerner twenty years ago, when the spescies was still considered quite a rarity in the south of Norway. These days, however, the Sea Eagle has colonized the whole coastline, all the way to the Oslo Fjord.

They are still magnificent birds, though, and a real challenge to paint. The plumage of a young bird is rather "messy", with a lot of variation in colour, and with less defined rows of coverts than you find in smaller birds. The feathers seem a bit out of order, in a way. The portrait of the bird is also essential - I always find it challenging to give birds like this the rigth look!

The way I "build" a painting like this is still much more influenced by intuition than of a certain technique.

Gotland

2011-07-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

So I finally managed to visit Gotland, a place that's been on my list for years. I went with my wife, and we had a really good time. The landscape was fantastic, and the shoreline gave lots of opportunities to study birds. Of course, we also visited Lars Jonssons museum, and actually met the artist himself. I grew up reading his books to pieces - walking around (and sketching) in the area where he has made much of his work was really special.

Anyway - these are some of the sketches I made. They are all made while watching the birds. I am a birdwatcher more than an artist, and the mere exitement of seeing birds like Caspian Terns up close made them hard to sketch! Other good birds for a Norwegian were Little Terns, Avocets, good numbers of splendid Curlew Sandpipers, and a Greenish Warbler that showed really well.

I'll be going back to both Öland and Gotland - they are clearly among the best birding sites in Europe.
By the way, the birds are adult Common Gull, Caspian Tern, juvenile Black-headed Gull, Shelduck and Arctic Tern.

No weather for sketching

2011-05-24T13:40:00.000-07:00

I am currently experiencing the frustration of being right in the middle of the best birding area in Norway, with truly horrible weather conditions. This morning, the wind picked up to more than 15 meters pr. second, and heavy rain made sure that we spent the day indoors. With nothing to sketch outside, I worked with this backlit Spotted Redshank for a while - a motive I've tried before. Hopefully, the weather will calm down in a day or two.

Portraits

2011-05-15T11:17:00.000-07:00

Inspired by my Spanish blog-comrades, I have made a few pencil sketches tonight. The Cormorants make for powerful portraits, with their hooked bills and penetrating eyes. The shape of the whole bird is so special that it's almost hard to stop at the chest.

The male Pied Flycatcher has finally returned to our backyard - hopefully he'll have better luck with the ladies than last year.

Baird's Sandpiper

2011-05-10T13:40:00.000-07:00

Last October, I went on a trip back home to the Stavanger area. During my visit, a Baird's Sandpiper was found just a few kilometers away from where me and a friend was birding. We drove ten minutes, and had a look at the little wader - only the fourth recording in Norway, as far as I can remember, and the first one to be found in South Norway.

At the time, most of the Norwegian twitching community were stuck on the small island of Utsira. Getting to the sandpiper the conventional way (boat and car) would have taken a day or so, so they rented a helicopter. Apparently, it had to do several turns. The sandpiper stayed at the same spot for more than two weeks...

Cormorant

2011-05-05T12:49:00.000-07:00

Tonight's sketch is of a Great Cormorant drying it's wings. I saw a lot of this during easter, but didn't get around to do any sketches in the open. This one is from a photograph, but I tried to do it as quickly as I would have had to with a live bird. The adult Cormorant's feathers are almost always reflecting light.

Finally outdoors again...

2011-04-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a brilliant easter vacation! We stayed in the observatory at Mølen, and the weather was unlike anything I've experienced in April before. The warmest day saw temperatures of close to 20 celsius. A high pressure like this is not at all ideal for watching birds at Mølen, with almost no visual migration during the day, but with a bit of an effort, I still managed to welcome returning "Africans", like Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Yellow Wagtail, Wryneck, Tree Pipit and others. A nice little rarity also popped up, while I was drinking my coffee on the porch of the cabin: A beautiful Serin suddenly started singing from a tree a 150 meters to the north-east. It sat long enough for me to take a few crap shots through the telescope. It was my first encounter with this stunning little bird in Norway.

I managed to do some painting outdoors again, one of the sketches is shown above.

Crows

2011-03-15T00:46:00.000-07:00

Crow birds are among those that we can enjoy all through winter in Norway. Not everyone enjoy them, though - especially the Carrion Crow is more and more considered to be a pest, and hunted in larger numbers. The Rook is quite rare in Norway, with a breeding population of probably less than a thousand pairs. They don't feed on dead animals as frequently as some of their relatives, but it does occur, as far as I know.

I also wrapped up an unfinished sketch of a winchat tonight. In this I have tried to experiment a little with gouache colours, and I must say that I find it challenging! The colours don't only change going from wet to dry, once dry they also pick up the colour that lies underneath...

rufula vs daurica

2011-03-02T10:07:00.000-08:00

A while ago, I made this illustration for an article on the differences in several subspecies of the Red-rumped swallow. In recent years, both the daurica and japonica subspecies has been observed in Norway. The two subspecies have an eastern origin, and the most striking difference from the European rufula is the heavily striped underparts, and the amount of red in the rump. The article has not yet been published, but probably will be in the near future. The birds in the illustration are daurica (top) and rufula (bottom).

More of the same

2011-02-21T14:05:00.000-08:00

I've made another quick sketch tonight, this time of a rook. I've mixed the black with quite a lot of crimson red for the general colour of the bird. The glossy parts in the head is the same red mixed with a little purple and titanium white. I think I'm closer with this than I was with the raven.

For those of you that paint - feel free to share experiences and frustrations (like Francisco).

Different shades of black

2011-02-20T13:38:00.000-08:00

I am going to work more with ID-illustrations in the future, and I need to experiment with colours. The Raven in this watercolour is really just a sketch, shown in 1:1 size, where I have tried to add a layer of violet on top of the black wings. It's hard to be subtle enough, the violet hue in a raven is so faint that is virtually undetectable. In an individual like this - not sunlit - the violet is most often impossible to see. I've probably overdone it - but it's interesting to play with different kinds of "black".

By the way - the black in the rest of the bird is mixed with quite a lot of blue and purple.

Waiting for spring

2011-02-14T11:59:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty tired of winter right now! Having grown up in the West, I'm used to wander the beaches at this time, saying hello to the newly arrived shelducks, ringed plovers and curlews. Instead, I wander the streets of Oslo, in (yet again) extremely low temperatures, mud-coloured snow and with the fear of being killed by blocks of ice falling from the roofs above. The great tits started singing a few weeks ago, but their small bills have frozen up again, and they've gone silent. I just have to face it: I wasn't made for Norwegian winter.

I found my diary from a trip to Jæren in October. One of the highlights of the trip was the shrike in the picture. It came in from the ocean, and landed on a rock right in front of us. It sat motionless for five minutes, probably exhausted, and definately "out of place" - where you would normally expect to find a rock pipit or an oystercatcher.

Work in progress

2010-11-23T15:19:00.000-08:00

I'm posting a detail of a whinchat that still needs a bit of work. This one I'll try do paint in more details than I usually do. I often find that more details makes for less interesting results, but I'll try to prove myself wrong.

Red-backed Shrike

2010-11-22T13:38:00.000-08:00

It's been a quiet month - November usually is for birdwatchers in Norway (Desember to March also, for that sake...). I've dug up a few half-finished watercolours that needs to be wrapped up, among them this shrike. It's a very tempting motive, with it's striking plumage, but the colours are surprisingly hard to nail. Especially the pinkish hue in the breast needs consideration - it's very subtle.

Anyway - I've started to sell a few paintings and drawings. They can be found on this website: http://www.naturogfritid.no/default.asp?var=!var!Gaveartikler!&rstadv=J

Hå in October

2010-10-23T14:13:00.000-07:00

From October 9th to 11th, I was birding the south of Jæren (Hå kommune) together with Kjell Mjølsnes. We were quite alone, since most of the Norwegian birding community had gathered at Utsira to look for rarities. During the three days, we saw 144 different species, a very good number for this time of year. We found a few rarities as well, a splendid Hoopoe (only my second in Norway) and a Pallas's Leaf Warbler. We found the warbler only a few hundred meters from the Hoopoe on the 11th.

The sketches of the Hoopoe were not made outside, but from photos I took through the telescope.

The bird of birds?

2010-10-04T13:39:00.000-07:00

We all have our favourites. The Mistle Thrush is definately one of mine.

There is something special about this bird. It is one of the most well-proportioned birds I can think of. Rounded head, powerful bill, heavy chest, fat body, long tail - all of this together makes for bird perfection as far as I'm concerned (of course, you have to be a birdwatcher to understand what I'm talking about...). The fact that it tends to be somewhat elusive only adds to the fascination.

This bird was one of almost 300 migrants at Mølen this weekend, and one of very few that settled down on the ground for a short while.

Grey Plover

2010-10-03T10:28:00.000-07:00

Me and Marianne spent last weekend at Mølen again, and had, as always, a wonderful time. Usually, good numbers of chaffinches and bramblings will migrate at this time, and with ideal weather conditions up to a hundred thousand can pass the Mølen peninsula during a single day. However, the wind was too strong, and from a wrong direction, and only small numbers of finches flew over. Other species were more numerous, and one of the mornings I counted what might be a record-breaking number of Mistle Thrushes. 287 birds migrated during five hours, the largest pack counted 71 thrushes. I am not aware that higher numbers have been recorded anywhere in Norway. This might reflect that the population is growing.

The Grey Plover in the watercolour was a single bird , and one of very few waders during my three days in the field. I was also able to do some ringing, and caught around 70 Dunnocks. The most special birds in the net was a first winter Rosefinch and a Tengmalm's Owl.

The chase

2010-09-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

I have been fortunate to experience this many times: The ultimate predator in chase of its prey. Most of the times, it has been one or more juvenile falcons harassing waders on the autumn shorelines of Jæren, but occasionaly also an adult bird in action. More often than not, the hunted bird manages a narrow escape - but surely it has to carry the ordeal with it for the rest of its life. I know I would.

From field sketch to watercolour

2010-08-17T12:54:00.001-07:00

I went to Mølen this weekend. Quite a few waders were present on saturday, but for some stupid reason I decided to draw them the following day. Come sunday, the waders had all blown away, and I had to settle for a juvenile Great Black-backed Gull. The wind didn't allow for outdoor painting, so I've tried to paint something based on the sketch tonight. Strangely, I often find it easier to draw proportions accurately working outside with live birds than I do working from pictures or sketches indoors. Working fast with a motive that is moving around, I think I pay sharper attention to what I actually see than to what I imagine. The sketch show the posture of the bird better than the painting does. The White Wagtail sat briefly on a stone in the morning sun.

Back to Norway

2010-08-07T16:56:00.000-07:00

I'm working again, and autumn is sneaking up on us. It's hard to see any kind of migration in Oslo, but many birds have already left us. Luckily, the autumn in Norway lasts for at least five months (if you're a birdwatcher), so I'll have more than a few opportunities to see some of them off. I'll definately go to the observatory at Mølen, where I saw the Lesser Withthroat in tonights watercolour this spring.

Inside the crater

2010-07-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

Still La Palma! The Caldera de Taburiente is a huge vulcanic crater, and one of the oldest national parks in Spain. The crater is surrounded by high peaks on the north side, and it's covered by tall pine trees - in which many of the Canary endemics are quite common. We drove as far into the crater as possible, on roads that were so narrow and steep that even Norwegians were short of breath every now and then. On the way up, we passed several old, abandoned dwellings, such as the small cabin in the watercolour.

Garafía

2010-07-29T04:36:00.000-07:00

Garafía is a small town on the northern side of La Palma. It's where my father in law was born, and my wife's granmother took us there during our stay on La Palma. As most towns on the island, it lies on a hillside, with the mighty Atlantic ocean constantly crushing against the cliffs below. Behind Garafía, the vulcano Caldera de Taburiente reaches almost 2500 meters. This makes for spectacular scenery.

Red-throated Diver

2010-07-28T03:55:00.000-07:00

We stayed at a cabin in the Mountains near Hovden, and a pair of Red-throated Divers lived in a small lake near us. The nest was on a small island in the middle of the lake, and the bird didn't mind me sitting on the shore making sketches. I tried using colours to start with, but I was so unhappy with the result that I washed away most of the coulour with a sponge. Afterwards, I drew over the faded painting with a pencil, just for fun. The result was this drawing, with traces of coulour in the background. Nothing I'll hold on to, but I might as well post the failed projects as well...

Mystery solved

2010-07-22T13:18:00.000-07:00

It turns out that other birders have seen the vulture on La Palma. I just received an e-mail from local birder Robert Burton. He writes this:

The Turkey Vulture has been sighted by local birders since early May, at various locations on the Santa Cruz side of the island. I gather it is an escape bird from Maro Parque, a small "zoo" near the capital, but the Spanish Rarities Committee will send you their verdict.

That's it, then. It was still a majestic sight!

Turkey Vulture, field sketch

2010-07-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

So, this is what the vulture looked like, and the sketch was made without consulting literature. It's not very likely that a bird like this would cross the Atlantic on it's own, but a ship assist might be a possibility? Otherwise, a bird escaped from captivity somewhere in Europe seems more likely. Then again, if the bird was not held in captivity on the Canary Islands, there is still quite a lot of ocean to cross from the European mainland. I will leave these questions for the Spanish rarities committee.
Apart from the vulture, I really enjoyed seeing some of the Canary endemics, like the Laurel Pigeon, Chaffinch, Blue Tit and Goldcrest. Hundreds of Cory's Shearwaters from the Tenerife-La Palma boat was also a brilliant experience. I had a short glimps of a smaller, darker Shearwater that was probably a Little S, but it disappeared in the waves too fast.
I'll return to the Island, and probably spend more time looking at the ocean - interesting birds are bound to pass in the almost always strong winds.

Turkey Vulture at La Palma, The Canary Islands

2010-07-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

Our stay at La Palma is coming to an end - a beautiful Island, even though the variety of birds in the middle of summer is quite limited. Yesterday, though, provided an interesting highlight. An adult Turkey Vulture soared right in front of me in a hillside just south of Santa Cruz. I have seen lots of these birds in both North and South America, and the identification was straight forward. I don't know if any of these birds are held in captivity in Europe, but it is an intersting observation this far west in the Atlantic Ocean. I made a few sketches, and I will post them as soon as I come home.
Does any of you out there have information about the status of this species in Europe? And maybe you could help me with an e-mail address to the Spanish Rarities Committee?

Back to Provence

2010-07-05T16:04:00.001-07:00

Only in my mind, though. Last summers trip through southern France was one of the best holidays I've had. I went with Marianne, which made for a superb combination of nature and culture. I've tried to unite the two in this watercolour. We saw several Rollers along the road - this one is flying over a wheat field with the magnificent Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Senanque in the background. This is close to Gordes, another highlight of our trip.

In two days, we are leaving for La Palma, one of the smaller Canary Islands, where Mariannes Grandmother has lived all her life. Again, family will be more important than birding, but I am allready making cunning plans...

Cuckoos

2010-06-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

It may be a coincidence, but I've heard and seen more Cuckoos along the coast this spring than in previous years. During my last visit to Mølen, at least four birds were singing near the observatory. The birds are quite easy to imitate, and were surprisingly agitated. A few of them came really close, and allowed me to make some sketches. There has been less time for field sketches lately, but the summer vacation is coming up!

Oystercatcher

2010-06-08T11:08:00.000-07:00

While sketching Eiders, I became aware of a resting Oystercatcher quite close to me. A bird as bright as this is hard to resist, and I made this quick painting. I tried not to put in too many details, but rather work with the posture of the bird. Black is difficult! A black plumage is never all dark black. Feathers pick up light and colour from the surroundings. I experienced another challenge, painting in strong sunlight - the paint dries really fast, and this makes it more difficult to mix colours on paper.

More of the same...

2010-06-06T12:22:00.000-07:00

Back at Mølen this weekend, and managed a few sketches of the ever present Eiders. The young male posed quite close for a while. It had the pinkish-yellow breast of an adult, but no green in the neck. There was not a lot of migration going on, but a Barred Warbler, two Sandwich Terns, a singing Marsh Warbler and no less than four Cuckoos made for a nice birding experience.

Female Eider

2010-05-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

I went to Kurefjorden this morning, and found a group of Eiders resting on stones in the water. All of them, except the female in the sketch, decided that I came to close. The bird remaining didn't relax, and stood for several minutes as if it was going to slide into the water in the next moment. This made the chest look heavy. The chest also seemed impossibly square, and I tried to capture this in the sketch. I painted it outside, after the bird had gone, and had to look at birds in the water for the details I didn't have time to get down while I was studying the bird.

Shape

2010-05-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

To me, drawing birds is more than anything about shape. There is no such thing as a duck-shape - every birdwatcher know this. It is why you can tell a Common Eider from everything else, even when you see it against the sun, and are only able to see the silhouette of the bird. This male is painted indoors, and even though it took me much longer than the sketch below, I still think that the sketch illustrate the bird's shape more accurately.

Mølen

2010-05-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend at Mølen with my family. I've been looking forward to do field sketches here - it has been my birding "home" for many years. Most of all, I wanted to draw and paint Common Eiders, they are always present here, and often allow you to get within sketching distance. Unfortunately, It started raining almost as soon as I sat down, all I could manage was a very quick sketch of a male. I'll definately return for more.

Osprey in colours

2010-05-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

I've tried to stick with only five colours painting this bird, plus the yellow in the eye. The Osprey is a superb bird, and coming from a part of Norway where it doesn't breed, I still find it exotic.

Ospreys on a rainy day

2010-05-15T15:44:00.000-07:00

I spent the day at Årnestangen again, and there were lots of birds around. The showers made it impossible to paint, but I was able to make a few quick sketches of an obliging Osprey. There were at least three of them around, and one of them put on a great show harassing a White-Tailed Eagle (not at all common in this part of Norway). The huge eagle landed briefly on the sand, but soon flew north. The osprey landed, and I was able to walk quite close to it. I got a few pictures as well, and I'll use these and the sketches for a painting later.

Otherwise, the waders dominated, and the highlight was a group of eight Dotterels resting. As far as I know, the species isn't annual at Årnestangen. A Red-throated Pipit and a Great Snipe were also good birds.

Yesterday evening, I went to Svellet, a bit further north in the Øyeren delta, and counted around 2000 waders, almost all of them tringa-waders. I counted rouhgly 900 Greenshanks and 700 Wood Sandpipers - this might be a Norwegian record for both species? A very exiting experience, either way.

Another bird in the water....

2010-04-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

I'm living in a part of Norway where I really should have explored the great pine forests, but coming from the south-western coastline, I am always tempted to find salt water when I have time for birdwatching. Today's watercolour is based on field sketches and photographs from a trip to Jeløya in Østfold. The next time I have a few early hours to spare, I'll probably visit Årnestangen again - the place around here that remind me the most of Jæren. Being stuck in the city in the end of April is making me a bit restless - I still haven't heard the first Willow Warblers or Pied Flycatchers.

Backlight

2010-04-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

In this watercolour I've been experimenting with backlight. I've put on several washes with different amounts of blue and black. I've tried to let some of the sunlight show on the back. The bird is a Spotted Redshank, in my eyes the most elegant of the waders in Northern Europe.

Østfold

2010-04-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

Today I drove south to one of the birding hotspots of Østfold, Kurefjorden, just south of Moss. The weather was not ideal for any kind of migration, but gave a few chances to sit down with the sketchbook. Drawing and painting live birds is a very enjoyable and also frustrating experience, the motives tend to move around a bit. I'm tempted to draw the ones sitting still, but this is probably not the best approach, since I'm also easily tempted to "finish" the sketches, and try to make them "pretty". I ended up doing just that with the Oystercatchers, and I'm not too pleased with the result. The one I'm most happy with, is the Black-headed Gull - it took me a minute to sketch, and was suddenly gone. I added some paint, and found out (again) how hard it is to find the right brown...

Mistle Thrush

2010-04-13T12:18:00.000-07:00

I've seen a few Mistle Thrushes in and around Oslo the past weeks. My favourite among the thrushes, and another sign of spring.

Finally outdoors

2010-04-11T00:44:00.000-07:00

I went to Fornebu today, in the hope of seeing a few migrants, and to draw live birds for the first time this year. It was a cold, but beautiful morning, and I was able to sit down with a group of Black-headed Gulls. They were sitting on the ice together with a few Lesser Black-backed. The gulls were very calm, and didn't care much about me, so I could take my time and work more detailed than you can with most birds. A nice motive to start with. The Black-headed gulls are very delicate creatures, and the shape of the hood varies a lot in one individual - depending on the birds position or level of awereness. This makes them interesting to draw.

There wasn't much migratory activity at Fornebu. Three Mistle Thrushes, one Grey Wagtail and one Sparrowhawk passed by while I was drawing. Chiffchaffs, Chaffinches, Yellowhammers and Blackbirds were singing, and spring is definately in the air!

Provence

2010-04-05T13:11:00.000-07:00

Today I've tried to paint from a photo I took in Gordes this summer. I enjoy drawing buildings, trying to get the perspective right, but painting is a different story... I used masking fluid for the first time, and I can see the advantages, even though it's a mess that properly ruined one of my brushes. I was prepared for that, so I used a cheap one.

The sketch is of a first year common tern.

Pectoral Sandpiper

2010-04-03T11:32:00.000-07:00

Another sketch, this time of a bird that has become increasingly regular in Norway, so much that it is no longer considered to be a "national rarity". The Petcoral Sandpiper is still rare, though, and always exiting to find.

Larks

2010-04-01T17:26:00.000-07:00

It's the middle of Easter, and the larks are returning to Norway in large numbers these days. They are fun to draw, especially the Shore Larks. The shape of the head is quite unique compared to other passerines - with their flat heads and bulky cheeks. Surely, the Shore Lark must be one of the prettiest birds in Norway. The birds in the sketches were wintering at Mølen two years ago.

Wildfowl

2010-03-31T16:18:00.000-07:00

I have done a few more sketches, and I really enjoy working like this - probably because I'm much more familiar with the pencil than I am with water colours. Tonight's birds are Wigeon, Shelduck, Gadwall, White-fronted Goose and Little Auk, all drawn from pictures I've taken at Jæren in recent years.

Pencil sketches

2010-03-30T14:16:00.000-07:00

Blackbirds and Chaffinches have started singing in our street, and the green patches around us are expanding day by day. The Great Spotted Woodpeckers are chasing each other around outside our windows, several pairs must be breeding in the area. There are actually some birds in our neigbourhood. Last spring I was sitting on the balcony, and within three minutes, I heard Black, Green, Great Spotted and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers.

Tonights drawing is merely a rehearsal - I've been trying to up the speed in my sketching, I'll need that speed drawing outdoors. The bird is a firecrest, and I more or less managed to finish each sketch within two minutes. I'll have to work faster with live birds....

Ring-billed gull

2010-03-26T15:45:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a few illustrations for an article on Red-rumped Swallow subspecies. I needed to do something else, and ended up with this picture of a ring-billed gull that visited Jæren a few years ago.

Marianne's contribution

2010-03-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

The season for outdoor drawing and painting is getting closer (I haven't yet tried it during mid-winter), and my lovely wife has made me very nice a pair of open finger gloves. I'm afraid the gloves might scare away smaller birds, but I'll take my chanses. Making a work of art like this is very time-consuming, so I haven't dared asking for a matching sweater.

Winter at Mølen

2010-03-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

I just came back from a short relaxing holiday with my wife. We stayed in the Bird Observatory at Mølen, wich works perfectly as a regular cabin outside of the migration periods. It was more or less like a trip to the mountains, with close to a meter of snow around the cabin. If we wanted to, we could have walked over the ice to the nearest islands. We didn't want to. We went skiing along the shoreline - a new experience for me at Mølen, but most of the time we spent indoors, reading, painting and watching the olympics. There was quite a lot of wildfowl in the ocean, with unusually good numbers of goosanders, long-tailed ducks and tufted ducks. Otherwise, the birding highlight of the trip was a small group of waxwings that roamed the area in search of the odd berry.

The female gadwall above was not present at Mølen. I took some pictures of it at Jæren (Kvassheim) a few years ago.

Bird of the Year

2010-02-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

Every year, Norsk Ornitologisk Forening (the Norwegian Ornithology Society) elects a bird of the year. Usually, it's a bird in need of attention. This year the honour falls on the Sand Martin. The swallow is struggeling in most european countries. The status in Norway is uncertain, but most likely, the situation is the same here. An important part of the problem is probably to be found in the wintering areas south of the Sahara, but habitat destruction here in Norway might also affect the population. NOF wants as much information as possible about breeding Sand Martins - if you know of a colony, this summer is the summer to count and report!

Arctic Tern

2010-02-07T12:03:00.000-08:00

There is nothing more peaceful than an Arctic Tern on the nest, and nothing more fierceful than an Arctic Tern disturbed close to the nest. Their brave defence of eggs and chicks has not, however, prevented a decline in the population of neither the Arctic nor the Common Tern in Norway.

Early birds

2010-02-03T12:25:00.000-08:00

A small number of curlews spend the winter along the southern shorelines in Norway. Many of them will have struggeled the past month, in the extremely cold weather we've had since christmas. Some of them can probably try to migrate during mid-winter, if conditions become too hostile, and most likely, some have also passed away.

In the next weeks, more and more of these magnificent waders will return to Norway. Though they are declining in numbers, you can still hear their wonderful sound, mourning and cheerful at the same time, in coastal or agricultural areas in most of the country. The bird above was recovering in a wet field at Jæren, after crossing the North Sea, in march 2006.

The Common Blue

2010-01-24T13:48:00.000-08:00

I've taken a break from rare birds tonight, and worked on a Common Blue (vanlig blåvinge). As long as it flies, it's OK. So far, I have payed little attention to surroundings, like flowers, and I need to broaden my horizon a bit. This painting is not finished, but I might as well show a work in progress.

Franklin's Gull

2010-01-23T17:36:00.001-08:00

Since I joined the national rarities committee, my time studying and drawing birds, at least indoors, has been dedicated to the rarer birds of Norway. Tonights picture is of a Franklin's Gull, one of the rarest birds to be found in Norway in 2008. This individual spent a few days close to Stavanger, and it was the first ever to be found in Rogaland county. Gulls are quite hard to draw - the differences in shapes and proportions from one species to another are marginal, but you know at once when you get it wrong! This one's not too far from what a Franklin's could actually look like. The dark hood, in contrast to the thick, white "eyebrowes", are the most striking features in this species.

In recent years, many birdwatchers have spent a lot of time studying the subtle differences in plumage, moulting and bill shapes of large gulls - a real challenge for even the most experienced birder. Myself, I've always liked the smaller gulls more - they're simply better looking...

Field sketches

2010-01-19T12:14:00.000-08:00

Pretty tired of winter right now, and there's probably still a few months to go before the snow will disappear in Oslo. It is only a matter of weeks, however, before the first migrants will appear at Jæren, in the south-west. Shelducks and ringed plovers will soon return to the beaches south of Stavanger. One of my resolutions for this year is to spend more time along beaches, both at Jæren and other places, and work with field sketches of shore birds, and hopefully also landscapes. I've worked a bit like that in recent years, and it's been time well spent. The sketches above were made in the field, at Jæren, a few years ago. Drawing live birds or animals forces you to study body shapes and plumage details in a new way - and it develops your drawing tehcnique. I strongly recommend this to anyone remotely interested in nature and drawing.

By the way, the seals are grey seals, and the bird is a greenshank, both in may.

2009 - year of the shrikes

2009-12-27T15:10:00.000-08:00

A variety of rare shrikes have visited Norway this autumn. I was lucky enough to see one of them, the Isabelline Shrike at Fornebu in Oslo. At the same time, two rarities were present close to the observatory at Lista - a Steppe Grey Shrike and Norway's second Masked Shrike. A Woodchat Shrike was also seen this autumn, at Utsira.

Shrikes has always been one of my favourite groups of birds, and I enjoy drawing and painting them as well. The one above is a Steppe Grey Shrike, a species (or possibly again a sub-species?)that I have seen once, at Bryne.

By the way, a Merry Christmas to you all!

Old drawings

2009-12-13T00:52:00.000-08:00

I haven't had much time to paint the last month, but things will hopefully calm down after Christmas. To keep the blog "warm", I'm posting some drawings from a few years back. The Great Grey Owl is from 1987, when I was 19 years old, and had a LOT of patience. I mostly drew with the finest Rotring pens, and spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get every feather down on paper. Maybe I'll be able to mobilize the same patience in future paintings, but for now I much prefer sketches.

The rest of the drawings are from recent years, and include goldfinch, red-backed shrike, mediterranian gull and ring-billed gull.

Blast from the past

2009-11-16T15:04:00.000-08:00

Actually, not really the past. Norway's first Western Sandpiper was only found last year. It was only fitting that the bird appeared at Revtangen, the oldest bird observatory in the country, famous throughout Scandinavia for it's variety of shore birds, especially during spring and autumn migration. The bird stayed for two days in July, and was seen by many birders, myself not included. I've seen pictures, though, and the bird looked more or less as the one above.

Red-rumped swallow

2009-11-13T15:33:00.000-08:00

I'm still trying to "nail" the colours and shape of the the red-rumped swallow, and I am hopefully coming closer. I'm happy with the shape and expression of the bird I painted tonight, but there is still a long way to go before the brush storkes flow the way I want to. The original is much less blue than the bird above - it seems as if the scanner brings out the blue and hides the brown and black.

Marich Pass

2009-11-02T14:05:00.000-08:00

I have decided to change my blogging language to english. This is mainly due to the fact that the community of bird art bloggers is located outside of Norway. It's been a long time since I last wrote anything in english, so please try to ignore spelling errors and strange grammar.

The birds on this page will still mostly be norwegian birds. The one I painted last night is one of the exeptions, though.

The first time I visited Marich Pass in Pokot, a piece of me stayed behind there. After at least ten more trips to this stunningly beautiful part of Northern Kenya, I have become more and more attached to the place. I have only been there as a tour leader, and never been able to spend much time birding, but even short hikes along the Morun River in the morning are always filled with exciting bird encounters. I looked through my archive of pictures last night, and found the white-throated bee-eater above. This is only one of four bee-eater species I have seen around the field studies centre in Marich. Usually a stroll along the river also give great views of kingfisher species (like pied, giant, pygmy and striped) and at least three different rollers. Verraux eagles soar along the majestic Cherangani Hills, and leopards roam the vast plains stretching all the way to Lake Turkana in the North. If you get an opportunity to visit West Pokot, don't hesitate.

The autumn trophy at Røst

2009-10-29T14:55:00.000-07:00

Again, I have been inspired by a rarity. Tonight's sketch is of a caspian plover, in my opinion the most "charismatic" of the rare birds seen in Norway this fall. You'll have to give credit to the group of birdwatchers clinging to the remote tip of Lofoten for weeks and weeks, despite long periods of awful weather and few new birds arriving. You could also argue that they have to be crazy, but of course, this is far from true! The plover above must have been a very nice reward for the few who saw it.

2009-10-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

Her endelig hatt tid til litt maling igjen. Fant fram en uferdig klisjé (skarv i solnedgang) jeg begynte på for sikkert et år siden, og fullførte. Gleder meg til å ha såpass med tid til overs at jeg kan eksprimentere litt, trenger å forske ut flere teknikker, komposisjoner og fargeblandinger. Det blir kanskje til sommeren?

Storskarvene sitter for øvrig på en glattskurt stein ytterst på Håtangen på Jæren. Det skal bli fint med en tur vestover igjen. Første anledning blir NSKF-møte på Lista midt i november, så tar nok jeg og kona en tur til Rogaland før jul. Først og fremst for å treffe en ny nevø og niese...

En asiat lander på Fornebu

2009-10-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

Så måtte endelig krysserne på Vestlandet dra østover. Den store attraksjonen, en rødhalevarsler (hva var galt med isabellavarsler???), har funnet lykken på gjerdene rundt et annleggstelt på den gamle flystripa på Fornebu. Det finnes vakrere steder på jord, men hva gjør vel det, så lenge en sliten Asia-farer kan gasse seg i mus, salamandere (er ikke de rødlistet...?) og annet snadder.

Fuglen er av underarten phoenicuroides, og er sett mindre enn ti ganger i Norge tidligere. Dette er det lengste jeg har dratt på kryssetur siden jeg for 23 år siden dro fra Jæren til Nitedal for å høre den virtuose sangen til en elvesanger. Denne fuglen var betydelig mye tøffere, og poserte villig på ned til 5-10 meters hold.

Feltskissene bar imidlertid preg av at temperaturen var under null, så jeg har fintegnet litt innendørs i kveld.

Hvervenbukta

2009-10-11T07:06:00.000-07:00

Man skal ikke nødvendigvis dra så langt fra stuedøra for å få fine fugleopplevelser. Fra leiligheten vår på Nordstrand er det bare 5 minutters kjøring til Hvervenbukta, og Oslofjorden på seinhøsten og vinteren kan være spennende nok. I fjor på denne tida satt hele familien på ei strand litt lenger inne i Bunnefjorden og grillet, da en isfugl plutselig kom susende fordi. I går var jeg og Lambert, en venn fra Nederland, i båthavna ved Hvervenbukta for å se om det lå noe på sjøen. Og det gjorde det. Lomvi er stas for en hollender, og med krisen i hekkebestandene i tankene, varmer det hvem som helst å se 10 lomvier sammen i norske farvann. Enda mer overraskende var gråstrupedykkeren som viste seg fint fram i sola, en art som det ikke blir sett mye av innerst i Oslofjorden. I elva som renner ut i båthavna hadde ei flott vintererle tilhold - alt i alt en fin times fuglekikking i hovedstaden.

Det var kjekt å tegne litt igjen, tar med en dvergfluesnapper fra Kvitsøy.

Kvitsøy og Jæren

2009-10-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

Høstferie i månedsskiftet september-oktober betyr Utsira-tur for mange hardbarkede raritetsjegere. Selv fikk jeg meg et kjærkomment opphold på Kvitsøy sammen med Kjell R. M. og en full dag med kikkert på gamle jaktmarker i Hå kommune.

Kvitsøy sydet ikke av fugler, men vi fikk et minneverdig kvarter rundt hagene på Nordbø på fredagen, da fuglene plutselig datt ned rundt oss, sannsynligvis på grunn av et lavtrykk som lå og truet i havet utenfor. Etter en lang morgen med få (og vanlige) fugler, kunne vi plutselig kose oss med fire-fem gransangere, en løvsanger, en munk, en møller, to bøksangere, en ringtrost og ikke minst en dvergfluesnapper som viste seg flott fram på nært hold.

På lørdagen hadde jeg en runde på Jæren, som blant annet kastet av seg en svartehavsmåke på Njærheim ved Obrestad, den fjerde jeg har funnet i akkurat dette området. Obrestad-traktene er kanskje premielokaliteten for denne arten i Norge?

Orientbrakksvale

2009-09-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

For noen uker siden kjørte vi gjennom Camargue i Sør-Frankrike, og en av artene jeg kikket ekstra nøye etter var Brakksvale. Denne artsgruppa har jeg gått glipp av, på tross av flere besøk i områder der de forekommer regelmessig. Og nå er altså den tredje brakksvalearten observert her til lands. Jeg ble inspirert av bildene fra trøndelag, og laget en liten skisse i kveld. Har prøvd gouache-farger for første gang på denne, og ser at de dekker på en annen måte enn vannfargene.

2009-08-24T13:05:00.000-07:00

En stund siden sist jeg kunne sitte ned med penselen...

La litt bakgrunn på steinvenderen i kveld. Prøvde å få til litt "tangstrand-miljø" rundt fuglen. Ellers har det blitt lite fugl og mye jobb de siste ukene, og sånn blir det nok fram til høstferien i månedsskiftet september-oktober, kanskje med unntak av ei helg på Mølen i september. Spent på hvordan det ser ut etter oljeutslippet.

2009-08-16T03:03:00.000-07:00

Steinvenderen er en av de flotteste fuglene i den norske faunaen, med den kontrastrike fjørdrakta i svart, hvitt og rødbrunt. Jeg har kommet et stykke på en akvarell av en steinvender i vårdrakt, men må ta en pause før jeg jobber mer med omgivelsene. Ser at en del naturillustratører gjør seg mer eller mindre ferdig med bakgrunnen før de begynner på hovedmotivet - enn så lenge klarer jeg ikke jobbe slik, jeg synes fremdeles at selve fuglen er den mest spennende delen av jobben...

Høst

2009-08-11T12:33:00.000-07:00

I dag svirret løvsangere langs vinduskarmen i tredje etasje på Midtåsen. Høsten er her, og jeg fikk lyst til å jobbe litt med en dvergspurv - et av de små trofeene på øyene i oktober. Det spørs om jeg får sett noen av dem i høst, men jeg kommer nok til å kjenne dragningen vestover når løvet gulner. Det kommer flere høster. Den lille buskspurven har alltid vært en favoritt, fra jeg så den første gang på Rott utenfor Tananger først på 80-tallet. Morsom å tegne, og en utfordring å male - men det er alt jeg maler nå i startfasen. Begynner å bli halvveis fortrolig med hvordan penselen virker, og hvordan en akvarell kan bygges opp.

2009-08-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

Det finnes andre ting enn fugler i tilværelsen, og jeg har så smått begynt å male noen av dem. Steinen malte jeg ute på Knattholmen i sommer, og olivenkvisten malte jeg på en terrasse i Moustiers St Marie i Provence. Vrient å tegne "nye"ting, men en veldig nyttig erfaring - jeg må lære å SE igjen, og ikke bare reprodusere en slags innarbeidet forestilling av hvordan motivet ser ut. Det siste er fort gjort i arbeidet med fugler jeg har tegnet mange ganger før, og tenker at jeg kjenner. Må ta med en fugl også, alpekråka var en karakterart på La Palma, en av Kanariøyene (som min svigerfar kommer fra), men har visstnok gått veldig tilbake her.

Gorges du Verdon

2009-08-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

Ei uke etter Frankrike er jeg fremdeles full av bilder derfra. Et av de sterkeste inntrykkene gjorde slangeørna som speidet fra en knaus like over veien i Gorges du Verdon. Ørna har et helt spesielt uttrykk - ikke fryktinngytende som flere av de andre ørnene, mer våkent og nysgjerrig. Hodeformen og blikket gir helt klare ugle-assosiasjoner, noe flere felthåndbøker også skildrer. Jeg hadde ikke nerver til å stå i veikanten og gjøre skisser, til det var parkeringen for utrygg og trafikken for stor, men jeg fikk tatt noen få, uskarpe bilder gjennom teleskopet. Jeg laget en rask skisse etter et bilde i kveld, og malte den like raskt. Er rimelig fornøyd med denne, fordi det gikk så fort, og fordi jeg klarte å begrense paletten til tre farger (med unntak av øynene, som fortjente litt gult...).

Svartternene er malt etter flere fotografier av en sverm på et par hundre individer i Camargue.

Camargue

2009-07-28T13:31:00.000-07:00

I går kom jeg og Marianne hjem fra en fantastisk uke i Provence. Det ble ikke mye fuglekikking, men en tålmodig kone tilgodeså meg med en hel dag i Camargue (og mange stopp langs veien forøvrig). Vest-Europas største delta skuffet ikke - et utrolig fuglerikt område som bød på veldig gode observasjoner av flere arter du vil slite med å finne mange andre steder på kontinentet. På grunn av knallhard vind ble det ikke mye tegning og maling, men jeg fikk gjort noen raske skisser av en ung bieter og ei splitterne. Bieteren malte jeg på stedet, mens ternene fikk farge på hotellrommet på kvelden. Bieteren hadde forøvrig overraskende mye grønt i det turkise brystet - mer enn det som er gjengitt i for eksempel Svensson. Det var en ungfugl, og det er mulig at jeg har lagt inn mer grønt enn det som er tilfellet, men jeg mener det er nokså nært.

Jeg legger ikke ved en fullstendig artsliste, men dette var noen av høydepunktene etter en dag i Camargue: Bieter 45, blåråke 1, hærfugl 1, amursvale 1, sultanhøne 1, sandterne 40+, hvitkinnsvartterne 1, hvitvingesvarterne 1, svartterne 200+, smalnebbmåke 4,svartehavsmåke 100+, gulbeinmåke, dvergterne 5, hvitbrystlo 4, stylteløper (vanlig), flamingo (vanlig), natthegre 2, purpurhegre 1, mm.

Resten av turen gjennom Provence gikk primært i innlandet, og jeg fikk sett flere slangeørner, åtselgribb, 15 gåsegribber, klippesvaler, alpeseilere og mye annet. Slangeørna håper jeg å få tegnet eller malt med det første - en utrolig flott fugl, og mine første møter med arten.

Nok i denne omgang, nå går turen til Vestlandet...

2009-07-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

Den siste uka har familien tilbrakt på Knattholmen i Sandefjord. En av dagene fikk jeg og Marianne noen rolige timer i sjøkanten, og jeg fikk laget en rask skisse av en svartbak som lå og dormet på et svaberg. Jeg hadde bare håndkikkerten med meg, så det var vanskelig å se noen detaljer - egentlig like greit når jeg vil jobbe fort og litt "slurvete".

På mandag går turen til Provence, og jeg håper på litt tid til tegning og maling der nede også.

2009-07-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

Tar med en steinskvett også. Jeg har alltid vært svak for steinskvetter, sikkert ikke minst fordi de er en så integrert del av naturmiljøet på flatjæren, men også fordi de er tidlige, etterlengtede vårtegn.

2009-07-08T13:00:00.000-07:00

Jobber stadig med litt mengdetrening på vannfarger, denne gangen resulterte det i en boltit. Prøver å jobbe litt fort, for ikke å bli for detaljert. Prøvde noe nytt på denne - å lasere bakgrunnen med bare vann til slutt, for å viske ut noen av detaljene. Tenker at det fungerte sånn passe. Fargene på bremmene på ryggdekkerne er ikke 100% spot on, men tross alt i nærheten. Begynner å like dette mediet bedre og bedre.

Skissen øverst er en feltskisse av en hann og en hunn på Kvalbein, Hå i 2006.

2009-06-30T06:39:00.000-07:00

Var på Årnestangen igjen i dag, men ble overfalt av mygg og klegg og sol, så det ble en kort tur. Bare tjeld satt på tangen lenge nok til å bli skisset. To grønnstilker var også på besøk i mudderet, men ikke lenge. Mest stas i dag var fire traner på jordene. Jeg skremte dem opp på vei ut og på vei tilbake, de blir kanskje i noen dager? Det var tre voksne og en ungfugl. En flott tårnfalkhann fanget mus rett foran meg, og seks-åtte gulerler sanket insekter på nyslåtte jorder. Det var tydelig at minst to par har unger i nærheten. Minst to hanner var forøvrig av underarten flava.

Ellers hørt jeg myrsanger ved parkeringsplassen, gulsanger i den ytterste lunden, og til sammen minst fem syngende sivsangere.

Prosess

2009-06-30T06:12:00.000-07:00

Har gjort ferdig en akvarell av en ung vandrefalk på bytte. Fuglen er malt fra en serie bilder jeg tok av en vandrefalk på Horpestad vinteren 05-06. Den satt i en stubbåker bare 30 meter fra bilen og ribbet et sikkert etterlengtet bytte.

Tenkte å vise hvordan et slikt bilde tar form, fra skisse til ferdig produkt. Det er sikkert mange måter å gjøre dette på, men med akvarell har jeg funnet ut at det lønner seg å jobbe fra lyst til mørkt. Det er sikkert ingen revolusjonerende ide for dere som driver med slikt selv... For eksempel begynte jeg med først å legge som grunnfarge på hele oversiden den fargen som jeg ville ha på bremmene på vingedekkerne og ryggen. På de mørkeste partiene på oversiden har jeg lagt mange lag med gradvis mørkere farge. Resten gidder jeg rett og slett ikke skrive om akkurat nå.

Studie av vipe

2009-06-25T05:24:00.000-07:00

Nå prøver jeg meg fram med ulike typer akvarellpapir og farger. Prøvde med et finere papir i dag, og med farger på tube. Jeg tok utgangspunkt i ei feltskisse av vipe, og hadde også foto av samme fuglen til hjelp. Vipa er ikke et enkelt motiv å finne farger til, det er utrolig mange nyanser i grønt, blått og lilla på ryggen. Jeg har ikke gått veldig detaljert til verks, men prøvd å finne noen grunntoner. En morsom fugl å male, og jeg er kanskje i ferd med å bli litt hekta på vannfarger...

Årnestangen igjen

2009-06-23T08:05:00.000-07:00

I dag tok jeg en ny tur ut på Årnestangen, og igjen fikk jeg flotte fugleopplevelser. Det var næmere 20 grader allerede da jeg parkerte i ni-tida, og jeg hadde planer om å komme meg ut på tangen så fort som mulig, før den virkelige varmen satte inn. Jeg fikk imidlertid en lang pause halvveis, da ei hornugle fant det for godt å jakte over gressengene midt på lyse dagen. Den virret fram og tilbake foran meg i sikkert 20 minutter, noen ganger så nær at de rød-oransje øynene formelig lyste mot meg. Den tok noen korte pauser i treklynger langs ruta, men var fremdeles aktiv da jeg gikk videre. Jeg tror det er første gangen jeg ser ei hornugle jakte i steikende sol - et utrolig flott syn. Videre langs veien ut til tangen så jeg to fiskeørner med bytte, sivsangerne var på plass, fire grønnstilker passerte høyt over, og i den ytterste lunden satt en gulsanger og sang litt nølende. To flotte gulerlehanner viste seg fint fram i det ytterste buskaset, begge av underarten thunbergi. Vel plassert på sandbanken satt jeg i en times tid og skisset en sandlo som hvilte på en trestamme, og før jeg gikk fikk jeg også en rask skisse av en brushane som rastet ytterst på tangen. Jeg kom ikke nær, men fikk et greit inntrykk av fargene og formen i varmedisen.

Et rådyr beitet like ved meg på hjemveien, og avrundet nok et givende besøk på Årnestangen.

Å kopiere gamle mestere....

2009-06-18T03:08:00.000-07:00

Bildene over er på ingen måte en Lars Jonsson-kopier, men de er absolutt et forsøk. I mine spede første forsøk med akvarell er det fint å ha noen å hente ideer fra, og hvorfor ikke se til Den Beste? Sveriges store sønn (nei, det er ikke Ingmar Bergman eller August Strindberg), Lars Jonsson, har fascinert meg som kunstner siden jeg kjøpte de fire felthåndbøkene hans i min spede barndom. Ingen har gjort mer for å revolusjonere måten fugler blir levendegjort gjennom kunst, og ingen har gjort mer for å sette en helt ny standard for felthåndbøker. Jeg tør å påstå at alle som kommer etter har hentet mye av inspirasjonen fra Jonsson. Gyldendals store fugleguide har ganske riktig blitt holdt fram som en glimrende felthåndbok, men enhver fuglekikker med respekt for seg selv må også ha Lars Jonssons "Fugler" (Cappelen) langt framme i hylla. Det den eventuelt mangler som felthåndbok, mangler den bare fordi kunstneren ikke kan la være å gi fuglene liv - det er vanskelig for Jonsson å bli skjematisk.

Vel, nok hyllest for denne gang. Tundraloen over er en (uverdig, selvsagt) etterligning av et bilde fra Jonssons praktbok "Øya. Bilder fra et sandrev", og sandloen av et bilde fra boka "En dag i mai".

Sjeldne fugler fra arkivet

2009-06-17T03:38:00.000-07:00

Tegning ute er et tålmodighetsarbeid, og det medfører gjerne at du blir sittende lenge på ett sted. Da dukker det stadig opp nye fugler, og rett som det er også sjeldnere fugler. Både bonapartesnipe og svartehavsmåke har jeg plutselig hatt i kikkerten etter å ha sittet i minst en time og tegnet andre fugler. Tegningen og akvarellen over er ikke tegnet i felt, men etter feltskisser.

2009-06-16T01:06:00.000-07:00

Årnestangen 15.06

Etter flytting til Oslo og mange travle uker uten bruk av hverken kikkert eller tengesaker, var det nydelig med en formiddag på Årnestangen. Jeg har aldri gått helt ut på til Tangen før, og ble overrasket over hvor langt det var å gå! Først og fremst var det selvsagt en fin tur, og jeg likte særlig den siste kilometeren, der landskapet åpner seg i store enger med med noen få høyreiste lauvskoglunder. Sivspurv var karakterfuglen - jeg visste ikke egentlig hva jeg kunne forvente å se på denne årstida - men det var også rikelig med heipiplerker langs stien. I busker og trær sang løvsangere (en av dem med en merkelig sang), munker og hagesangere og på to steder ut mot tangen sang sivsangere - en art jeg knapt har hørt syngende på Østlandet før. To til fire fiskeørner var stadig i lufta, og en av dem landet for et bad på tangen. Jeg var ikke minst interessert i vadere, og ble positivt overrasket av å se en flokk småvadere i mudderet ytterst. Da jeg kom nærmere viste det seg å være 15 sandloer, 4 dvergloer og ei myrsnipe. Jeg så også gluttsnipe, to grønnstilker, åtte rødstilker, åtte viper og to storspover. To gulerler i gresset på den ytterste sandbanken var også en hyggelig overraskelse.

Jeg satt i en times tid for å prøve å få tegnet dvergloer. Fuglene var stort sett veldig aktivt på jakt etter mat, og en skikkelig utfordring å få ned på papiret...

Alt i alt - Årnestangen var et utrolig flott sted som jeg helt sikkert kommer til å besøke igjen. Anbefales for dem som ikke har vært der!

Hå gamle prestegård

2009-06-05T01:12:00.000-07:00

Området rundt den gamle prestegården ved utløpet av Håelva er i mine øyne noe av det flotteste Jæren har å by på, uansett årstid. Om vinteren er sjøen utenfor full av overvintrende ender, og på jordene innenfor sitter gjerne rovfugler som hønsehauk og jaktfalk. En og annen dvergfalk overvintrer også, men de er vanligst å se på vår- og høsttrekk. Denne dvergfalken skisset jeg på Kvassheim, lenger sør, men "flyttet" den like godt til Obrestad.

De første akvarellene

2009-06-04T05:23:00.000-07:00

Jeg har lenge hatt lyst til å lære meg akvarellmaling, og for et par år siden gjorde jeg noen nølende forsøk. Det har blitt med forsøket, vist ovenfor, siden har tida vært for knapp. Det er fremdeles et mål å mestre denne teknikken, ikke minst for å kunne legge litt farge på feltskisser.

Oppblåste småfugler

2009-06-04T04:15:00.000-07:00

Tegning av fugler handler like mye om å legge merke til form som detaljer i fjørdrakta. Både sivspurven, lappspurven og trelerka ovenfor er avbildet på kalde dager. Sivspurven tegnet jeg en kjølig vår-morgen på Grudavatnet, og de to andre hadde tilhold rundt en møkkadynge på Reve en sprengkald marsdag i 2006. Alle blåser opp fjørdrakta for maksimal isolasjon, og får en helt annen form enn de har på en varm sommerdag.

Vaderne - blant favorittene

2009-06-04T01:49:00.000-07:00

De fleste fuglekikkere som har trådt barneskoene på Jæren har et spesielt forhold til vadefugler. Jeg har tilbrakt veldig mange timer med vaderstudier på Revtangen, Nærlandssanden, Håtangen, Orreosen, Kvassheim og andre steder, og er stadig like fascinert av de hardføre små skapningene.

Å tegne vadere om høsten er en spesiell utfordring. De store flokkene er i stadig bevegelse, manisk opptatt av å bygge opp fettreserver, og så tallrike at en tegner står overfor det samme problemet som jaktende rovfugler - hvilken velger jeg? Når de en sjelden gang sitter stille, begraver de hodet i ryggen. På Jæren blir studiene stadig avbrutt av jaktende vandrefalker, dvergfalker og spurvehauker. Allikevel - tusenvis av trekk-yre småvadere i tangvollene på et rev ytterst i havgapet skaper en så elektrisk stemning at små frustrasjoner blir til å leve med.

Både dvergsnipa, rødstilken og storspova er feltskisser, fra Revtangen og Nærland på Jæren.

Et supplement til foto-hjemmesidene

2009-06-04T01:29:00.000-07:00

Fugleinteresserte i Norge kan glede seg over at stadig flere dyktige fotografer legger ut fantastiske bilder på hjemmesidene sine. Det er imidlertid ikke mange som tegner fugler i Norge! I Sverige dukker stadig flere eminente fuglekunstnere opp, i kjølvannet av Lars Jonsson, men her hjemme har ikke like mange tatt opp arven etter Viggo Ree. Trond Haugskott har ei flott side, men ellers har jeg ikke funnet mye. Denne bloggen vil derfor i sin helhet være viet illustrasjoner av fugl - stort sett feltskisser og -studier, men etter hvert kanskje også en og annen akvarell. Håper noen kan ha glede av dette, og kanskje få inspirasjon til å finne fram blyanten selv - det er en glimrende måte å få bedre artskunnskaper på.

Tegningene på denne sida er stort sett produsert på Jæren i perioden 2005-2008. Nye vil bli lagt ut fortløpende.