Thanks for your interest nightshade.
I've included a couple of simple quick sketches to show how they can be used as ideas for future paintings.
The first one was a Kestrel I saw on an old ash tree, I quickly set up the scope, and did a few simple, what you could call shorthand sketches just to fix the bird in my mind. They are not detailed or all that accurate, but are of use in comming up with ideas, and of course unless you're drawing captive birds/animals, you often have to be as quick as you can before the subject clears off! There's plenty of time later to fill in the blanks so to speak, by using photos or captive birds to refere to.
The next day I went back to the spot to do a quick field painting of the old ash. I could have used a camera, but again it's often better to paint or draw the object as it is fixed in your mind, and when you come to start the final painting, you often don't have to refere to any reference at all, so the painting goes easier.
The next image is of the finished painting.
The second set of images is a pencil sketch, again done through a scope of a Little Owl that was high in a ash tree.
This gave me the inspiration for the finished painting which is in the last image.
Both paintings were done using acrylics.
PS: sorry for the poor quality of the pencil drawings, I'm afraid my scanners playing up!
