A Bird Nerd @abirdnerd - Tumblr Blog

How to Draw a Bird

Streaming through veins of air, vibrant and brilliant

Shapes and marks and colors and patterns and calls

Should I create lists scratching an analytical itch

Books and guides and websites and apps.

Knowing less with each spreadsheet

Really!

Sit in the electricity of stillness

Each call carries stories long their own and their own long after

Now with a wisdom of naivety and courage of ingenuity

Draw!

Draw pen from pocket

Turn the cap

A new word never spoken

A new alphabet waiting for letters

Paper pulls ink from nib

Maybe? Maybe.

A bird

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Juvenile Indigo Buntings

Fountain pen and ink wash

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Do you have an Artstation?

I don't. I am really really bad at putting myself out there. (No Instagram, Twitter etc.) Other than this Tumblr blog I just share drawings with friends in small chat groups.

Something different : Leonardo Da Vinci Bust of a Warrior

This study started as a warm up for another project we assigned for class. I indulged in a new fountain pen and bottom of ink and I can't stop drawing with it.

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Juvenile Canada Jay

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Young Eagle Hunter & About Recording Drawing Demonstrations

Talking and drawing at the same time is hard. I made a first attempt at recording a drawing demonstration while explaining what I was doing throughout. What would normally be a 5-10 minute fun sketch became 40-45 minutes 🤯. I have a newfound admiration for the instructor I assist who draws while giving a lecture live every class.

To the drawing. Another sketch inspired by the eagle hunters of Eastern Mongolia. Somewhere down the rabbit hole I learned about this young girl who's father takes out on his motorcycle to train with her Golden Eagle. The look of pure joy being up on a hill with her eagle ready to swoop down to its target was wonderful to see.

#journal #fountain pen #drawing #my diary #ink #bird #artists on tumblr #pen drawing

Golden Eagle

A friend sent me a documentary on the hunters in Eastern Mongolia who raise Golden Eagles to take with them. It's an incredible story that's been covered a few times but I don't get tired of seeing these awesome birds of prey.

So I did a sketch while watching the short film.

#journal #fountain pen #drawing #ink #bird #artists on tumblr #daily sketch

Nice fun fountain pen over watercolor sketch. I recently began as an assistant to a watercolor painter in addition to working for my drawing instructor (He knows. It's OK 😆).

Watercolor can be a high maintenance medium. It's difficult to master the skills that make the difference between chaos and purposeful spontaneity. This is aside from questions of color mixing, values and planning it all out with the initial drawing. Don't get me started with papers sold as for watercolor 😡

To the important part - the bird! This is a slate Dark-eyed Junco (yes another one). Why? Because it's winter and they're the cutest little birds around our home.

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Studying Dark-eyed Juncos recently. This was a quick study of the Oregon variation

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Hello,

I have been studying warblers lately. They can be hard to identify from other small birds like Finches, Sparrows or Vireos. The real difficulty though is identifying between one Warbler from another. The Black-throated Blue Warbler is an exception due to the clarity and contrast in its markings.

Black-throated Blue Warbler

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Hello,

I took a few weeks off after completing my 366 day project for 2020. While I was happy to have accomplished a big goal I wasn't so sure I could see through, it was good to be done. I needed some time to take a breath and reflect. So I have and now on to new goals.

Mostly I wanted to take this moment and thank everyone who supported my little diary entries and bird sketches. They weren't alway good. They were actually quite imperfect. They were always sincere and honest. I hope that came through.

Thank you to those who sent lovely messages of encouragement. Thank you to those who asked questions. Thank you to those who just wanted to talk about the things we share a love for in this world.

~A bird nerd

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