Colour and texture inspiration:

Pushing Off from Shore | (colour test detail) pencil & willow charcoal on vellum with acrylic, watercolour, digital

 

I’ve almost finished my 7th drawing – but stopped for a little bit to do a quick colour test mockup so I can get my colour process sorted. This won’t be exactly what the final illustration will look like (less gloomy, hopefully), but it’ll be the same sort of treatment.

I spent the last 4 days working on a side project collaboration with friends and that little diversion helped me figure out how to approach the colour for the book. Sometimes taking a little break is a good thing – but it’s hard getting back into the swing of drawing again. I’m on my third cup of coffee this morning – it’s a procrastination/stalling technique I employ when I’ve lost my drawing groove and am afraid to start again (I can’t draw with my hand wrapped around a mug).

It’s a dull day and the lighting isn’t great for the usual photos of the drawings in progress, so instead, here are a couple photos of studio things and of some daily visitors to the feeders that hang outside the studio window.

Origami boat reference

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Inspiration board

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The bird feeders provide endless entertainment and a good opportunity to procrastinate. Each species of bird has its own distinct personality. The house finches behave like any large, noisy family – sometimes they get along well and sometimes they squabble. When the newly fledged babies are around in the spring they, along with the House sparrows, go through an entire feeder of seed each day. Nuthatches are solitary and aggressive. They noisily chase off other birds and other nuthatches. They’re specific about the kind of seeds they like – huge seed wasters, they will toss out seeds left and right until they find what they’re looking for. Like the chickadees, they don’t eat at the feeder, but fly into nearby trees to crack the seeds. Bushtits – one of our favourite visitors, arrive in flocks up to 20 individuals. Preferring the suet feeder, they’ll feed shoulder to shoulder without argument, the extra birds hanging off the chain like tiny ornaments until there’s space. The beautiful, male downy woodpecker is a new visitor to the suet feeder. A little braver than some of the other birds, it doesn’t seem to mind us watching it from a close distance.

Bushtits Psaltriparus minimus

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Downy woodpecker Picoides pubescens