Back to painting birds

Fieldfare 

© Sharon Whitley

Continuing with the theme of painting the garden birds, I was inspired to paint a fieldfare today as I've been watching a flock of them at the bottom of next door's garden all day - and even though I tried to tempt them into my garden by putting out halved apples, they didn't come in, but it was lovely to see them anyway - gorgeous birds.  The garden birds have become quite scarce since next door cut his trees back and I really miss seeing them.  Any ideas how to entice them back would be much appreciated - I'm planning on planting a couple of trees soon so that should help.  I do feel sorry for the birds during this particularly cold spell - if you don't already please put out some food for them to help them along! 

Another painting I did this evening was the lovely rook which have a beautiful purple and blue sheen to them when the light hits them in a certain way - thanks to Richard Steel for allowing me to use his beautiful photo - his wonderful blog can be found here.  He really captures the beautifully subtle colours of some often overlooked birds like the rook, jackdaw, magpie and starling and has some gorgeous in flight bird shots.

Rook

© Sharon Whitley

Next on the easel is a tiger!!!

Managed to get out walking in the mountains yesterday - we drove to Aber and climbed a mountain called Drosgl - it was bitterly cold up there but great to be out and we saw a few of our favourite Carneddau ponies in the winter coats.

I'm posting a couple of pics for you here but there will soon be more on the other blog Two Pairs of Boots.

The partly frozen Aber Falls, impressive as always

These gorgeous Welsh Mountain ponies are so hardy!

It felt like arctic conditions on the top of Drosgl!

It's snowing again tonight and hoping the snow sticks around for next week's walk but a bit less wind would be nice - it was sooo cold!

Stonechat and a Herdy

After finishing my series of garden birds I decided I would gradually start painting the birds that I see when out and about and the beautiful stonechat is one of them.  We sometimes see one or two when we're out walking - they're gorgeous, love the way they perch right on top of the heather and love the noise they make, like two stones being bashed together. Unfortunately, they've been hit by harsh winter weather which has seen a decline in their numbers over the last couple of years. Gary rarely carries his big lens when we're out on a long walk and so he doesn't have any close up photos of the stonechat (yet) so I've pinched my reference photo from Brian Rafferty's blog (I know you don't mind Brian!)

By the way if anyone reading this actually sees a stonechat in this country I know a man who'd be very interested to hear about it Pete Woodruff of Birds2Blog is recording all the sightings he can, to try and discover if their numbers are on the increase again.

Something else which we never fail to see when out walking the hills is sheep of course and the Herdwick breed fondly known as 'Herdy's, native to the Lake District in Cumbria are my favourites. They are such characters and I've got a mountain of photos to choose from as he can rarely walk past one without stopping to take a photo!

I'm trying to get a bit of painting done before I go back to work tomorrow after the Christmas break - I shouldn't complain as I've had two weeks off but I'd rather be out walking or painting than going to work, sigh, keep buying those lottery tickets!

Thank you to those of you who have checked out my daughter's new blog Wildlife with Whitley  and left such encouraging comments - she was thrilled!

Merry Christmas to you all!

What a mad time of year this is!  Have you been rushed off your feet like me?  My own fault really for leaving everything til the last minute like I do EVERY year!  But nearly there now and today I've given myself the day off from Christmas stuff and been to the zoo with Gary (although I did buy a couple of stocking fillers from the gift shop!.  Gary was in his element trying out the new camera - results soon to be posted on his blog.

This evening I've managed to squeeze in a festive painting - I've given my little robin a Santa hat and made it snow - I really hope the constant rain stops and we get some snow over Christmas.   I made sure there was plenty of snow in Gary's Christmas card too - he's never happier than when he's out in  snow covered mountains, ice axe at the ready...

This will probably be my last post before Christmas so I'd like to wish you all a wonderful time over the festive period and very best wishes for the New Year and thank you all for your support since I started this new venture into blogland earlier this year - I really appreciate you popping in to read my posts, viewing my artwork and photos and leaving such lovely comments!

Nadolig Llawen!!!

Findlay's Ducks

I love this photo that Findlay took of the three ducks that he has on his wonderful birding blog here.

I thought it would make a nice, simple little painting, just 3 ducks waddling along, hope you like this Findlay...

Don't forget to pop over to Findlay's blog Wilde About Birds - it's an absolute delight, a very inspiring young man!

Barn Owl complete

I've made a bit of room in my blogger storage which such keep me going another few posts before I have to pay for extra storage (very annoying!!) I'm now resizing photos before I upload to minimize space - thanks again for the advice I was given in the last post.

Waxwings and more from the Wildlife Event

I was thrilled on Friday when I got to see the waxwings for myself - not the most exotic of places, Deeside Industrial Park!  We soon found them - there were a few serious photographers already lined up with their huge lenses on tripods ready to photograph the waxwings as they flew down to feed on the Rowan berries.  There was also an artist there sketching the birds in preparation for doing a painting in acrylics - he said he doesn't do watercolour - too difficult lol!  As always Gary got some spectacular shots of them and hope you like the selection I've posted here....

Here are a few more photos from the wildlife event that was held at the shopping centre on Saturday where I sat painting the barn owl.  It was nice to actually have a real barn owl there too!

It was lovely talking to passers by who stopped to watch and ask questions, including quite a few children who said they'd like to be artists when they grow up so if I gave them just a little bit of encouragement I'd be very happy - it's certainly something I'd enjoy doing again.

Barn Owl update

I did some more work on the barn owl today while I was doing a painting demo at a small wildlife event at Birchwood Shopping Centre.  There were birds of prey at the event which attracted lots of people - and also nest box building by Risley Moss - I had some lovely comments by passers by and one lovely lady asked if she could buy it when it was finished so Barny has been sold - I have to say though I'd got quite attached to him so I'll have to paint another for myself!  Still got the tree branch and background to complete on this one first though!

Oh and before I go ... the waxwing hunt was successful - we went straight to Deeside Industrial Park, 10 minutes drive from home and there they were next to the Triumph building in Zone 2. I was thrilled to see them, loads of them - such beautiful birds - photos to follow in the next post and more photos from todays wildlife event.

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend whatever you're doing!

Another waxwing (sorry!)

Waxwing

© Sharon Whitley

Seems I just can't stay away from painting birds!   The waxwing invasion is causing quite a stir among the birding community as these beautiful birds search for their favourite berries from the Rowan tree - they won't be around for long so I'm just hoping they'll stick around til Friday so I can get a chance to see this wonderful spectacle.

I'm a little bit excited about finally starting a painting that has been on the drawing board waiting to paint for quite some time now  - and I've been avoiding making a start - the beautiful barn owl - I'm taking my time over this one - it's started off quite well, I've done the eyes and happy with them - just hope I don't ruin it now!!   Here is is so far.........hopefully you can tell it's a barn owl!

and finally just for a bit of fun here's a sock monkey - I know a bit random but that's me!

Sock Monkey

© Sharon Whitley

Have a wonderful day whatever it is you're doing xx

Wonderful Waxwings

Waxwing

© Sharon Whitley

I'm pretty excited about the invasion of waxwings we're having over here at the moment from Scandinavia - apparently lots seen in areas not far from me in North Wales - all in very strange places - Industrial Estates, streets, superstores etc. all after the berries from the lovely Rowan tree.  Gary was lucky enough to photograph them up in Barrow, near Clitheroe at the weekend while he was up there - I missed out unfortunately but we're off on a Waxwing hunt on our day off on Friday - to B&Q in Llandudno of all places!   In the meantime I thought I'd do a quick painting of one from one of Gary's fabulous photos which you can see on his blog.  Here's a little taster to tempt you................

LINK TO GARY'S BLOG

Absolutely beautiful birds and really hope I get to see them for real on Friday at B&Q!

I've also been busy painting a couple of pet portraits for commissions for Christmas presents so obviously can't show them here until after Christmas but the owners are really pleased with them so I'm very happy!

Have a wonderful day and please leave a comment so I know you've popped by!

Painting Watercolour Christmas Cards

Christmas is drawing ever closer and over the last couple of evenings I've been spending a bit of my spare time painting watercolour Christmas cards based on a frosty robin painting I did recently

LINK TO POST

I've been enjoying painting these little cards - nice and relaxing - no two robins are the same and each card is unique, then I decided to try some snowdrops cards

and can you spot the holly card below....

...I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that robins are my favourite to paint though ...... have a lovely day everyone

Series completed ..... for now

Dunnock

© Sharon Whitley

Just time for one last post before we head to the hills for the next few days.... I've finished off with another often overlooked little bird ... the dunnock, or hedge sparrow -  rather scandalous little birds as they are seldom monogomous -  females will often mate with more than one male and then both males will help feed the chicks, ensuring that the chicks have an adequate supply of food, no matter who the father is!  So their lifestyle is quite colourful even if their feathers aren't!!

So that's it for the garden bird series for now - until hopefully I get some newcomers in - I've now got to decide which paintings to have made into greetings cards so if anyone out there has any ideas which would work best as cards I'd really appreciate your input.

It's looking like a wonderful day for walking tomorrow!  Til next time, have a wonderful weekend....

Now can you tell what it is yet....?

© Sharon Whitley

This will probably be the last post for a few days as we are heading off to the hills at the weekend - firstly to the beautiful Cadair Idris in Snowdonia on Saturday and then off to the Lake District for a few days so more walking and mountain landscape themed posts will be coming up next week, hopefully with blue skies and great views!

I came home from work the other day to find that next door had someone in to cut all the trees and bushes back so it's looking quite bare by the feeders now :-((

Only one more garden bird to paint now - a dunnock  - unlessl I see any new arrivals.  

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend whatever you're doing.......bye for now.

Can you tell what it is yet?

Yes I know ...... it's a bird! I was hoping to finish this tonight after starting it late last night but my daughter has invaded my art room to do her homework! ... so it will have to wait til tomorrow now .... in the meantime though ... can you tell what type of garden bird it is from what I've painted so far ... I'm nearly finished with painting the garden birds -  only a couple more to do unless I get any newcomers arriving - I'd love to see some long tailed tits and Gary assures me that I will in time - and a bullfinch and woodpecker would be nice although unlikely I think where I live -  the elusive sparrowhawk is still keeping a low profile.  

I was appalled yesterday when my daughter rang me when she got home from school upset after witnessing some school boys shooting at starlings with a bb gun - why oh why do some kids (and adults) get their kicks from doing that sort of thing -  I just don't get it and never will.

I had a break from painting birds at the weekend to finish a pet portrait and really hoping the owners like it, it's good to get the drawing practice as I tend to do much more painting than drawing these days...

and last but not least I'd like to introduce you to another garden visitor - not a bird this time but an acrobatic grey squirrel - not as clever as Andrew's squirrel from Rambles with a camera fame as he hasn't managed to destroy any feeders yet or get at any nuts but he keeps popping over to have a go.

Acrobatic squirrel

Hope you're all having a wonderful week whatever you're doing, til next time bloggers!

Carrion Crow and Jenny Wren

Two more birds for you today to continue the series of bird paintings inspired by those that visit my garden.  Firstly the Carrion Crow

Crow

© Sharon Whitley

Crows are known for their intelligence - I love this video from the Life of Birds showing how crows use traffic to crack nuts and pedestrian crossings to collect them in saftey - brilliant!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Carrion_Crow#p007xvww

And another quickie I did tonight is the cute little wren - a little bird with a big voice -   Gary spotted one in my back garden last week 

Wren

© Sharon Whitley

Hope I'm not boring you too much with the garden birds!  Hope you're having a wonderful weekend....

Robins

Robin Redbreast

© Sharon Whitley

Robins are very popular birds - most people like them - even if they're not really into birds - a robin is thought of as being so friendly and you often hear stories of them feeding from the hand  like this ...

Gary shared his sandwiches with this friendly robin when on a walk in the Lake District.

Unfortunately I've not yet been lucky enough to have a bird feeding from my hand - one day hopefully!

Robins may be friendly with us humans but they're not so nice to each other, being extremely territorial and they will attack another robin who intrudes on their territory.

And of course the robin is always associated with Christmas, which is why I tried to give this next painting a more Christmassy feel and give the impression that it's snowing by creating blooms and using a bit of salt to give it an icy cold feel - so hope that comes across.....

Frosty Robin

© Sharon Whitley

Another thing about the robin is that they will nest in the most unusual places - we had a robins nest in our BBQ a couple of years ago (at least I think they were robins - please correct me if I'm wrong anyone who knows any better!)

this last photo I took one morning before heading out for a walk - by the time I got back they had all fledged

Another thing robins are known for is their singing - this is a painting I did last Christmas of a robin in full song...

Singing Robin

© Sharon Whitley

Gary and I spent our day off visiting RSPB Conwy today where we had a lovely walk, and then spent the afternoon on the Great Orme at Llandudno where we spotted a few stonechats - there were also lots of very strong smelling feral Kashmir goats - a very pleasant and relaxing day - to see some gorgeous photos from the nature reserves pop over to Gary's blogpost about our day  -  a good mountain walk is planned for Monday somewhere in Snowdonia depending on the weather! 

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend whatever you're doing.

Finished (I think) Sparrowhawk and Martin Mere

Well here is the finished sparrowhawk painting, many thanks to Brian Rafferty for allowing me to use his beautiful photograph, my sparrowhawk is still playing games with me and keeping out of sight when I'm on the lookout!

Sparrowhawk

© Sharon Whitley

As well as going on that fab walk around the Kentmere Horseshoe at the weekend as seen in the last post, Gary took me to one of his favourite places for photographing birds, WWT Martin Mere. Those of you who visit Gary's blog will have already seen these stunning photos from the day but I'm sure you won't mind another look at a couple of my favourites here as well!

Firstly this gorgeous photo of the Eider duck

....the elegant mute swan

and this beautiful juvenile in sepia

more on Gary's blog post here.  I loved Martin Mere despite feeling a bit under the weather with a rotten cold - I also got to see my first peregrine falcon in the wild which Gary managed to get a record shot of as it flew over from the fence post it had been sitting on ....

More garden bird paintings to follow - still need to paint a robin, a wren, a thrush and a carrion crow!