In The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds, John Muir Laws writes about feeling the life within the bird as you study, observe, and draw birds in the wild. This way of thinking helps to bring more personality, veracity, and uniqueness into each bird drawing. Each bird is an individual with its own history, timeline, and place in the world. Here’s a chestnut backed chickadee I was working on in my sketchbook using graphite and Faber Castel polychromos pencils. Some concepts discussed in the Muir Laws’ book:
- Start by capturing the angle of the bird’s posture and energy
- Build the bird body with overlapping circles and think about the proportion of the head to the body
- Add angles around your circular shapes to refine the shape of the head and wings
- Details are not necessary to capture the essence of the bird or to create a realistic observation
In my sketch I haven’t finished the cherry blossom branch or legs and feet of the bird. I hope to complete it soon.
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