Field Notes And Sketches.

[Firstlight]

Hi,
I was in a hide early in the morning (Firstlight !), hoping to get some snaps of a Scaup, I could see it but it was too far away to get a suitable image, when into the hide came a guy of about mid 50s.He set himself up at the far end of the hide and proceeded to set up a clamp to hold his bins and then pulled out a sketch book and pencils, and as you do sketched.
Well since the duck did not get any closer I decided to leave, and since my curiosity was getting the better of me I decided to have a look at the mans efforts.
He had produced some very good yet simple drgs, with pointers and colours for salient features, and in the hour we were there he had produced about six sketches.
So the question is, do any of you do field notes/sketches, if so can/would you like to produce a page for us to see, or are notes etc a thing of the past.
regards David.
PS- I didn't get the Scaup.

[Colin Key]

Dave,

An interesting thread; I have just had a rummage through a few notebooks but, unfortunately, all my "good" ones (with annotated sketches) are back in London. I do look at the notes (just read the account of my first Short-eared Owl at Elmley in heavy snow) and they instantly bring back "the moment".

A friend of mine, Michael Benington, (he illustrated the "Breeding Birds of the Algarve" way back in 1994) visits the Algarve twice every year and spends most of his time at or around Lagoa dos Salgados where he sets up his tripod and scope and folding stool and spends his time making pencil sketches from which he subsequently produces watercolour or oil paintings. His initial sketches are superb; from a quick outline of the bird at first sight he will proceed to fill in detail with subsequent views of the same bird, albeit in different postions. The last sketches I saw of his, a couple of weeks ago, were of a Short-toed Eagle being mobbed by Azure-winged Magpies - sheer poetry.

But, he is an artist and I am a birder: he produces fine artwork but I see more birds. I try to make up for it by attempting to take photographs.

Colin

[Joe stockwell]

i used to sketch before i got my camera i now seem to leave the pad at home

[Graham Etherington]

David,
Nice post. I'm the worlds worst drawer/sketcher/artist, so I no longer carry a notepad and pen with me. 90% of the time I carry a digital camera (an old Nikon Coolpix for when I'm carrying my scope, a Cannon digital SLR with a 300mm lens when I'm just using binoculars), but cameras don't usually capture the 'essence' of a bird, or enough detail to accurately record the behaviour of a bird to get it accepted by a records committee. So, I always carry a Dictaphone to record notes. It's a great way to take notes as you can look through your bins/scope continuously and rattle of loads of notes during the briefest of views. Also, the ability to just reach in your pocket, pull out your Dictaphone and record what you've seen and still be able to keep your eye on what's going on around you, means you won't miss that fly-over Gyr Falcon :-)

[forktail]

David,
Nice post. I'm the worlds worst drawer/sketcher/artist, so I no longer carry a notepad and pen with me. 90% of the time I carry a digital camera (an old Nikon Coolpix for when I'm carrying my scope, a Cannon digital SLR with a 300mm lens when I'm just using binoculars), but cameras don't usually capture the 'essence' of a bird, or enough detail to accurately record the behaviour of a bird to get it accepted by a records committee. So, I always carry a Dictaphone to record notes. It's a great way to take notes as you can look through your bins/scope continuously and rattle of loads of notes during the briefest of views. Also, the ability to just reach in your pocket, pull out your Dictaphone and record what you've seen and still be able to keep your eye on what's going on around you, means you won't miss that fly-over Gyr Falcon :-)

Hi Graham et al

I still prefer a notebook for most situations but when you encounter something pretty good on the coast you might want to get some details down pronto while not taking your eye off the bird - it's possible to use a mobile phone to record these verbal notes onto and also to possibly get some dodgy record shots

As a frustrated artist, I find people who can knock out amazing field sketches very annoying. I've just picked up my brush again and I've resolved to make some progress and do some more fieldsketching - it certainly helps train your eye for certain features and makes you more observant. I do find though that if i stop drawing and painting for any length of time, it takes me a while to get back into it. Certainly not like riding a bike.

hope to see you out here again soon Graham...

F

[Christian Brinkman]

I used to make field sketches but stopped because I didn't see any improvement in my work. I got excited about it again and started to draw again and see slightly improvement!
I'm still the 2nd worst drawer though, next to Graham :beer: