untamedartists

For my first post in this snazzy new forum, dedicated just to me, thanks Leigh I think it's appropriate to talk about getting the skills necessary in the first place to put yourself out there in the wildlife art field. Sketching is hugely important, not just in the early days, but ongoing. Some people seem to make their preliminary drawings for paintings look like 'finished' sketches. Leigh is particularly good at this. I'm not, but sketching is something I try to work on, even if it's from photographs. I also try to get out into the field and do it from life too, and not just with wildlife, but with trees, statues, buildings etc etc. It all helps in that eye / hand coordination.

Use whatever is at hand, pencil, biro, gel pen, watercolours, sticks
Don't worry too much about speed. Some people work fast, some slower. I tend to use things that can't be rubbed out like biro or coloured pens. That way, I'm forced to improve. I also try to use a lot of values, making my darks really dark to try and get depth and reality to my work.

Here's a few examples, some took a couple of hours, most were less than half an hour.

It's so great to see the fundamentals being covered from the get go. I've always believed that solid painting comes from solid drawing. Sketching gives you the tools necessary to bring everything together as it teaches you the importance of observation along with factors such as form, tone, value and composition without confusing them with colour.

These works show great diversity and depth. I particularly love your watercolour study of the chimp!

Many thanks Leigh. I'll throw a few more in to show the variety I like to work with. I think wildlife art is the ultimate for my personality, but if that was all I ever did, I'd probably miss out on some great learning experiences.









This one looks like it belongs on "the Simpsons' for some reason

Do you find that your earlier work seems to have a different feel because you were working more instinctively and didn't have rules to work from that you do now? I remember when I was doing the comics that my earlier stuff it was much easier at the start than later when I knew the rules...

Yes, you are absolutely right. That's one of the reasons I still do quite a bit of sketching, and sometimes sketch with no thought of turning it into a finished piece. You can simply go at it with no thought for composition and other things. The examples of gel pen drawings above, well, I use them as I can't rub them out so I have to try to be accurate, but I simply start drawing. If I get it wrong, I keep drawing and scribbling away until there's something passable there. Even if it's a total dustbin piece, I would have learnt something and improved my ability somewhat.

I'm definitely thinking about getting the watercolours out again and using them for sketching. I remember one you did that was very spontaneous.