Duck Duck Goose

 Recently I had the opportunity to accompany fellow artist/illustrator and friend Mark Klingler on a duck photo field trip to Presque Isle in Eerie, PA. Mark was one of the first scientific illustrators I'd met, an excellent teacher and avid ducker as well. Mark’s day job is rendering dinosaurs for various paleontologists at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

http://www.carnegiemnh.org/vp/klingler.html

Millions of Gizzard Shad line the shoreline

It's still pretty brisk out on the great lakes in mid-March, but the variety of ducks was an eye opener. I've been aware (from reading bird books) that there are a variety of ducks in the world beyond your standard mallard, but I was pleasantly surprised to find such a rich diversity of geese and ducks so close to home.

Because of the cold temperatures and lack of ice on the lake, there was also a massive die off of gizzard shad and the beaches were littered with dead fish for miles. A little unsettling to think you are walking on a snowy beach only to find frozen fish underfoot! This is a natural phenomenon brought on by the wintery temperatures, but still very unsettling...and a bit smelly.

http://www.thereporteronline.com/article/20130301/NEWS03/130309983/pa-dep-fish-kill-in-presque-isle-bay-natural-

 

Since it was so cold, we concentrated on recording duck behavior via camera for later drawings. Mark's camera skills are superior to mine, but even my blurry photos are enough to work from for quick studies. I mention this just in case you might be thinking you need to be Ansel Adams as well as Picasso. Your own photos are excellent resources for drawing and painting. I see so many of my students working from images from magazines, books or other photographers work, which is a no-no. You can't sell a painting that is just a copy of another persons work. But you dont have to be an expert with a camera yourself. And your skill will improve as you practice. 

Red-breasted Mergansers

 
You'll also notice I've taken the liberty to move the female ducks a bit closer to the males for the sake of composition. Don't feel married to the snapshot, as it is. You can take bits and pieces from several of your photos to create a solid composition.

 

Northern Shovelers

You'll notice the different bills on each species, but particularly the Northern Shoveler which has a wide fat spoon shaped bill. Their common feeding habit is to filter food from water through their bills which have comb-like projections along the edges. 

Hooded Mergansers

A nice surprise was these Hooded Mergansers. At the time we were snapping pictures, this gathering was well away on the other side of the lake and my telephoto lens was struggling to get a lock. At the time I thought they might be Buffle heads, but zooming in on it in Photoshop, I think they are actually Hooded Mergansers.

These quick studies were done with a variety of watercolor pencils. My favorites are the Stabilo brand (which they unfortunately no longer make). The Derwent Inktense line is a nice pencil too and I find I am often picking them up.

http://www.dickblick.com/products/derwent-inktense-pencils/

 Eventually, I might work some of the sketches up to a final oil or watercolor painting, but right now this is all I had time  to complete. If you are feeling frustrated by the time restraints of doing a full fledge work, try and take a step back. Field sketching and studies might not seem so glorious, but having a solid sketching ability is a foundation for later success.

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Fish facts: Spotted Drums (Equetus punctatus)

Spotted Drums (Equetus punctatus) are surely one of the more overlooked coral reef habitants around. Which is too bad, as they are as visually striking and elegant as any Moorish Idol or Angel Fish...well as juveniles, that is.  they are quick small and somewhat shy. It's tricky getting a good shot of these fellows. Check out soem links here from some more dediated photographers:http://www.uwphoto.net/pages/gallery_ci00-126.html

As adults, they are still very unique, but a little more clownish. They don't ever really grow into that
http://reefbuilders.com/2010/09/14/spotted-drum-equetus-punctatus/

Spotted Drums (Juveniles) Amanda Zimmerman

In the wild, they are often found in Western Atlantic's warmer waters: Bermuda, Florida (USA), and Bahamas to the Antilles down to Yucatan (Mexico) to Brazil.

I did have a chance to observe a few of these fellows while snorkeling in St Lucia last year. I'm glad I took the time to check them out, as I had a friend request a painting of the species shortly after.  I was able to use memory to compose an interesting group portrait and video and other references to check my anatomy for accuracy.


Here is the finished piece.


These fish for remarkable to study. Its hard to believe that they eventually grow into the slow plodding adults. They are from a family of fish called Sciaenidae, which have some common names such as  drums, croakers, or hardheads because of the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make.

http://www.ehow.com/video_4961478_coral-reef-fish-juvenile-spotted.html


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Sketching 101

If you want to be a better sketcher, there is nothing to substitute for practice. Stop worrying about it being good. Stop judging and just start drawing and sketching.
Sketch anything and everything. Sketch what you enjoy sketching but also practice more difficult subjects too. Its not just practicing the actual skill of the pencil on the paper, but we also need to train our brain and eye to observe quickly and accurately and record this information. It will take many many sketch books before you end up with elegant, graceful, motion-full images.

Here are some links to some fun sketch exercises:

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/10/20/4-silly-sketching-exercises-to-spark-your-creativity/

http://drawsketch.about.com/library/weekly/aa052003a.htm

I greatly admired a fellow artist who did a great deal of sketching with a ball point pen. It sounds counter-intuitive, but once I made the leap and started working with pen, it ended up improving my sketching abilities three fold.

It forces you to work lighter and ease into your lines. You can no longer back track, so you are forced to observe your subject more accurately. And when you do make a mistake there's no going back to fix it. You just have to move on.

To get started, it might be easier to start from photos before trying to tackle a moving subject matter.

These days I draw in colored pencil or pencil if I have a choice.







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Get Inspired!

I know as artists we keep rather caught up in practicing our medium of choice, but every now and then its healthy to step outside our artistic comfort zone and try something really different. If you are a sculpture artist-try printmaking? Oil painter? Try taking piano lessons. If you draw animals, practice drawing people for a change...even if you know the results will not be as good as your usual subject matter. It's this time spent just messing around and creative play without expectations that allows growth as an artist.

Being inspired needs to come from all facets of your life. From the moment you wake up to the moment your head hits the pillow...AND then of course your dreams are reprocessing of thoughts, feelings and visuals. 

Redondo Beach  photo Dan Zimmerman

 Try spending a day with your camera phone on stand-by, ready to click away those interesting fleeting moments of your day. Look for interesting angles to everyday subject matter.

Catalina Island photo Dan Zimmerman

 Or perhaps a venue or scene where you can edit or delete parts to make a more interesting finished piece.

Redondo Beach photo Dan Zimmerman

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