Birdmarks!

I decided that I hadn’t been drawing enough birds. So, as a solution, I made these bookmarks. Printed versions of which will be for sale in my shop once I finish page 2.

Top: Gray Tufted Titmouse, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Mourning Dove. Bottom: Downy Woodpecker, Barn Swallow, Blue Jay, Golden-Crowned Kinglet

The technique is a shade different than usual, as I saved the inking for last. Sort of like that, feel like it frees me up for a somewhat more expressive mark. Considering how overly controlled my mark usually is, that’s probably a good thing.

WIP stages below the break!

I’m weird, and like to do things like scrolling up and down a webpage and comparing stages of a painting in order. To that purpose (and supposing that I have readers who are as strange as I am) I have put these in reverse order! So take a stroll back in time with me, if you will…

The first pass with some paint.

The initial pencilwork.

These were done on hemp paper with a mechanical pencil, Yarka watercolors, and FW Acrylic sepia ink using a crowquill pen. That’s probably the last time I use FW, because it clogs abysmally. I’m not sure why I’ve used it this long, except that I had to throw out my Dr. PH Martin’s Bombay brown ink out because it spoiled and started stinking like mildew (warning: it’s not meant to be kept for 5 years).