The er, footage I captured of the Coal Tits wasn’t exactly workable for sketching practise but I came across a great site on YouTube for online birdwatching if you want to study a particular species. Followers of my art practise will know how much I like a good webcam for field sketching warm up, and I found some clips of these tits from Norway, but I then found a great one by a content creator is based here in the UK who has a great playlist of garden birds doing their thing. The good thing about using videos rather than photos is that most photos are beautiful portraits – great for illustration but not so useful for field sketching. I pause the video as this at least gives a view of the bird which is entirely representative rather than posed. Developing muscle memory and hand-eye coordination is so important with any sketching.
I used this video I used for the Coal Tits:
I have found it transformational to have all my art things “out” and accessible – things I’ve not used for years are all there and ready to be reached for, so I plucked out my Hahnemühle Cappuccino Sketchbook and my Derwent Graphitint pencils as I have no other coloured pencils here and they are nice muted colours so perfect for this little bird.
I used a white Derwent Drawing pencil which didn’t really stand out enough even on the creamy-brown paper, so I fetched out some white gouache and painted in the cheeks and wing bars.
blog and website 
Really appreciate your tips – being an avid birdwatcher and at the beginning of my sketching bird journey! Thanks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s nice to know – thank you 🙂
LikeLike