Bullfinch Studies

Continuing with my theme…

I came across six Bullfinches out on my walk today: I only saw them briefly through the winter branches but their rather mournful whistle is unmistakable. I wondered if the same channel I had used for the sparrows had any finch footage, and I couldn’t seem to find any, but found this from Paul Dinning’s channel. Here are some wonderful clips of some on a bird feeder:

Bullfinches are great as they have such clear delineation with the blocks of colour so it’s easier to focus on the shapes rather than get too bogged down in trying to draw a bird. I used my mixed media sketchbook again as I thought the grey would look good with the plumage. I’ve used gouache, brush pens, white drawing pencil, and my Blackwing pencil.

All these sketches are from paused video, but I thought I would show how I construct a drawing from the following still shot:

They were great fun to do! Here is my finished set of studies.