Tara. I have been sketching my backyard birds for almost a decade now. I love it. And, as you wrote I especially enjoy capturing that ‘jizz’, that individual bird. I’m wanting to take a class (online) to advance my understanding and skill to draw song birds but have not found any beyond beginner ‘draw this bird’ classes. Can you recommend any? I look forward to reading about your journey as a bird artist. Barbara
Hi Barbara! Thanks so much for becoming my first paid subscriber! :) Great question. Everything I’ve learned has come from practice as well as exploring various techniques I’ve found here and there.
What are your goals? Are you wanting to draw very realistically? Let me know and I’ll try to suggest some resources that might be useful. Thanks again!
I draw live daily and though I have gained skill over time, I’m really wanting to get more of the bird on my page. My goal is to study deeply about bird anatomy and to study realistic drawing of birds so that I can take that skill into my live daily sketching.
That’s fantastic. If you don’t already have a copy of it, you might consider getting The Manual of Ornithology (Amazon: https://a.co/d/3xdRBxG). It’s a wonderful resource and beautifully illustrated. That’s how I learned bird anatomy. I also wrote several posts on my old blog about bird anatomy and considerations for artists (https://tarakatedesigns.com/blog/); you can scroll back through the pages to find posts on feet, bills, and the skull. Truth be told, though, I should rewrite these because I’ve learned so much since they were written. I’ll do some brainstorming about other resources that might be helpful for you. Stay tuned!
Thank you for this. There’s much here to pursue. You’ve made my morning. I am sitting drinking my tea watching the sunrise waiting for my backyard birds.
You’re so welcome! Let me know if you have any questions. I’m happy to help! Drawing birds is one of the greatest joys of my life and anything I can do to help you grow as an artist is a joy and privilege. XO
Tara. I have been sketching my backyard birds for almost a decade now. I love it. And, as you wrote I especially enjoy capturing that ‘jizz’, that individual bird. I’m wanting to take a class (online) to advance my understanding and skill to draw song birds but have not found any beyond beginner ‘draw this bird’ classes. Can you recommend any? I look forward to reading about your journey as a bird artist. Barbara
Hi Barbara! Thanks so much for becoming my first paid subscriber! :) Great question. Everything I’ve learned has come from practice as well as exploring various techniques I’ve found here and there.
What are your goals? Are you wanting to draw very realistically? Let me know and I’ll try to suggest some resources that might be useful. Thanks again!
I draw live daily and though I have gained skill over time, I’m really wanting to get more of the bird on my page. My goal is to study deeply about bird anatomy and to study realistic drawing of birds so that I can take that skill into my live daily sketching.
That’s fantastic. If you don’t already have a copy of it, you might consider getting The Manual of Ornithology (Amazon: https://a.co/d/3xdRBxG). It’s a wonderful resource and beautifully illustrated. That’s how I learned bird anatomy. I also wrote several posts on my old blog about bird anatomy and considerations for artists (https://tarakatedesigns.com/blog/); you can scroll back through the pages to find posts on feet, bills, and the skull. Truth be told, though, I should rewrite these because I’ve learned so much since they were written. I’ll do some brainstorming about other resources that might be helpful for you. Stay tuned!
Thank you for this. There’s much here to pursue. You’ve made my morning. I am sitting drinking my tea watching the sunrise waiting for my backyard birds.
You’re so welcome! Let me know if you have any questions. I’m happy to help! Drawing birds is one of the greatest joys of my life and anything I can do to help you grow as an artist is a joy and privilege. XO