Wednesday Sketching: Loon Study

Today’s sketch may also be categorized as the 100 Day Project. I am again working with photographs by husband Bill. Having recently enjoyed spending time with loons while on the lake in Wisconsin, I gained more appreciation for the beauty of these birds. This photograph is a classic loon pose: neck held in a graceful S-curve, head and bill slightly raised. But what I’m interested in for this exercise is the graphic quality of those black and white feathers. I zoomed in on Bill’s picture to examine the feathers more closely.

I started my sketch by drawing strong lines to separate what I see as four quadrants of an abstract view. Using a micron fine tip pen, I drew in the white markings, making shapes with a lot of variety – just like I see them. Then I used a Stabilo permanent marker to fill in around all of the white dots.

I originally wanted to do this art piece in black and white only. But the solid-looking color of the neck suggested an opportunity to try out a water soluable graphite pencil. So, I did and used it again on the lower body.

In the end, I felt compelled to add a little bit of color, in the form of red ink and blue watercolor paint for the water and sky.

I took some liberties with a few red dots. They create some focal points, and echo the bird’s red eye, which remains unseen in my sketch.

My abstract loon was drawn on smooth paper in a 9 x 9 sketchbook.