Roz Wound Up

Earnest Ward: Bird Sketching Tips

Left: Drawing of an egret on toned paper ©2013 Earnest Ward. Click on the image to view an enlargement. Used with permission. 

 

Earnest Ward is one of the 40 artists in Danny Gregory's new book "An Illustrated Journey"—but that's not why I'm writing about Ward today. (I've only read through the "L" names in Danny's book so far, savoring it all!)

A drawing of Ward's popped up on a Nature Drawing list to which he and I both belong. I love bird art as you will know if you read my blog much at all. I clicked on the link and found a delightful post about sketching birds. (You can check out "Tiny Voices, Part II [A Tricks of the Trade Tutorial] here.)

In that instructive post Ward explains his outdoor sketching kit and provides some delightful sketching diagrams of bird parts and sketching approaches. I know you'll find his tips clear and helpful.

This is the perfect time of year to start looking out for birds that are returning to their spring nesting areas. Take advantage of Ward's advice and get prepped for going birding with your sketchbook.

If it's too cold in your area to get out and see the birds this weekend you can be inspired by the artwork of Earnest Ward and others over on Danny Gregory's site. Danny is putting up video chats with the artists in his new book. It's great to hear the artists talk about their work and methods—more sketching inspiration until your weather breaks and you can be outside.

UPDATE March 11, 2013—Danny Gregory has posted his Skype interview with Earnest Ward. Go check it out to learn more about this artist and how he works.

Scott Listfield and Visual News

Carl has a new favorite painter: Scott Listfield who paints astronauts and sometimes dinosaurs! 

I found out about Listfield through Visual News. I don't know how I started getting little notes in my email box from Visual News. I must have subscribed to it after someone sent me there for something visual. (I'm not a big subscriber to anything on the internet. OK I subscribe to new videos of Maru!) I'm glad I did, and if you like visual stuff I recommend you go and check it out.

If I had not been getting these emails I would have missed learning about Listfield in this post by Shawn Saleme.

Of course my favorite painting of Listfield's is the Astronaut on a country road looking at the "Alien" crossing sign. Pure joy when I look at that—Alien reduced to infographic. (Also a little scary.)

While you're over at Visual News check out the post—Gifs: Nature Repeats Itself (also, incidently written by Shawn Saleme). It's amazing what you can do with gifs. I particularly like the goose flying gif.

Warning—if you get over to Visual News you'll probably spend some time there checking things out. I guess I should have mentioned this at the beginning of the post. Oops.

We're Adding Another Coordinator in the MCBA Visual Journal Collective

Group members of the MCBA Visual Journal Collective who are members of the group's Facebook or Yahoo Lists have already been notified that member Suzanne Hughes is now co-coordinator for this group.

I wanted to post about it on my blog because I'm very excited that Suzanne has agreed to come on board in this position, and because I know that newer members might not be on either of the info lists, or check the "page" for the Collective here on this blog very often. I don't want them to miss this exciting news.

Suzanne will be handling the Yahoo list (also assessing its utility to the group), working with the Facebook list, and checking into some other possible ways the group can communicate effectively and quickly and visually.

Suzanne has also been helping me work out what to put on the schedule for 2013 and she will continue to be involved in that capacity. If you have any questions about the group or have suggestions you should feel free to contact either of us.

You can visit Suzanne at her blog, Suzanne I Am. For now blog updates about the meetings will continue to be posted on Roz Wound Up and topics will be listed on the MCBA Visual Journal Collective Page. We'll keep you posted about any changes. 

We've devised some fun group activities and are organizing some interesting speakers for 2013 so I hope that you'll save every third Monday of the month for attending the Collective. (Typically we meet from 7 to 9 p.m. but the page will list any earlier or later starts because of topic needs.)

Suzanne is an avid journal keeper and binder of books. She is an art teacher. She believes in the power of observing and sketching. She has been a long-time member of the group who has not only helped with meetings in the past but presented at meetings. Our group is continuing to grow and Suzanne has already been a vital part of that. I'm very excited about how she'll help the group go forward into the future. I hope you'll all join me in welcoming and supporting Suzanne in this position. 

P.S. Suzanne is so good at this stuff that she has already set up a new Flickr group for the MCBA Visual Journal Collective!  (I'm so challenged you know that never would have materialized with me!) Thank you Suzanne. Now members have a way to share and discuss their art with the images present.

This Is How Animated Gifs Should Work

So this morning while delaying the bike ride (I wanted it to be at least 50 degrees as the cooler temps came on suddenly and I'm not quite acclimatized—I know, I know, I love cold weather, but I'm just saying) I popped over to Urban Sketchers to see what people were up to and there was this wonderful animated gif by Bo Soremsky. You should go and watch it now and check out the other links in that post.

I'm just trying to get my animated gifs to switch between a before and after, but Soremsky has made little movies using the animated gif technology. I love what he is doing.

Here's a link to a short narrative made with his sketches and this technique: Passengers: A digital narrative.

Mysteries of Vernacular

My friend Karen just sent me a link to a fun site Mysteries of Vernacular—short videos about words, done as animated altered books. There are several up on the site so far and they are clever and engaging. If you like book arts, animation, altered books, and such, you'll want to check out the site.

Catching Up on My Blog Reading: Bill Sharp

Bill Sharp is a painter who posts paintings (including watercolors) on one blog (Bill Sharp—Paintings) and his lovely watercolor and ink sketches on another blog: Sketchbook Meditations. I suggest you take a your next visual break with Bill. (Visual Breaks are those times when you can't stand working at the computer one moment longer and need to see something human, and don't want to look at videos of YouTube Cats!)

In the best of times I get to visit few blogs. I'm always rushing to finish some work on the computer, write a blog post and then get on to the next job. I much prefer to look at art in books.

In the past several weeks I've been having problems with my internet connection. This week when I got back on line I ended up back at Bill's blogs. I love seeing how he handles space in his landscapes and manages to turn a jumble of vegetation into a recognizable visual design (landscape painters always inspire me).

But I also love his simple pen and watercolor sketches which seem to be effortless and not fussy.

That's my word for today, well two words, "not fussy." I'm going to go try and "be" that right now.

If you have some time today for a visual break go check out Bill's work. He has a lovely white dog named Miki. I don't think Miki gets drawn enough.

OK, so maybe that's just me…but you'll find lots of lovely work to inspire your own "not fussy" day. 

(I added him to the blog list at the base of the left column to remind myself [and you] to visit Bill more.)

Cool Journals to Look Through on a Weekend: Kolby Kirk—The Hike Guy, and A. W. Wainwright

Above: A mosaic of Kolby Kirk's Pacific Crest Trail hiking journals. ©Kolby Kirk. See details below to view this and other images from his journals. If you click on this image you'll go to Kirk's Flickr site.

My friend Heather sent me a link to an inspiring site for hikers and visual journal keepers: The Hike Guy. You can read about Kolby Kirk in his own words at the site and you can look into his Pacific Crest Trail journals here.

Kirk has a lot of interesting posts on his site but one that caught my eye was his DIY Ultra-Light Watercolor Pencil Palette. For me this looks like a complicated way to carry a pan palette and it looks bigger than any of the palettes I carry around at any time. But he also gets more colors—and that matters to him and how he works. I love his post on this because it shows how if you love an art supply and have a creative turn of mind you'll find a way to take it into the field with you.

Poking around his site I saw a post on A.W. Wainright who is famous for writing books about "walks" around England. My favorite is "A Coast to Coast Walk" which I was first shown when I was a teenager and then found again about 10 years ago. When Dottie died I decided I would like to go on the walk and sketch, but while I normally like to be alone I didn't want to "wander lonely as a cloud" (I don't much like Wordsworth anyway) and couldn't find another person interested in going on the walk with me. (I also didn't want to lead a sketching class and have to "entertain" people the whole trip.)

I still content myself with reading passages from the book in the evenings, and then during the day, walking about my own city. It will have to do. But if you like hiking, like illustrations of architecture and landscapes, and like reading about parts of England I suggest you check out Wainright's book(s) after you enjoy Kolby's journals.

Thanks to Kolby and Wainwright we can enjoy the view while staying at home!

Appreciation (If Not Love) of Chickens Runs in the Family

Left: Photographer Rolf Hagberg shoots a goreous model. (Image ©2011 Rolf Hagberg.) Click on the image to view an enlargement.

I just found out that my cousin, photographer Rolf Hagberg, has been shooting chicken portraits! Imagine my complete delight in this knowledge. (Anyone who has read my blog for more than a few days will know I'm absolutely crazy in love with chickens.)

You can read more about his process with tips on photographing live animals here.

If you would like to view the shoot as if you were there (and frankly Rolf, why wasn't I asked to be there!) you can see a video of the chicken photography session here.

And finally, if you want to see the charming and delightful chicken portraits that resulted you can follow this link. (Prints are available for purchase. And while I'm related to Rolf I'm not financially connected in any way; the images are just plain cool.)

One of best things about Rolf's recent images…they take the heat off of me in the family for loving chickens. Next time my folks roll their eyes and shake their heads at the new chicken painting on the easel I can just say, "Rolf loves chickens too." (They adore him. Bingo, Bango, Bongo—what can they say!?)

Judith Lang Main's New Blog and a Nature Lab at RISD

Left: Journal page from Judith Lang Main's journal, while sketching at Minnesota's North Shore. Image ©2011 Judith Lang Main. Click on the image to view an enlargement; click on the link in this caption to go to her original post which contains many more images from this day's outing.

Twin Cities artist Judith Lang Main has just started a new blog: Brush and Pencils.

I first met Judith at one of the first Bell Museum Sketch Nights in 2010. I have since seen her at several of the local sketch outs. She works quickly with pencil and brush to capture both intimate details of wildlife as well as vast vistas and full scenes. Her journal work manages to exude a great sense of place.

At our first meeting Judith worked fearlessly, with wet media, on paper of an unknown origin. (A friend had saved the paper from a dustbin and Judith had then bound it into a book.) Since that time I have seen Judith also work frequently in a Fabriano multi-colored artist journal. She has a wonderful knack of making the often brightly colored papers work well with her vision. She used such a journal at the 2011 Minnesota State Fair.

I just learned of Judith's blog, but it has been up since September of this year. Visit now to catch up from the beginning. Her posts are short on text and focus on her sketches and related photos.

From Judith I learned of The Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab at the Rhode Island School of Design. Visit this link to view a short little video which explains the lab while giving a visual tour. For people familiar with the Bell Museum of Natural History's Touch and See Room the lab will have a very welcoming ambiance. It is definitely on my list of places to visit.

Lijit Search Engine

Hey, does anyone know why my Lijit Search Engine might have disappeared? I noticed it two days ago when I went to search for something myself (crossing referencing my ideas is difficult without it!). All that shows now in the top portion of the left column is a underlined link, which when clicked upon takes you to their website—instead of the little search box format which of course took you to interesting places on my blog.

I've sent them a note but haven't heard anything. I don't want to just jump in and reinstall it if that isn't necessary because it takes some time to generate the cross references and sort of builds them over time. Sigh.

But maybe I'll have to switch.

If you have a search engine for your blog that you really like drop me a line. I'd love to hear about it.

Or if you know what's up with Lijit, ditto.

In the meantime I'm sorry for the inconvenience—that you can't simply go to the search box and type in a key word. I hope, while I sort this all out, that you'll amuse yourself by trying out the "suggested" extra reading by LinkWithin, which appears at the base of each post.

Update Monday, October 17, 2011. Thank you to everyone who wrote in with feedback—some who had no problem seeing the widget, others who didn't see the widget because they had "blockers" of some sort running. I am 90 percent certain the problem is something in my browser software—some update turned a blocker on again or something. So I'll look into that. Thanks again. I really like this little search engine and don't want to lose it—for my use!