Tag Archives: color

Drawing – Spruce Grouse

Posted on November 10, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment
Spruce Grouse - Drawing by Terry Sohl

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This is one I started drawing on the evening of the election.  Always a good thing to do to take my mind off things, although I admit I wasn’t very successful doing it that night.  I did get started that night, but especially once it was obvious how well things were going in the election, I backed off the drawing and sat glued to the TV.

I ended up spending a number of evenings this week on this.  It’s always so much easier to do a bird without intricate plumage patterns.  The colors may not be brilliant for a Spruce Grouse, but the feather pattern is awfully complex.  I spent more time on this one than any other drawing I’ve done.  As per usual for me…I end up happy with the bird itself, and then never know what to do to finish it off.  I initially thought of putting this guy on the  bough of a spruce tree and doing a very detailed background and habitat, but I just don’t have the energy to put in the same detail in the background as I do in the bird.

I’ve seen these a few times before, in far northern Minnesota, northern Michigan, and in Maine, but have never gotten a photo.

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Late night drawing – Roseate Spoonbill

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment
Roseate Spoonbill - Drawing by Terry Sohl

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I started drawing this evening, and just kept going until I got done.  This is a Roseate Spoonbill.  In the United States, you can only find them down by the Gulf Coast.  Weird looking birds, with gorgeous plumage, but very odd colors on the head, and then the unique spoon-shaped bill.

Usually it takes me 2 – 3 hours to do a drawing, but normally I’m drawing something that’s roughly 8″ x 10″.  I decided to use my larger paper for this guy.  It’s a large bird!  And it didn’t seem like I could do it justice on 8×10. It took a lot longer to finish than I thought.

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Drawing – Piping Plover

Posted on October 14, 2012 by Terry| Leave a comment
Piping Plover - Drawing by Terry Sohl

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It’s been a few weeks since I’ve drawn anything, so I set some time aside this afternoon to draw.  I guess this is a “nemesis” bird for me, one I haven’t seen, even though they’re found in South Dakota.  However, Piping Plovers are considered endangered in many states, and are listed as “threatened” in the U.S. as a whole.  Piping Plovers nest in sandy areas, and in the interior of the U.S., such as in South Dakota, they typically nest on sand bars in rivers.

The only place you can (reliably) see them in South Dakota is along the Missouri River and major tributaries, where large sandbars are available for nesting.  It’s a minimum of a 2 1/2 hour drive to get to the Missouri from where we live, and I just haven’t taken the time yet to do a trip devoted to finding these guys.  Given that I also haven’t seen a Least Tern before, another threatened species found in similar habitat, it’s about time I do so!  Maybe next summer.

But in the meantime, a drawing.  Can’t say as I’ve tried to draw sand before!  Took some experimenting before coming up with something that at least could be interpreted as sand, if you squint your eyes and use your imagination. ;-)

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Drawing – Green-breasted Mango

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment
Green-breasted Mango by Terry Sohl

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Getting back to reality tomorrow, going back to work after being at home the last couple of days with shingles.  Still hurts, but getting better, and 2 days of sick leave is 2 days more than I think I used over the last year or two.  Time to get back in the swing of things again.

So, to get my butt off the couch and get used to moving around again (it HURTS when I move!!), I got up and drew tonight.  This is a male “Green-breasted Mango”, a really beautiful tropical hummingbird.  They’re just visitors to the U.S., as their normal range is in Mexico and Central America. Curiously though, there have been some sightings FAR from their normal range, including one up in Wisconsin!  So, while my chances of ever actually seeing one “live” are poor…I keep an eye out on my hummingbird feeder, just in case.  ;-)
But until that happens, drawing one is about as close as I’ll get to this species.

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Drawing – Boreal Owl

Posted on September 15, 2012 by Terry| 2 Comments
Boreal Owl - Drawing by Terry Sohl

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What fun!! Shingles!! Had a bit of a burning in my ribs earlier this week, and one night it turned into a full-blown fire from my back to my chest. Woke up the next morning to find a lovely rash on my chest, and ever since have been fighting some invisible guy who keeps wacking me in the ribs with a sword dipped in lava. Good times!

So, trying to get my mind occupied today, and drew this, a Boreal Owl. These are little owls of the northern forests (or forests of the mountain west). I’ve never seen one, as they are only very rare visitors to Dakota. Beautiful little birds though, and I do enjoy drawing owls.
I spent much more time with this one. Think I need to learn to just slow down and spend more time on all of them I draw. Just sometimes I get antsy and want to finish in one evening!!

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Drawing – Snail Kite

Posted on September 8, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment
Drawing of a Snail Kite by Terry Sohl

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Another drawing.  This is a bird I’m definitely not going to see up here in South Dakota, as they’re a specialty of the tropics.  They do make it as far north as Florida, however.

Not all bird species are well-named, but Snail Kites definitely are.  They feed very heavily on snails, with their very long, hooked beaks specialized for extracting large snails like Apple Snails from their shells.
Snail Kite, with snail!

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Drawing – Passenger Pigeon

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment

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Of all the drawings I’ve done so far, I think there are only 2 species where I actually also have good photos.  Most are birds I don’t have photos of, so drawing is a way to “fill in the gaps”.

This is DEFINITELY a “fill in the gap” drawing, as it’s a bird I will never see!  This is a Passenger Pigeon.  Once one of the most abundant birds on the planet, then driven to extinction in a matter of a few decades.  There are some controversial proposals out there to “revive” extinct species through DNA extraction and genetic wizardry.  I for one am all for it, but I truly doubt it would ever “work” for a bird like the Passenger Pigeon.

Maybe someday they’ll be able to produce a Passenger Pigeon, but, one reason it’s thought the birds were driven to extinction was the disruption in their complex social structure.  The birds used to flock and roost in flocks numbering in the many millions, and it’s thought once numbers dropped below a certain threshold, the breeding and social structure of the species collapsed.  Even if they could recreate the species one day, I doubt they’d ever be able to get a self-sustaining wild population established.

Sad…really pretty birds.

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Drawing – Red-throated Loon

Posted on August 26, 2012 by Terry| 2 Comments
Red-throated Loon - Drawing by Terry Sohl

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Nice relaxing Sunday afternoon.  Went to a movie with my son, came back and did some drawing.  This is a Red-throated Loon.

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Drawing – Elegant Trogon

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Terry| 2 Comments
Elegant Trogon

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Cloudy, dreary day today, good to to take a couple of hours and draw.  This is an Elegant Trogon, a bird with a range that just crosses into the U.S. in far southern Arizona.

A few years ago, I had a good chance to see one, but missed out.  There’s a wonderful B&B we’ve stayed at several times just outside of Tucson.  I’ve had a blast birding around Tucson itself, but there are some rather famous birding areas south of Tucson, near the Mexican border.  One of these is “Ramsey Canyon”, an area managed by the Nature Conservancy.  On the last trip we took to Tucson, we drove down to check out Ramsey Canyon.

It was a wonderful visit.  The canyons in far southern Arizona are also famous for the variety of hummingbird species that can show up, including many tropical hummingbirds that only rarely are found in the U.S.  We certainly saw a lot of hummingbirds, and other species.  But alas…we missed out on seeing an Elegant Trogon.  As we were walking the trail, I asked the TNC person that we came across, and she said people had just seen it minutes before, but then it flew up higher into the canopy.  We looked for a bit, but never did see it.

So…like pretty much everything else I’ve been drawing…here’s a drawing of something I haven’t seen before.  Gorgeous birds, hopefully someday I’ll get another chance to see one in the wild.

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Drawing – Cape May Warbler

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment

Cape May WarblerHmmm.  It’s been over a month now for me to get over myself and my little health challenge.  Maybe it’s time to start posting out here on my blog again.

It CERTAINLY is time to get back into the swing of things for life in general.  Hence, my first drawing in a month.  A very nice night tonight, watching the Olympics and drawing.  This is a bird I’ve seen here, but have never been able to photograph.  It’s a Cape May Warbler.  They come through in the spring in small numbers, but definitely aren’t common, and aren’t here for very long.  A good  candidate for a drawing!

Click on the small image for a larger view. 

Coming soon…more opinionated posts from the stubborn guy running this blog…

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