![]() ![]() As an initial exercise (on the lower right of the sheet), I drew the bird in its most basic shapes to show you how I see it. I view my world as a series of shapes and forms - mainly circles, squares, triangles and cylinders. I should also mention that the nuthatch is a tiny bird (4 inches from beak to tail), but I decided to draw it larger than life to better showcase the species and its beautiful markings. I simply chose it because it reminds me of the experience of being in the woods on a cold winter’s day (the shortest day of the year), when the birds and I were the only creatures around. My choice of subject - a red-breasted nuthatch - wasn’t dictated by the bird’s pose or an interesting light source. I’ll show you the techniques I used to create one of my preliminary sketches enhanced with acrylic washes in the following demonstration. These drawings that I make for my paintings I call preliminary sketches, and they have by definition an unfinished look - no background, parts of the subject that fade off and undefined edges. I then prepare my initial idea on a separate piece of paper and transfer it to a board so I can preserve my original experience and enjoy developing it once again. Back in the studio, I’ll look through all the reference I’ve gathered to decide which of my experiences I want to depict at that particular moment. While on location, I also gather as much reference as possible, from photographs to actual specimens - fallen feathers, fur, grasses and the like. I tend to travel to where my subjects live so I can observe their behaviors and interactions within their natural habitats. It’s this complexity - combined with the subtleties of mood and environment - that I attempt to capture in my drawings and paintings. I’ve always been intrigued by nature’s intricate details. Red-Breasted Nuthatch (graphite and acrylic, 12×9) Kitler shares easy techniques and expert tips on how to draw birds. You’ll learn how to create beautiful paintings of realistic birds in impressionist natural settings that are full of color and void of complications. And when you are done with that, you’ll be ready to add luscious paint, which is where the Essentials of Painting Birds comes in. Here David Kitler shows us how to draw a bird with a ton of attitude in just ten steps. Take birds as your subject matter and you discover the fun of color and texture … and attitude! Birds are a constant companion for many of us and yet we can forget to explore them in our art. Not when you consider the birds in your backyard or the pigeons on the sidewalk or seagulls cawing at you if you live along the coast. So one sees prey that the other doesn’t.Wherever you live, you likely don’t live alone. ![]() One way these different climbing adaptations play out: Primarily, nuthatches search for insects in the crevices of bark while climbing down, while woodpeckers forage as they climb up. And it has a rear-facing toe equipped with a long, sharp claw that’s ideal for hanging on while heading downward. It walks over the bark by grasping it with one leg while using the other for a prop. A nuthatch’s tail is shorter than a woodpecker’s, but its legs are longer and very strong. Nuthatches are also expert climbers, but they can easily go up and down. Hitching down? Not so much-usually they’ll fly. So when traveling upward, the woodpecker’s a master. And the spiky central feathers in its long, stiff tail dig into the bark, bracing the bird against the tree while climbing. Relatively short legs mean it can anchor itself securely. Its foot design is ideal for clinging, with two toes pointing forward and two back. No bird is better adapted for climbing up a tree trunk than a woodpecker. ![]()
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