Ring-necked Duck Studies

Back to our local duck pond, this time to observe a ring-necked duck.  I always chuckle at their name.  Why not 'ring-billed'?  Only in the very best light and very close can I see a dark brown ring around the neck of the drake.

In the middle part of the page I was watching how he slicks down the feathers on his head just before he dives.  Normally he has a little lump back there, but it virtually disappears.

Practice Sketching

Ring-necked Duck -- field sketch

I suppose it is a little late for a New Years's resolution .... but I have been working on this one for most of the month of January.  Honing my ability to draw lifelike animals in a variety of poses is a never ending process.  I want to get better at it!  I'm guilty of tending to pick 'safe' poses.  My resolution for this year is to make a point of doing at least some sketching every day and to dare to fall flat on my face, i.e pick difficult positions.  The above sketch I consider a 'safe' pose.  The next image has some where I'm daring to push my limits.  The pleasant surprise is that sometime they turn out better than I expected.

Birds sketched in my front yard.  No pencil, just jumping right in.    I am  fortunate to have at least a dozen species that are regulars to my feeder.  Here I have lesser goldfinches and dark-eyed juncoes.  Oregon's juncoes are quite different from eastern juncoes.  They used to be considered a separate species, but got lumped into one a few years ago.  

Wolf, 2 elk, and 3 ravens. -- several favorite species drawn from a slide show my husband put together recently.    Usually I post things I've actually drawn from life in "Sketching in Nature',  but I included these to demonstrate one can do a lot of practicing at home so that one is ready when the opportunity arises.  I know I do far better field sketches of a specific species when I have drawn it before . 

Practice!  Practice!  Practice!