sketching birds at the Australian Museum

I  spent a few hours at the Australian Museum in Sydney on Saturday and today. I wish I visited more often. I have a membership so can get in for free, so I should make effort to visit. The problem is  - to many wonderful things to draw, to many projects !

 

The Australian Museum

 

Although there are many wonderful floors to explore and sketch, I seem to always head for the Search & Discover Room . It is an information and resource centre. You have a chance to  touch and feel real specimens, and take them to a desk to position and sketch. I had SUCH a good time. Sometimes lines just flow from the pencil. It happened here.

 

I have sketched a few Australian birds before . As with any subject, the more you draw and really LOOK and SEE  it, the more understanding you have of it and the better you get.

 

 

 

 

I usually draw in a 13 x 19 cm Moleskine Watercolour sketchbook.  The only times that I want to draw BIG are at the Museum and the Zoo. So I took an A3 sketchbook this time.

I also took an old ledger that I had bought. I want to explore drawing on printed surfaces.

 

Currawong

 

 

He is almost all black in colour. but I decided to finish in this sketch stage and not "colour in"

 

A3 Arches 300 GSM Smooth Watercolour Paper

 

Pied Currawongs are found throughout eastern Australia. They prefer forests and woodlands, and has become well adapted to suburban areas. Throughout its range it is common and familiar. Average size: 48cm Source: http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Strepera-graculina

Their song  can be heard in Australian suburbs

Currawong

 

I sketched him again, but really  had to add all black otherwise he looked like a penguin with a white front.

 

 

magpie

 

The Australian Magpie is black and white. It is slightly smaller than the currawong  Its nape, upper tail and shoulder are white in males, grey in females. Across most of Australia, the remainder of the body is black. They are common and conspicuous birds.Australian Magpies are found wherever there is a combination of trees and adjacent open areas, including parks and playing fields. Australian Magpies can be very aggressive during breeding season and attacks on humans and pets can occur.

They have a beautiful song which I love to hear. It is a loud musical flute-like song, often performed as a duet or by groups

Source http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Cracticus-tibicen

 

 

I always draw in watercolour pencil. On this page I was showing another sketcher, Jane how I use watercolour pencils to draw and blend. I have been using them everyday for over five years and love what can be done with them.

 

see more of my nature drawings at https://www.flickr.com/photos/alissaduke/sets/72157620757803544/

feathers and nests at https://www.flickr.com/photos/alissaduke/sets/72157633270801883/

 

I draw lots of things and they all go on flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/alissaduke/

snails and cicadas

Drawing of insects from an Australian garden, given to me by friends and family - a snail and cicada
Watercolour pencil in Moleskine Sketchbook

I had always called both of these cicadas and so when I was drawing these I had to actually find out what they were. I was right . They ARE both cicadas. The shell is what the nymph discards when it emerges from living underground.. I remember them being on paperbark trees. At high school we used to put them on our jumpers  like a  brooch.

This particular cicada is a Bladder Cicada. Not the nicest of names, but definitely the prettiest cicada. It ia the less ïnsect-looking" cicada I think

Cicadas are well known for their song/drone. It happens in summer around dusk. The noise is so loud that we always had to close the windows on those hot Queensland summer nights toblock the noise.
The male Bladder Cicadas have the greatly enlarged abdomen, largely hollow. This is the resonating chamber to amplify the loudness of their songs. Females are smaller in size and relatively smaller abdomen.


and here is the snail......

jellyfish on the beach - Australia

Gold Coast, Australia. I spent two days at the sunny Gold Coast in Queensland. (where it was much cooler than Sydney)


I had a few hours to myself at the end of the afternoon and went back to the beach specifically to draw. The first object was a bluebottle jellyfish.

I had particular interest in drawing this creature as I had been stung by one while swimming in the ocean that morning. It was not big, but had a large fine tentacle that wrapped around my legs. OUCH it stung ! That lasted about 15 minutes and then welts were there for a few hours. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_man_o'_war

When I returned to the beach later in the day to draw, there were signs up at the patrolled beaches warning of Marine Stingers in the water.
Studying and drawing the jellyfish was fascinating – the blue colour is so intense in some area - it is almost jewel-like.



I drew other things on the beach and then came across a bell or blubber jellyfish. These are the sort of jelly fish that I vaguely remember seeing on the beach as a child. However, none has been as perfectly formed as this one !!

I am not a beach person and did not grow up on the coast or have beach holidays. So this past few days was an education and an adventure !