Welcome to

Introduction to
Sketching Birds

with Christine Elder

See ChristineElder.com/birds for resources

 WHAT WE’LL COVER TODAY

• Why sketch?
• Bird Anatomy
• Tools & Techniques
• Demonstration
• Practice

Anyone Can Learn Sketching Skills!

A BIT ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Illustration & Design Projects
Workshops
& Classes
Birds are a favorite subject
 WHY SKETCH BIRDS?
• Sharpen observation skills
• Help identify birds in the field
• As a research tool
• For pleasure
Joys of sketching
and observing
birds in their
natural habitat
 Finding birds to sketch
• Photos from magazines and web
• Preserved specimens and study skins
• Museum dioramas, zoos, pet stores, gardens
• In the wild
 ANATOMY - HEAD TO TOE
What to notice and depict in your sketches

An understanding of basic bird anatomy and

how it varies among species is vital to being
able to sketch them realistically
Body shape
Shape is highly variable!
Skeleton determines the shape
Skeleton & body
Coloration &
Field Marks
• Colors often follow
feather tracks
 Color, size
and shape are
effected by
gender, age,
season,
weather,
health
eyes
eyes
Beaks
Beaks
 Jaw
articulation
Wings
Basic parts of the wing
Feathers of the Wing
Feathers
Wings
 Primary
Projection
Long Primaries
Short Primaries
Tails
Tails
Outer tail feathers longest
Inner tail feathers longest
Tail feathers same length
Notice how feathers overlap
Legs
 Foot
anatomy
Feet
SKETCHING MATERIALS
 WHAT TO DEPICT IN SKETCHES
• Most important:
– 1st: Shape (silhouette)
– 2nd: Color patterns /field marks
– 3rd: Notes on behavior, questions you have

• Nice to add if time allows:

– Three dimensional form
– Add color with pencils/ paints
SKETCHING STYLES WITH VARIOUS MEDIA
• Blue pencil then graphite pencil
• Line drawing
• Silhouettes
• Shaded pencil
• Pen using line, stippling, hatching
• Water soluble pencils and pens
• Colored pencil
• Watercolor
• Any of the above on colored paper
Shaded pencil
Pen
Pencil and pen on colored paper
Colored Pencil
Watercolors
Watercolor and colored pencil
on colored paper
Silhouettes/negative shapes
HOW TO DRAW A BIRD
Flippin’
JUST KIDDING!!
 STEPS IN BASIC SKETCHING
• 1st line to represent overall body posture
• 2nd shapes for body, head, wings, tail
• Double check relative proportions and
comparative lengths and alignments
• Notice negative shapes and angles
• Evaluate and correct, firm up best lines, add
details as time allows
• Less is more. Leave some to imagination
• Vary line thickness, avoid heavy outline
First lines light & loose
Quick gestures firmed up in graphite
This handout is available as a pdf download at www.ChristineElder.com/birds
 A Demo Video
• Click on the link below to view my 4 minute
video that demonstrates how I go about
creating a quick sketch a bird

• https://christine-
elder.wistia.com/medias/c2k7t25swt
 LET’S PRACTICE !

Use the photos on the following pages as references to sketch from

 Challenges with field sketching
• Movement
• Distance
• Lighting – low, glaring or backlit
• Keeping track of a bird
 HINTS FOR SKETCHING IN THE FIELD
• Gesture sketching – fast, light, loose, small
thumbnails
• Keep pencil moving without erasing
• Eyes gaze back and forth between subject & paper
• Start a new thumbnail sketch each time bird moves
• Return to a sketch when a bird returns to this
• Focus on field marks and behaviors
• Try drawing just one anatomical part; like bills,
wings
• Draw only what you see, depict silhouettes if far or
backlit, more details of anatomy if bird is close.
 VIDEO RESOURCES
for practicing drawing movement
• Cornell Lab You Tube videos:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODczPMRFN3g
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL42ABoSBRs
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NeRF1edFT0&list=PLgSp
qOFj1Ta7RLy1xxEuIY8nCTr-q6I0m
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O139mm3yl3E&list=PLgS
pqOFj1Ta4xHFM4kKR4VTW8CJmPNNNA

• Macaulay library video clips:

• http://macaulaylibrary.org/video/418044
• http://christineelder.com/blog
Download this resources document at
www.ChristineElder.com/birds
 IN SUMMARY
• Hope this workshop has
aided your love and
understanding of birds and
has given you some skills and
techniques to sketch them
with confidence
• I’d love to see examples of
sketches you produce!

• WWW.CHRISTINEELDER.COM
www.christineelder.com/join
Join my Birds & Blossoms Nature Sketching Retreats
At Pico Bonito Lodge, January 2016
 THANKS

• Thanks to the photographers who provided most of

the photos for this presentation:
• Stephen Shunk
www.ParadiseBirding.com
• Steve Brad www.SteveBradPhoto.com
• Images from BirdsCaribbean pages
• All illustrations by Christine Elder