The Turkish Sweetgum Project

Earlier in June I was lucky enough to be one of four SWLA (Society of Wildlife Artists) artists invited to take part in an EU funded partnership with Doğa Koruma Merkezi (DKM), a Turkish environmental NGO. Working under the expert stewardship of an administrative team, the four tutors (myself, Nik Pollard, Greg Poole and Esther Tyson)…

We are starting to receive applications for John Busby seabird drawing course bursaries. These will be judged around mid October and the winners announced at the annual Natural Eye exhibition at the Mall galleries.
This years course was as good as ever, it is a great way of getting no nonsense field sketching experience working alongside artists with a diverse range of experience. The ‘ethos’ of the course is very supportive and we encourage sharing of knowledge amongst tutors and ‘students’ from day one.
Some recent posts that give some sense of what to expect.

Seabird Drawing Course

Last week I attended the week long John Busby Seabird Drawing Course in Scotland joining regular artist tutors Darren Woodhead, Greg Poole, Kittie Jones and John Threlfall as a guest tutor. The week was exceptional – absolutely fantastic locations, fine weather almost throughout, great company and some wonderful creative opportunities to be shared with the…

Seabirds in Scotland

Straight after my trip to Turkey, it was off to Scotland for the Seabird Drawing course. Formerly led by the late John Busby, the Seabird Course is now headed by Darren Woodhead, along with Greg Poole, John Threfall and Kitty Jones. This year Bruce Pearson was the invited guest tutor.

Seabird drawing course & Turkey sweetgum project – Greg Poole – Artist / Illustrator based in Bristol, UK

Seabird drawing course & Turkey sweetgum project   Sunday-10-July-2016 Coming down to earth after what has seemed an epic field sketching month… 10 days based in Koycegiz, Western Turkey with Nik Pollard, Esther Tyson and Ben Woodhams. The project a DKM/ SWLA collaboration.

Screenprint with Carry Akroyd – Sat 29th Oct
Linocuts with Robert Greenhalf (assisted by Brin Edwards) – Sun 30th Oct
Mono and Relief Prints with Kim Atkinson & Greg Poole – Sun 6th November
Fuller descriptions of the courses to follow.
More details and booking through Darren Rees darrenreesart@btinternet.com
tel; 01786 870538.
NB. Courses are open to all.

I never dreamed that I would get a bursary, especially SWLA and Seabird Drawing Course. And to my great surprise and happiness I actually won it along with two other artists for 2016!
A little tense and nervous about the week, I had no idea what to expect. Thought I would have prepared myself better before I left for the week, I wanted to get out as much as possible during those days. But once in place, I began to understand that it had not mattered in any great significant way, when everything was new and impressions came in a constant and intense flow. For me, just the language was a challenge and it took a few days just to get into the spoken words. Then all the great meetings with like-minded and creative people were an experience I never encountered before, and that was just as interesting and giving as any seabird. Besides that, the extremely beautiful and for me completely new environments in which we worked during the days was a challenge that I had to face. In addition, trying to perform and express myself artistically during very intense days, it was easier said than done.
It became just a couple of fantastic days all thorough!
Wonderful tutors! Fantastic participants! All incredibly talented artists that during the week contributed with themselves in an amazing way. It all created a mood in the group that I have not experienced anywhere else. Everybody gave of themselves and contributed in a way that created a feeling that everyone was equal before the daily tasks we had before us. For me this meant that it was easier to ask and show my problems (which were many) to get guidance on how to develop and take on the struggles when I got stuck. And I got stuck, I did! Continuously! Absolute blockage at the bare sights of all the great impressions that nature offered. The big question, how will I be able to capture something as big and beautiful as this on a small piece of paper?
Sure, it took a few days to start releasing old structures, but when it started to happen it was a sense of awareness and fascination. A combination of the intense explosions of impressions and actually getting to socialize with peers (artists with a passion for nature) made sure I got completely different ways of thinking. To see how others did work, to hear other thoughts and to get to know the struggles others had gone through to get where they were, was nothing short of wonderful, perhaps especially for me who always worked alone.
I learned so much and I am very grateful that I got the opportunity to go on this week. What I brought from the week will be with me always and I strongly recommend John Busby Seabird Drawing week. And apply for the bursary! Quite clearly, you never know, but suddenly, you can get it!
It feels like I´m now beginning the real journey to discover the wildlife within me, and I can´t wait to find out just how my expression of the feeling will come out on that little piece of paper when I get that fantastic impression of the nature exploding in all it´s fantasticness that only nature can do.
Thank You!

Standing on Bass Rock, looking up into a dark, ominous sky trying to take in the spectacle of thousands of Gannets reeling and swirling in the wind.  The constantly changing shapes, sharp and angular, soft and rounded, delicate tones. To try and fix an image in your minds eye and transfer it to paper. To capture the foreshortening of a wing, the form of a beak in a moment.

To have the opportunity to be in such a place, surrounded by so much energy and activity and to draw is one I will never forget.  The sheer intensity of those few hours trying to capture as much of the experience on paper as possible and to have that experience with other artists was invaluable. To then contrast that with the peace and quiet of Tyninghame estuary or the towering cliffs of St Abbs is incredible.

When I first began drawing, I worked on etchings primarily.  By the very nature of that medium my work has always been executed in a very detailed and methodical manner which then fed into the pencil drawings I have been doing of late.  From the earliest stages of an idea I spend many hours meticulously studying and drawing a subject in as much detail as possible until starting on a plate on my studio.  When it was first suggested to me that I apply for the bursary I was over the moon.  As a self-taught artist, the chance to spend a week with tutors from the SWLA and other artists was too good to miss.  I must admit, I had no real idea quite what to expect from the week but that I wanted to try to learn to draw more freely and be in an environment that might push me somewhere new.

As someone with no artistic training, the course has given me a huge insight into the working practices and approaches of artists I aspire to be like and it has certainly challenged every facet of the approach I have developed toward my work.  Of course there is the opportunity to spend time at wonderful sea bird colonies from St Abbs with Guillimots and Razor Bills to Dunbar with Kittiwakes and Bass Rock and its Gannets drawing intently.  But, there is also the opportunity to do that with a group of artists with widely differing approaches, triggering new ideas, new thinking and pushing you to try new techniques and media.

This experience, the conversations, the talks from the tutors, seeing everyone else’s work, (overcoming the inevitable and frequent mental overloads!) has changed my way of working and thinking.  It is not only a seabird drawing course, it is also a creative process course and that is something that I feel must make this a unique and vital experience – I cannot wait until the next one!

For anyone thinking of applying for the Seabird drawing bursary – Do!  It is an incredible experience that the SWLA gave me and one that is unique and wonderful in its nature.  One for which I will be grateful forever.

The Mall Galleries have updated their website with information on dates and how to submit to The Natural Eye –  SWLA Exhibition 2017

Society of Wildlife Open Exhibition Call for Entries

Submissions are invited to the Society of Wildlife Artists 54th Annual Exhibition 2017 at Mall Galleries. How to Submit ALL work must be submitted online.

The world famous British Bird Watching Fair attracts over 20,000 visitors over the three day event and the Society of Wildlife Artists is proud to be part of the experience. The impressive Art Marquee offers visitors the chance to buy art and talk to the artists themselves and the large SWLA stand is a key part of the display showing a wide range of work from member artists using wildlife, not just birds, as the theme.

The exciting new book ‘Flight Lines’, celebrating the BTO/SWLA Flight Lines project, which brought together SWLA member artists, BTO researchers and volunteers to document migrant birds and those who study them will be launched at the Fair. This unique collaboration has produced some stunning art, supported by an authoritative and accessible narrative written by the BTO’s Mike Toms.

The SWLA holds the hugely popular Original A5 Artwork Draw on Friday and Saturday. Each ticket holder is guaranteed a piece of original art by a member artist and the money raised helps the Society to continue to offer bursaries to young and emerging artists.
This year the artists on the stand include Harriet Mead, Darren Rees, Esther Tyson, Nick Derry, Brin Edwards and Richard Jarvis. Other SWLA artists with stands in the marquee include Carry Akroyd, Nik Pollard, Chris Rose, John Threlfall, Mike Warren and Darren Woodhead.

Another great week long drawing course on the Firth of Forth. Our joint exercises getting more and more challenging with guest tutor Kim Atkinson inviting us to use sound drawing (clamour of kittiwake and gargle of guillemots in sound foreground) as a way of explore our toolboxes. What might make an equivalent for each sound we could identify.

Kim Atkinson setting up the sound drawing exercise above the cliffs at St Abbs

Darren Woodhead got us all working with clay on the cliff tops on day 5 to feel out in 3D the forms we’d been exploring in 2. The shared activities right there next to the seabirds, sharing the same drizzle, a potent recipe.
On wednesday, day 4 we had a very brief landing on the Bass, only one hour, but the quantity and quality of work was outstanding. The time pressure seeming to force everyone into bolder, more vigorous drawing.
So gathered back on the cliffs of St Abbs we did timed drawing, a bit like a short pose session at a life drawing class. Crazy that we’d never thought to do it before. Ben Woodhams sheet below seems almost superhuman…he had to find and draw the kittiwakes…first in 2 x 2 minute slots, then 2 x 1 minutes and finally 8 x 30 second drawings.

Timed kittiwake drawings by Ben Woodhams on the 2017 John Busby seabird drawing course

30 second timed guillemot drawings by SWLA bursary winner Wynona Legg

2 & 1 minute timed guillemot drawings by SWLA bursary winner Wynona Legg

SWLA bursary winner Wynona Legg’s drawings are equally impressive… Fantastic to see her development during the week.

This is only a small part of what the course is about and maybe invidious to pick out individual work but the phenomenon of the discipline of quick timed sketches seemed worth sharing asap.

I think John Busby and David Measures would be very happy looking down on the evolution of the course.

Receiving the news that I had won a bursary with the SWLA, I was so incredibly over the moon. The news was especially welcome having had to turn down a place on the seabird drawing course the previous year because I could simply not afford to go. Receiving a bursary was fuel to keep me focused and I was so ready to fully embrace it.
I am not new to drawing birds but I am very much someone who has put my artistic career on the backburner to make room for other focuses. My recent years have been spent working within nature conservation in warden roles at some pretty special reserves around the UK. I have been privileged to have had close encounters with many breeding birds and would take the opportunity where I could to make sketches in the field between periods of intense monitoring. But I had gotten rusty and felt that I was not yet where I wanted to be in my artistic career. I wasn’t new to the concept of drawing moving subjects or working in the elements and I was ready to get stuck into a focused week of drawing. I was perhaps more than a little naïve in thinking that it would be easy…

Guillemot studies using chinagraph lead, wax crayon and graphite.

This week has pulled me in every direction a person can be pulled! At times, I felt as brittle as the charcoal I was holding in my hand! To have eyes cast over your progress each day was originally a daunting prospect but it was incredibly motivating to have people notice things in your work that you have missed and will you to try new things to lift your work. There were overwhelming moments amongst all the mini revelations where it felt like I had forgotten how to draw! I think to be fully committed to this week you have to be someone who is okay with baring your soul and I definitely did that! I came here to push myself as an artist and I think in order to fully embrace something as unique as this, there is an element of stripping everything back and forgetting momentarily what you already know.
Similarly, I have become very used to being by myself when I am sketching. Coming into a group of other working artists suddenly felt like a lot of pressure. At first it took all my focus not to compare my work to others’. As the week moved forward, this feeling fell away. Being surrounded by other artists working was exciting. Watching other ways of working taught me so much about myself and the way I work.

Razorbill studies using chinagraph lead. Fellow coursemate Andy lent me some lead of a black chinagraph marker to try. The buttery soft wax left some really interesting marks on the smooth cartridge paper and I ended up filling several pages of my sketchbook that day using that tiny length of lead. Laying it flat and pushing it around the paper I could sculpt out the shapes that the razorbills made as they jostled on their ledges. Pressing harder on the tip of the flat lead left a sharper outline that mimicked the stark contrast of the rock and the razorbills ink black plumage. Switching to use the point of the lead allowed a more delicate line for the bright white chest or the detail on the face. For me this was the perfect example of how the introduction of a new and unfamiliar tool can revive perspective or help to grasp a particular technique.

Watching the way others choose their palette, hold their brush or push their pencil around the paper. We were all sitting within the same landscape observing the same subjects but the marks on our pages were often unrecognisably different. It was so refreshing to me.

Kittiwake study using graphite and charcoal over blocks of soft pastel.

The tutors were incredible all week. The investment they gave to each person in turn was inspiring. To see their happiness as people made realisations and revelations in their work throughout the week was in itself a motivation to keep growing. The guidance given by working artists was so invaluable and isn’t something I have ever been lucky enough to get before now.
Coming away from this week I have learnt to embrace the struggles of drawing in the field. To be able to step back and change something about how you are working is an important thing to remember when things aren’t going right. I have learnt to be unafraid of using different mediums to express texture, energy or light. I have always loved the simplicity of line and can get too focussed on continuity but adding something different or changing the way you use your tools can introduce something unexpected. The thing that gives me the biggest smile is the connections I have made from being around other artists working in the field. It has been heartening to be carried along on tough days by the positive words of others.

More razorbill studies with chinagraph lead to explore shape and movement in flight.

Tora painting razorbills at St Abbs Head

To be honest, I didn’t know anything about the SWLA and seabird drawing course until last summer & the Turkish Sweetgum Project (2016) . Meeting with the four great artists who are already members of SWLA changed all my perspective on the wildlife art. With advice from them, I searched and worked a lot to apply for the seabird drawing course. It was a great moment when I received the acceptance mail from the SWLA. I was very excited because the dream to see thousands of seabird was gonna be true in a couple of months.

Gannet studies from Bass Rock using wax crayon. It was too hard to work so close to the birds. I tried to focus on the lines in bill and eye.

The week we spent on amazing Scottish coasts was incredible. Being with dedicated artists and sharing their experiences taaught me a lot in just a couple days. It pulled me up day to day. I always tried to sue different techniques and ways to express my observations. The results can be discussed but it is clear that the week was more effective than all a year that I spent alone. In addition to the artistic side, the birds were unbelievable for me. It was the first time that I saw these species and in those numbers. I can still feel every second of my time I spent with these birds.

Razorbill studies using charcoal. It was very enjoyable experience for me to use charcoal because normally, I hate to use charcoal. But since that drawing, I am using charcoal very oftenly.

Each of the tutors and artists were incredible. I didn’t expect to be in such a welcoming atmosphere. To see their their great interests and hospitality kept me motivated for all week. When I looked back and see the differences between before and after the course, I can say that I feel myself more controlled to understand what I draw and I am not bored anymore when I draw something for hours. Also I am more confident to use my watercolor palette freely and I am not seeing an object to draw when I look a bird. I am looking for its behaviour and try to understand it’s moves.

Razorbill studies using pencil. With suggestion of coursemate Ben Woodhams, I was trying to draw Razorbills just in 5 lines. There are dozens of pages that I tried this way. It was teachful to understand its behaviours and moves.

Herring gull studies using wax crayon. I tried to use the same 5 lines technique with colours.

Besides all, I feel myself very happy to catch a chance to be with these great people in the great places. Thank you very much all the support you gave me to live this unforgettable experience.

Fulmar studies using pencil. I was trying to understand the bill shape. It took me all day to see real shape.

Sunday 22nd October 2017   10.30 til 4.30 pm

We will look at how printmaking can help to simplify and evolve ideas.  The methods we will be using would be easy to set up at home, no press required.
We will explore how to quickly generate bold blocks of tone/texture/ colour. These can then be layered/combined with further blocks, or line The aim to see how many ways we can use to explore the same subject matter.
If you are an experienced printmaker you should come away with some new ideas and if you are a beginner you should leave with a good handle on the basics. No materials or tools required but old clothes/apron or overalls advisable.
It would be helpful if you brought along some recent work to show your approach to drawing and to act as a possible start point for the printmaking.
Cost £75 (Friends £65) all materials included; limited to 8 participants
booking and full details darrenreesart@btinternet.com

Saturday 21st October 2017 11.00 am til 4.00 pm

This workshop is all about drawing birds from life, using as models the collection of tame wildfowl in nearby St. James’s Park. We will have the use of the Learning Centre at the Mall Galleries where we will start the day at 11 am with a brief introduction from your tutors Peter Partington and Robert Greenhalf before heading across the road to the park where you will be free to find your own wildfowl subjects to draw. Peter and Robert will be on hand to advise and instruct throughout the day.
There is a convenient cafe where refreshments and shelter in the event of rain can be had.
At 3.30 pm  we will head back to the Mall Galleries Learning Centre for a short debrief before finishing at 4 pm.
There will be ample opportunity to view and gain inspiration from the SWLA Exhibition in the Gallery. The “Out of the Frame” room should be particularly relevant as it is all sketches and paintings made in the field.
Cost £65 (Friends £55)
booking and full details darrenreesart@btinternet.com

Thursday 19th October 2017   10.30 til 4.30 pm
Jane Smith, author and illustrator of Wild Island, is a print-maker, specialising in screen printing. On this one day course you will learn the basics of screen printing, and finish by making your own three-colour print. All materials will be supplied. Just bring a willingness to experiment, an apron and a packed lunch.
Cost £75 (Friends £65) all materials included; limited to 8 participants.
booking and full details darrenreesart@btinternet.com

Kingcombe by Carry Akroyd

In 2017 the Dorset Wildlife Trust celebrated 30 years of Kingcombe Meadows Nature Reserve, a beautiful mosaic of unimproved pasture, wildflower meadows, woodland and ancient hedgerows in the heart of the rolling hills and vales of the southwest. The Trust invited SWLA members to respond to this nationally important nature reserve. Exhibited in the Main Barn will be artwork by SWLA members Carry Akroyd, Robert Greenhalf, Simon Griffiths, Richard Jarvis, Harriet Mead, Antonia Phillips, Nik Pollard, Greg Poole, and Matt Underwood.

Kingcombe Meadows Project
Dorset Wildlife Trust,
The Kingcombe Centre
Toller Porcorum
Dorchester
Dorset
DT2 0EQ
29th March to 5th April 2018

Barn Owl by Simon Griffiths

Ud i det blå – Field Painting course

(picture: Ben Woodhams) Ud i det blå – Field Painting course on Bornholm, with Greg Poole and Ben Woodhams, Sunday the 9th to Saturday the 15th September, 2018 The Course Drawing and painting outside can be both exhilarating and daunting. This course will use drawing as a way of ‘active looking’.

Ben has also been carrying out an inspiring mission to walk the length of Bornholm’s coastline, painting as he goes. He is updating his blog each week with the results.

www.benwoodhams.com

Posts about KYST blog written by woodhamslund

  Over the past few years I have become more and more fascinated by the wildlife around my city home. The songbirds I watch from the window inevitably made their way into my artwork. A conversation with the lovely Kittie Jones at Edinburgh Printmakers led me to apply for the John Busby Seabird drawing course. Finding out that I had won the bursary on a dreich January morning was a moment of real happiness and excitement.

I had come to the course with little seabird knowledge but great enthusiasm to learn. Both the tutors and my fellow course members were generous, not only with their extensive knowledge but also with lifts to the various locations we were to draw in. Equipment was freely shared. Never having used binoculars or scopes whilst drawing before this was particularly useful. I was able to draw on the wealth of experience around me. It was interesting to see the different approaches and working methods. What to take on long days field sketching. How to work comfortably and efficiently in a range of weather conditions. Once we had reached our location one of the four tutors would give a short talk. Ranging from bird anatomy to colour theory these were always appreciated and often gave me a new way of thinking and working. The evening meal at the end of the day was a good time to share experiences, highs and lows. Seeing other people’s work was a joy.

When I began the week I knew I wanted to understand more about seabirds. I hadn’t anticipated how entranced I would be.The grace of the Kittiwakes at Dunbar harbour, the charm of the Guillemots and Razorbills at St Abbs, the challenge of the Gulls on Fidra. I shall be forever grateful for the opportunity to draw the Gannets on Bass Rock, the most visceral, astounding and beautiful place.

I have never looked so intently or for so long at birds before. It was at times difficult and demanding. The brilliant tutors were always there with energy and enthusiasm and not a little kindness and patience. I enjoyed getting to know the other people on the course. I could not have asked to share the experience with a more lovely group of people. I benefited greatly from their support and expertise.

Coming away I felt a bit dazed. The week had been very intense. Looking through the work I produced I have a great sense of being at the beginning, so much to explore and learn. It is an uplifting thought.

John Busby in Drawing Birds, 2014, said ‘To copy from nature without resolving our own thoughts is a barren process’. I copied from nature for many years and when I applied for the John Busby bursary, I had stopped painting altogether and had pretty much given up on my art. I knew the barrenness John had spoken off and it was not a nice place to be. I was desperately looking for an answer because nature and art were something I had once loved.

I came to the course expectant to receive the answer I needed and I was not disappointed. I was greeted with a warm, friendly atmosphere and a group of tutors and students willing to share, encourage and inspire. I couldn’t help but be affected by the infectious enthusiasm and passion for wildlife and painting outdoors. This sparked in me a new desire to draw and paint nature, not solely focusing on a finished painting but learning to enjoy and embrace the process of seeing, understanding and mark making. I feel I have still much to learn but the course has helped me see that this process is full of rich experiences with much value and rewards.
One of the most special things about the course was drawing as a large group of artists for an extended period of time. I don’t think I could have grasped the importance of field drawing on my own however this week has taught me stamina and determination and has shown me the importance of sitting in gales, rain or sunshine so that I can bring a fullness of experience and knowledge to the page. During this week I have learned to love drawing in the open air but more than that I know it is the way forward to engage with my art again.
The process of learning to see was also a revelation to me. Although I’ve painted for over 20 years, being in the field presented me with challenges and difficulties that working from photographs in a comfortable studio did not. One of my most valuable lessons was the practical task of trying to capture form using cool and warm tones. This really challenged my seeing, thinking and indeed my relationship with colour and mark making. I know it will be something I will continue to wrestle with in my practice for many years to come. It also helped me recognise the need to better understand the anatomy of birds hence I plan to do further study and develop my understanding and knowledge in this area.
The amazing thing about this course was that I started having totally lost my way in my art but left with enthusiasm, motivation, excitement, a longing to learn more and a burning desire to work in the open air. It has given me direction and purpose and for that I am so grateful. Thank you for the opportunity to be part of the wonderful legacy of John Busby!

The Seabird Drawing Course has been an incredible experience of total absorption into a subject and place. Its rare to have a period of being focussed solely on the simple daily rhythm of going out to draw, experiencing new places and sights and sharing it all with so many lovely people – all with a common goal and who were so open to discussing their thoughts, ideas and approaches.
Although I have enjoyed working outdoors for many years its only recently that wildlife and seabirds in particular have become a focus in my artwork. The biggest challenge during the week would be attempting to capture the essence of a moving, living creature in an interesting way and to understand its form and anatomy. And that’s not to mention being overwhelmed by some of the surroundings we were working in and the challenges they presented ….such as a very windy, gannet infested Bass Rock where one of my drawings blew into the colony and although thankfully retrieved came back full of peck holes!

Gannet sketchbook studies from the Bass Rock and circling the island by boat.

The week definitely wasn’t without its struggles as I grappled with trying to balance good draughtsmanship and accuracy of form with interesting mark-making. And the sheer feeling of being overwhelmed by wanting to try so much in such a short time. It felt really important also to try and take some time just to appreciate and absorb the feeling of place.

Throughout the week there were moments of both absolute exhaustion and total exhilaration but the best bit was there was always someone to share that with. Coming together every evening to relax and talk over everyone’s triumphs and challenges of the day was one of the best parts of the week…that and the shared experience of working together in some truly awe-inspiring surroundings. I can’t thank everyone enough for being such a lovely, fun group to spend time with.

Gull chicks enjoying the sunshine on Fidra, they spent most of the day within just a few feet of where I was sitting.

Each day brought fresh new discoveries and ideas. The tutors wide range of approaches led to a fantastic balance in the feedback about work and different chats we had, each coming from a slightly different angle. They were all so generous, knowledgable and full of enthusiasm. Some of the chats in particular and the various drawing exercises we undertook really resonated and pushed me to try new ways of working. By the end of the week I think everyone felt they had achieved some kind of breakthrough at one point or another, I certainly had several moments of sudden clarity about my practice.

Guillemot covered stacks and swirling birds at St Abbs

The week itself was amazing, stunning locations, great company, new challenges, but what I like best is the fact it doesn’t stop at the end of the week…there are new things I’ve learnt, things I want to try and a whole new group of like-minded people who I’m sure I’ll be in touch with for many years to come. All in all it was just so much fun!