I’m planning to post more about my wild challenge soon. Today, though, I’d like to share something I wrote yesterday in memory of my grandad who sadly passed away this week.
Date of post: Saturday, 6th March 2021
I painted this robin today in memory of my grandad
My grandad passed away in his sleep on Thursday. In many ways, it was a kindness to him. He’d battled Parkinson’s for years and, more recently, he somehow overcame covid and sepsis. I’m glad in lots of ways that he doesn’t have to fight any more.
That said, I’m struggling to accept and process a few things. The last time I saw my grandad was February 2020. I’d travelled up to my family so I could record memories. His mind was not at its best when I spoke to him last year, but words can’t describe how glad I am that I took the opportunity to tape his thoughts and memories.
I’m also struggling with the fact that he passed away on his own in a care home, with my grandma and family unable to see him since early January. Though there wasn’t anything that could be done about this, I find it hard not knowing how my grandad looked in his final days. No photos or opportunity to see him have made it difficult to picture him.
As I started the grieving process yesterday, I went on a walk. I let the tears flow when they needed to and took in the sights and sounds when I felt I could. There were lots of robins singing and nibbling about in the hedgerows. They reminded me of my grandad’s love of birds. He loved to paint as well – something lovely that I have in common with him.
So this robin is my way of remembering him. It’s something to help me when I question why he passed away alone and why I don’t know what he looked like in his final months. And it’s something for me to place on my wall and for me to smile at when I think of him.
Geoff Jenkins 1938-2021
Thank you to all my family, friends and colleagues for sharing their warm wishes. It means so much.
There are apparently 190,000 breeding pairs of these critters in the UK and they are undoubtedly a pretty special species of finch.
On a very long (20km!) walk in the cold and the rain a few weeks ago, my partner and I spotted a male and female bullfinch in a tree. I noted it as my ‘act of wildness’ for the day in my Week 5 blog. I’ve probably seen bullfinches before but this sighting was more memorable than any others. We got an excellent view of the pair and saw the spectacular colours of the male bullfinch in all their splendour. The brilliance of the pinky-orangey-red chest really does contrast perfectly with the black cap.
RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds
Like the goldcrest I wrote about in January, the bullfinch’s scientific name is a tautonym: Pyrrhula pyrrhula. So perhaps we could say that I saw Mr Bullfinch and Ms Pyrrhula on that walk. Ms Pyrrhula… honestly… I’m not quite sure where my brain takes me sometimes!
Back to the story. Or, rather, some more interesting facts about bullfinches. For starters, bullfinches are resident across most of the UK (apart from parts of Scotland, north England and east England). According to the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, the birds used to be taken as cage-birds because they are excellent mimics and were also considered to be orchard pests back in’t (‘in the’) day. A 15th Century Act of Parliament offered “one penny for every bird killed”, for example. How awful!
More recently, the British Ornithological Society notes that bullfinch numbers have declined by 36% since 1967 and they are therefore listed as an amber species of conservation concern. Habitat deterioration is thought to have played a part in this, particularly through things like agricultural intensification.
After seeing such a special bird, I decided I needed to paint one. The bright colours of the male inspired the background. I usually paint birds on a plain background but I wanted to do something a little different for this one. I used crimson hue and prussian blue and added some other materials to try and create a few different textures. Using washing up soap bubbles didn’t really do much but placing salt crystals on top of the wet paint created some lovely patterns.
The background colours
I was a bit worried when I finished the background that it might be too vibrant but that really wasn’t a problem when I started painting Mr Bullfinch. The bright chest came first, followed by the wings and then the black head. I think he might go on my wall – I’m just not sure where yet!
And, before I finish, I should say that Ms Pyrrhula was also very beautiful when I saw her in the tree with Mr Bullfinch. She might not’ve had intense colours like male bullfinches but she was still very pretty. Maybe I should paint her too…
I can’t quite believe we’re at the end of February now, but the milder weather and lighter mornings/evenings have really brought some positivity to what’s been a bit of a challenging week.
And, as a bonus, my wild adventure brought me daffodils, catkins, jogs in the rain and lambs and calves. A lovely way to end the month. Read on to find out more 😊
Monday 22nd February 2021
I haven’t been out for a proper jog for a little while so I was determined to go out early before work today. I hadn’t looked at the weather in advance – big mistake – and, to my horror, I noticed it was spitting outside. When I checked my phone, it said there was an 80%+ chance of heavy rain. If I’d been less determined I would’ve bailed, but out I went and, long story short, I got absolutely soaked. I was a D R O W N E D rat with a capital D and only had a few squawking blackbirds for company. But I absolutely loved it! I must be crazy!
Tuesday 23rd February 2021
Daffodils loving life on the kitchen table
My partner very kindly bought me some beautiful daffodils at the weekend and I was very excited to see that they’d all opened this morning. I’m still hoping that some of the plants growing in the garden are daffodils but I’m definitely appreciating these for now. I’m also glad I’ve found a use for my sangria jug…
Wednesday 24th February 2021
Catkins on what I think is an alder tree
Catkins. What are they? I decided I wanted to find this out today after seeing lots of them on my morning walk. This is what the Woodland Trust has to say:
Essentially, catkins allow the tree to reproduce. Catkins allow the female flowers to be pollinated as the pollen from the male flowers is blown by the wind.
So they’re a flower and hazel, alder, silver birch, oak and white willow are all trees that can have catkins. Apparently catkins are also quite helpful for monitoring the effects of weather and climate change.
Thursday 25th February 2021
I enjoyed reading through an article (BBC Wildlife, March 2021) about guillemots and their eggs this morning. Their pyriform shape – i.e. pear-shaped, with one very pointy end – has apparently been quite a mystery. What interested me the most about this article was how a nineteenth century explanation has dominated scientific understanding and yet it’s completely false and was based on a lot of incorrect assumptions. It’s probably what we’d call ‘bad science’ now. I studied the history of science and medicine when I was at uni and this sort of ‘bad science’ has always intrigued me. It makes me wonder what people in the future might think of our understanding of the world…
Friday 26th February 2021
The first stage of my second snowdrop painting
I’ve had quite a bit of interest in the snowdrop picture I wrote about a couple of weeks ago and I decided to start off another one today. This will eventually join the first one on the living room wall. It was all about the yellow ochre and prussian blue again as I created a fitting background for these beautiful flowers. Looking forward to painting the snowdrops themselves next!
Saturday 27th February 2021
The unknown tree of Honington
I’ve been wanting to take a photo of a specific tree on my Honington walk for the past couple of weeks now and I finally got chance today. I was working this morning – on a very fun online project with primary school children – so a walk was a welcome way to switch off and start enjoying the weekend. Top of my list was this tree. As I was writing this, I realised I should probably try and identify the tree, given how I’m trying to learn more about them! I’m a bit stumped by this one. I thought initially that it could be an alder but now I don’t think it is – any thoughts?
Sunday 28th February 2021
I’m very excited to say that my partner and I had our first proper field walk of the year this morning. We’ve been avoiding most fields for the past couple of months because of the mud and the rain. Now I’m not going to say I didn’t get quite muddy and that I don’t have very wet feet now – mainly because of a pond that seems to have formed at the entrance to one of the fields (photo credit: Stefan Lang 😂) – but it still brought that warm, summery feeling inside. Our wildlife sightings included song thrushes and green woodpeckers and we also saw lots of lambs and calves too! A lovely way to end February.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve definitely noticed some more signs of spring on my daily walks this week: daffodils are starting to open, trees are coming into bud, the sun is warming up and little lambs are starting to frolic in the fields!
Read on to hear more about what I’ve been up to in Week 6 of my wild challenge 😊
Monday 15th February 2021
Another sign of spring slapped me round the chops today. I was in my own little world, walking along and praying that the rain would hold off when I saw – to my absolutely delight – a teeny tiny lamb with its mother in one of the fields. There were loads of sheep in the field but only one lamb. I didn’t even realise lambs were born this early in the year. Turns out I don’t know much! Lambing can apparently start as early as December and end as late as June and some sheep have lambs all year round. Still, most appear in spring so I’ll take that!
Tuesday 16th February 2021
Birds in the Ancient World, p.66
I learnt a bit about peacocks today. It all started with one of the 30 Animals that Made UsSmarter podcasts on biomimicry that I hadn’t listened to yet. This one was about peafowl – apparently ‘peacock’ only technically refers to the male –and its complex feathers and colour structure. Scientists are using this knowledge to try and make digital screens more efficient. Pretty cool!
Intrigued by the peacock peafowl, I had a look at a couple of my books to see what they say about these birds. The picture is from my Birds in the Ancient World book – it’s a mosaic from the City Palace, Udaipur – and it notes that the peafowl is the national bird of India and is much revered. The History of the Countryside, on the other hand, refers to Henry III’s 1251 Christmas dinner in which 120 peafowl were apparently consumed… wow.
Wednesday 17th February 2021
I had a bit more of a look around the garden this afternoon. The sun came out for a little while and it actually felt quite warm! I’m not exactly sure about some of the things growing in the garden at the moment – I think we might end up with some daffodils – but I was pleasantly surprised to see that a hyacinth that started its life as a houseplant last year has actually started to grow. I thought I might as well plant its remains when the flower died, but I don’t have strong gardening skills so I didn’t have much hope that it would stay alive!
Thursday 18th February 2021
Sunset over the field near Honington
Today was the first day this year when I’ve been able to take a walk at the actual end of the working day when it’s still been light. I may have had to start work a bit early so I could finish a bit before 5pm but I don’t honestly care – it was a wonderful reminder that evening walks through the fields can soon be a thing again!
Friday 19th February 2021
Chiffchaff watercolour (September 2020)
To my partner’s horror, I can confirm that I heard my first chiffchaff of the year this morning. I say to his horror because, without fail, when I hear a chiffchaff on a walk, I will copy it. It’s not even a conscious decision anymore.
Chiffchaffs are pretty plain birds and I’m not sure I’ve ever actually seen one, but I heard lots of them last year on local walks during the first lockdown and I imagine I’ll hear lots more again this year!
Saturday 20th February 2021
A very small lamb near Honington (credit: Stefan Lang)
After spotting that little lamb earlier in the week, I had the opportunity to see it up close today. It’s just so small! It still seems to be the only lamb in this field but I definitely spotted some more lambs nearby a couple of days ago. Yay!
Sunday 21st February 2021
Bullfinch watercolour (February 2021)
I’ve been working on another piece of art in the evenings this week and I took the time this afternoon to finish it off. It was inspired by the beautiful bullfinches I saw on our long (and cold and wet) walk last weekend. This is a male bullfinch – only the males have such bright pink/red feathers. Pretty fabulous!
I’ve been enjoying updating everyone about my ‘wild’ undertakings over the past few weeks but I realise it’s been a while since I’ve done a bigger post. So say hello to a piece I really enjoyed creating last week: A hopeful sign of spring.
I know we’re still, to some extent, in the throes of winter. It’s certainly been a chilly February on the whole. At least up until this week (which is positively balmy!) And we all know it’s not that uncommon to get some very wintery weather in March these days. That said, I mentioned recently about how pleased I was to see lots of snowdrops on one of my local walks. For me – and I imagine many other people – it’s a welcome reminder that longer days are coming, new life will start again and spring will begin.
After admiring the beautiful white flowers, I became fixated on the idea of painting them. I haven’t painted a lot of flowers and, to be honest, I don’t feel floral pieces are usually my strongest. I had in mind what I wanted to achieve, though, so I knew I’d have to be a little bit bold and a smidge brave to have a go.
My first battle was against realism. I didn’t want to paint a perfect copy of a bunch of snowdrops. This is my usual style but I really wanted this piece to reflect the hope I had felt when I first saw those flowers in the frozen soil. So I focused on the colours. I wanted to use colour in the painting and thought I could do this best by keeping the palette simple, having a bold background and then utilising these colours in the flowers themselves.
I’ve seen some artists on Instagram recently who do some really interesting things with watercolours and flowers. Jean Haines has particularly caught my eye. I don’t know how she does it, but she creates amazing shapes and forms out of bold backgrounds. Her pieces are infinitely more refined than mine but she definitely inspired this first attempt at such a painting.
To keep the palette simple, I picked out my two favourite colours. I think I’ve mentioned them a number of times but I’ll say them again: I just love prussian blue and yellow ochre. I used a wet-on-wet technique to add these colours to the background – I basically put big splodges of water onto the A3 paper and then dropped colour on top and let it run freely wherever it wanted to go. I even lifted the paper up so that some of the drops would run down the sheet during the first wash. It was a lot of fun.
Patience was critical – and I’m not usually too good at this! – because I had to layer the colour and therefore had to allow washes to dry before adding more. This was particularly important with these two colours. Though I love and appreciate them each in their own way, I’m not a huge fan of the dirty green that they create when they’re mixed together!
After a few layers, I decided to make the texture of the background a bit more interesting. While the final touches of prussian blue and yellow ochre were starting to dry, I dipped my finger into the paint and blotted my fingerprints onto the paper. I didn’t expect to incorporate finger painting into this piece but it just felt instinctive at the time. Sometimes brush strokes are a bit too neat!
Background effects in progress
The texture was still missing something so I gently knocked some flecks of paint onto the dry background to create a splatter effect. This has gone horribly wrong in the past – let’s just say that my walls were pleased I was using watercolour paint and not acrylics! – but I’ve picked up a few tips and tricks along the way so the paint ended up safely on the paper this time. I also added a third colour to my palette (a purple made from crimson and ultramarine) but I used this sparingly.
I was pretty pleased with the background overall so finishing the piece off with the flowers was a bit daunting. I haven’t worked on this paper for a long time and I wasn’t sure whether the paint would flow the way I wanted it to. So I just had to delve in and hope for the best.
To start with, I neatened up the edges of the flowers and added water to the empty spaces that I’d left. Given how white snowdrops are, I didn’t want the colour to be too bold. It had to be used subtly to contrast the shade with the light. So I used the heavily-watered-down yellow, blue and purple on the petals and added darker shades to the stems. Once it all dried, I finished the piece off with some more splashes and spots of paint. ‘Perfectionist Emily’ wasn’t quite content so I had to touch up the piece here and there but I eventually stopped tweaking and took in what I’d created.
A hopeful sign of spring
I have to be honest, I really can’t wait to frame this one and put it up on my wall. The more I look at it, the more I realise that it’s such an honest reflection of how I feel about this period of our lives. The colours, for example. Though I started with yellow ochre and prussian blue because they’re my favourites, I can’t help but see some distress within them. It’s almost like the yellow ochre and the prussian blue are battling against one another and the snowdrops, resiliently beautiful, are forcing their way through the chaos. What could be more hopeful than that?
February has definitely been a bit of a weird one so far. It seems like something really odd is happening every week. Last week, it was all about the tom cats who suddenly appeared on our street – meowing all night and all day – because they were interested in a cat next door. Not ideal for trying to get 40 winks! This week, for absolutely no apparent reason, all of our smoke alarms went off at 5.30am on Saturday morning when there was no fire to speak of. That was quite honestly one of the most horrific wake-ups I’ve ever had.
So, this week, I’m genuinely saying a huge ‘thank god’ for this wild challenge. I think it’s just about kept me sane!
Monday 8th February 2021
I started the week with something very cute. Have you ever seen a great crested grebe chick? I haven’t, but it was the photo story feature in this month’s BBC Wildlife magazine and they are just beyond adorable! The magazine arrived in the post today and I just couldn’t resist having a good look through all of the amazing photos of the grebes and their chicks over my lunch break.
Tuesday 9th February 2021
It was very cold today. So cold that I convinced myself that a 7am run was not on the cards. What I did instead was arguably harder though. You see, I ended up going for a slightly different walk this afternoon. I started off at a fast pace so that I didn’t take too much time out of work. I had no intention of keeping that pace up for the whole walk but I ended up having to out-pace a few people so let’s just say it was one hell of a power walk (6.88km in 1 hr 2 mins). On my journey, I saw lots of robins, a couple of wrens, a fieldfare up close and a squirrel. Big bonus – the fast pace kept me nice and warm – even when snow/frozen rain/sleet poured from the heavens!
Wednesday 10th February 2021
I saw a kingfisher this morning!!! I was out on an early morning walk and, just as I crossed the bridge in neighbouring Honington, I saw a flash of blue come out from underneath. I watched it fly all the way down the river until it disappeared out of sight. I was never going to be quick enough to get a photo of it (and the quality of my phone camera leaves a lot to be desired…!) so, instead, I thought I’d share this photo of the sunrise. It was such a lovely start to the day!
Thursday 11th February 2021
I was supporting an online event at work this evening so it meant it was a pretty long day. In an attempt to break it up a little bit, I grabbed another book off the shelf that I’m dipping in and out of. This one is called Birds in the Ancient World. I only had time to read the introduction, but something I read really made me realise why I ‘bang on’ about birds so much:
Birds have the further connection with us of being not only animate but also mobile and active in a shared physical space. They have always been among the most prominent features of the natural world for humankind, readily visible and audible almost anywhere you happen to be, and so part of our daily experience.
Friday 12th February 2021
I was lucky enough to have a day off work today so I spent my time finishing off a watercolour painting of some snowdrops. I think this piece warrants a blog post all for itself at some point, but, in short, as soon as I saw snowdrops on my walk a couple of weeks ago, I knew I had to paint them. They’ve brought me a lot of hope!
Saturday 13th February 2021
I’m getting quite a bit better at identifying birds these days – especially when I compare myself to a year ago! – but I’ve always been pretty hopeless at identifying trees and plants. I remembered an email that caught my eye a couple of weeks ago about identifying trees in winter and thought I’d take more of a look. I think it’s going to take some more practice, but I reckon I’ve got common oak, horse chestnut, silver birch and common hazel pinned down.
Sunday 14th February 2021
To end the week, I did a mega-long walk. Well, it was pretty long anyway! It’s the last day of the team competition at work that I mentioned last week. I have to be real – I cannot compete with some of the people at work who go out for 10k runs. Daily.
My hope is that I can make it into the top 10 in my team. So I’ve been trying to get a 5k walk in every day and then finish big on the weekend. Today, it was a 12.4 mile circular walk through some of the small villages around Shipston – Stretton, Darlingscote, Blackwell, Armscote and Tredington. It was very cold and blustery at times but we were treated en route to a pair of bullfinches frolicking about in the hedgerow. Such beautiful birds!
And just as a side note: When my partner and I got back from our Sunday walk, I looked out of our kitchen window and saw a fieldfare in the garden, munching on some berries. Seems I can’t escape them at the moment!
This week brought a new fitness challenge – one focused on distance. I’ve entered the competition as part of a team at work and we get points for every kilometre we walk or cycle. That, and my 6 in 6 challenge, has definitely helped with some ‘acts of wildness’ this week as it’s forced me outside, come rain or shine!
Monday 1st February 2021
I fancied something a little different today so I switched off from work at the end of the day by listening to a National Geographic podcast about the US’s captive tigers. I – like most of the Netflix population! – ended up watching Tiger King just before the first lockdown and was utterly horrified by what I saw. Thankfully, the podcast notes that the Big Cat Public Safety Act has got a lot of bipartisan support so hopefully cub handling in the US will soon be a thing of the past.
It made me think about some of the places I’ve been to in the past, though. I definitely had the opportunity to hold a koala bear, a snake and a baby crocodile when I went to a zoo in Australia years ago. Is that really so much different?
Tuesday 2nd February 2021
I was really contemplating changing my walking route today. I thought it was starting to get too repetitive. But I decided to go ahead so that I wouldn’t take too long on my lunch break and, let’s just say, it definitely taught me quite a lesson! It was surprisingly mild outside (I was very overdressed) and the first thing I noticed were the beautiful snowdrops. Definitely a sign that better times are coming.
As I moved past one patch of snowdrops, I was absolutely delighted to spot 3 roe deer in a field across the main road – what a treat! I also saw lots of robins, long-tailed tits, great tits, skylarks, pheasants and, though I’m not 100% sure, I think I saw another goldcrest too (they’re difficult to identify from below!) Don’t reckon I should take this walk for granted again anytime soon!
Wednesday 3rd February 2021
An old drawing of a green woodpecker from last year – quite a popular design in my Redbubble shop!
I’d like to introduce you to the world of bird sounds today. I’ve been getting a lot better at working out which birds are around from their calls when I’m out walking. Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely not an expert but I can definitely identify more birds this way than I could a year ago! One of my favourites is the green woodpecker’s call. I hear it surprisingly frequently in the countryside around Shipston (I heard one today!) and it really does have an unexpected call.
My partner kindly got me a CD of bird sounds for Christmas (I am that cool) and I decided to swot up on a few other bird calls this evening so I can test myself when I’m next out – I listened to a grey heron (I did not know they sounded like that), great tit, goldfinch, great spotted woodpecker and goldcrest.
Thursday 4th February 2021
I got an email today from the Wildlife Trusts and it included some information about an online event the charity ran in mid-January. The event focused on sugar beet and neonicotinoid thiamethoxam pesticides. I’d heard there had been some controversy around this but I didn’t know much about the issue so I decided to watch a recording of the event during my lunch break and after work. It was actually quite interesting. I didn’t realise we even grew sugar beet and I also didn’t appreciate 1) how destructive greenflies are to the crop and 2) how toxic the proposed pesticides are to insects in general, including bees.
Friday 5th February 2021
It was really quite hard to fit something wild into the day today – it was just one of those busy days at work. That said, when I had a moment to breathe, I tried to be mindful by taking note of some of the little things – like the spring bulbs that have shot out of the soil in the garden or the kestrel that I saw while I stared out of the window on a break. I did manage to squeeze in a daily walk as well so I tried hard to bring my mind back to my surroundings when it began to wander off. At the start, it was wandering constantly but by the end, my mind was clearer, the tension had gone and it was much easier to stay focused.
Saturday 6th February 2021
Brambling page in RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds
It was time for a big walk. I’ve been pretty good at getting my steps in, but I haven’t had a long walk since the Christmas break so my partner and I set off early into the fog. We stuck to the roads because it’s just too muddy in the fields and headed up to one of the surrounding villages. Then we circled back and headed into Shipston to pick up some fish and chips for lunch. It was 10 miles overall and the fish and chips were definitely appreciated at the end! But a more significant highlight of the walk was seeing a brambling – not sure I’ve ever seen this bird before.
Sunday 7th February 2021
It’s been a bit of a slow art week, but I finally got my watercolours out this afternoon. I’ve seen so many great tits on my daily walks and I’ve never painted one before. This beautiful bird was definitely long overdue. So, to end the week, I spent a couple of hours splashing yellows, blues, greens and blacks onto some rough watercolour paper.
Before I finish, I also just wanted to share something really lovely that happened this week. Someone who I knew from secondary school contacted me on social media to ask if my hyacinth pencil drawing (from Week 3) was for sale. This is the first time this has happened to me and I was just over the moon! Thank you for reading 😊
I forgot to say at the end of my last post that I managed to complete the first week of my 6 in 6 challenge! Having to walk almost 6,000 steps indoors on the Wednesday of that week was really quite an experience. I made myself pretty dizzy and also seriously irritated one of my kitties!
Anyway, on to Week 3!
Monday 25th January 2021
Today was another opportunity for a slippery walk. I really enjoyed taking in the views of the snow-covered fields and breathing the cold air. Although being mindful is usually a good thing to do while walking, I decided to let my mind wander a little bit. I made sure not to stray too deep into my thoughts, but, handily, I allowed myself to have a few moments of art inspiration.
I had another look in The History of the Countryside today and read about collared doves in the ‘Naturalized Animals’ section. Rackham writes about how the collared dove first appeared in the UK in 1955 in Norfolk and then spread rapidly across the country over a very short space of time. Before 1930, the collared dove hadn’t even ventured to Europe yet. Why the collared dove suddenly decided to travel does seem to be quite a mystery. Rackham’s theory in the 1980s was that:
We have to conjecture that the collared dove of 1980 is not the same as its ancestor of 1920; that some genetic change has created a new variety with different ecological behaviour.
I took a moment today to think about some of my past trips and the wildlife I’ve been lucky enough to see. It was a really nice way to switch off and – big bonus – it gave me a few new ideas for artwork pieces. For each place, I tried to decide on one particular animal that stood out:
🐢 Green sea turtles in Hawaii 🦃 Black guan and the Resplendent quetzal in Costa Rica (I couldn’t get it down to one!) 🦌 Red deer in The Highlands 🏞 Egrets in Japan 🐦 Bearded tit in Norfolk 🦆 Sanderlings in Harlech
This period definitely makes you realise how lucky you are – unfortunately, many people aren’t able to visit these sorts of magical places, even at the best of times.
Thursday 28th January 2021
Photo story from BBC Wildlife (Feb 2021) – the roadrunner looks on at the wall
It was quite a full-on day today so I had a read through a couple of articles in my BBC Wildlife magazine once I finished work to help me switch off. Two articles stood out for me: a very interesting photo story about the notorious US/Mexico Wall and a piece about the success of African Parks (this Nat Geo article from 2019 reports on their good work too).
Friday 29th January 2021
I just had time to have a walk after work while it was still light. I get to finish an hour earlier on a Friday and I’ve noticed over the past few days – to my absolute relief – that it’s staying lighter for longer now. I did feel a bit like I was heading straight into a storm (the clouds were very dark) but I was lucky enough to see a muntjac, a couple of pheasants and some very noisy robins and I only got a teeny tiny bit wet!
Saturday 30th January 2021
I finished a pencil drawing of a hyacinth this morning. The hyacinths from last week just about survived into the start of this week so I started drawing a single flower from its stem. I had to improvise a bit while I finished the piece (the hyacinths had well and truly flopped over by this point!) and I particularly enjoyed blending the purples, turquoises and blues together.
Sunday 31st January 2021
Well, it would’ve been rude of me if I didn’t do the RSPB’s ‘Big Garden Bird Watch’ today. So, from midday until 1pm, I set myself up downstairs in the “cats’ room” (it’s nearest to the garden), turfed said cats out of their space (much to their horror), grabbed a drink, notepad and pen and stared out of the patio doors for the full hour. Every time a leaf twitched, I was ready to note down what bird I’d seen.
Sadly, though we do usually get our fair share of sparrows, starlings, blackbirds, wood pigeons, collared doves and even the occasional blue tit and goldfinch, I had to report to the RSPB that I saw a grand total of zero birds during my hour. Oh well. All for a good cause!
‘Haribo’ isn’t this dog’s real name, but it is a very cute nickname for Harry, my friend’s adorable pet labrador. Not long before Christmas last year, this very close friend asked me if I’d like to have a go at drawing or painting Harry. He thought it would make a nice gift for his parents.
I have to be real. I follow a lot of pet portrait artists on Instagram and I am in absolute awe of their work. I haven’t really drawn or painted any animals other than birds and butterflies and the idea of not just drawing a dog, but creating someone’s actual pet was rather daunting!
My friend was very understanding about this. We agreed that I’d start to have a go and if it wasn’t feeling right we’d come back to the project another time.
The beautiful source material – Haribo at his best!
To say I didn’t know where to start is an understatement. That said, I’d learnt enough from my Instagram stalks to know that the character of the pet is the most important thing. Without that, the picture could just be of any other cat or dog in the world. I was lucky in this respect. My friend had sent me a selection of photos and I thought one of them was particularly perfect.
It might be different for you, but the first thing I was drawn to in this photo was Harry’s nose, closely followed by his eyes. So I decided to focus on these areas first. He took me on quite a journey and I learnt an awful lot about eyes. Turns out, sometimes an eye doesn’t look like an eye until other features are present too…
I then worked backwards from there, towards his ears. I used a HB pencil first and tried really hard to focus on the shapes and shades. Then I used a B pencil to touch up some of the darker areas (including parts of the eyes and nose).
I felt the photo did justice to Harry’s character in itself so I tried to be as honest to the source material as I could. I did make the photo a bit lighter though. I messaged my friend when I was almost finished and asked him how dark he wanted me to go. One thing I hadn’t considered with black and white drawings is that the shades have to reflect both the colour contrast in what you’re trying to create and the contrast between light and shadow. If you get that slightly wrong then it can really mess up the picture.
It was definitely one of those pieces that needed to be completed in calm and careful stages but I enjoyed it so much. It really helped me learn more about drawing in black and white. And I learnt a lot about pet portraiture as well of course!
Before I finish up – and just so you can get to know him even more – my friend kindly sent across something for me to include in this post and I think this says it all really (and he very, very kindly says some nice words about the picture). Harry is certainly one special pet!
To say we adore and worship Harry is an absolute understatement. Yes, he may snore loudly and yes, he has a penchant for lying in the middle of doorways (a clever ploy to get attention), but we forgive it all very swiftly when he comes lolloping towards us, usually for fuss (or, squeezes, as I like to call them). What I particularly enjoy about the portrait Emily created was she captured an essential part of Harry’s personality: an utterly unshakeable knowledge that he is supremely, sumptuously gorgeous. When stroking him, he will often look over his shoulder both to implore you further in the stroking and a tacit acknowledgement that it is fully deserved. This isn’t just a picture of a Labrador: this is a picture of Harry himself and that is why this wonderful work by Emily is in pride of place in the living room. The royals have their portraits done, so I don’t see why this is any different; Harry is royalty after all!
If you’re reading my blog for the first time then you might want to check out this post before reading any further. It explains what on earth this is all about!
For anyone who’s visited before, I hope you enjoy reading about all my ‘wild’ undertakings this week 😊
Monday 18th January 2021
I’ve started another challenge this week and I’m hoping it can dovetail beautifully with 356 Days Wild. It’s called 6 on 6. Basically, I have to try and walk 6,000 steps each day for 6 days of the week. So this morning I dragged myself out of bed and had a 5km jog. Some ‘wild’ highlights from my jog included seeing the first of the sun’s rays peeping through the clouds and hearing the blackbirds and sparrows squawking in the hedgerows.
Tuesday 19th January 2021
I got a bit geeky today and started a short online course about ecology and wildlife conservation on Future Learn. I don’t have a scientific background at all but this course looks really accessible and – hopefully – it’ll give me the chance to learn a few interesting things!
Wednesday 20th January 2021
I got a book last year called The History of the Countryside which was originally published in 1986. After starting to learn a bit about conservation last night, I thought I’d read the conservation chapter in the book to see what people in the ’80s were thinking. It was really quite interesting to see the author (Oliver Rackham) comment on the abundance of wildlife that existed in the 1940s and compare this to the decline of the 1980s. I often hear people mentioning how much more wildlife was around 40 years ago so it made me wonder what on earth the ’40s looked like! I also started the chapter on animal extinctions. This section was unintentionally more hopeful – some of the species mentioned (like the beaver, sea eagle, osprey and red kite) have made a comeback and that’s pretty uplifting!
Thursday 21st January 2021
I paused to take in the awesome power of the River Stour today. Heavy rain had fallen across a lot of England and it doesn’t take much for the river in our town to burst its banks. Luckily no one was flooded this time (unfortunately that wasn’t the case everywhere) and there was something quite beautiful about seeing the swollen river in the bright sunshine. I wasn’t able to take a picture of it this time but this photo was taken after some heavy rainfall over Christmas and gives you an idea of what I saw this morning.
Friday 22nd January 2021
I was on annual leave today so I channeled my ‘inner grandma’ and started a jigsaw. I’ve done this jigsaw once before (during the March lockdown) and it definitely counts as my ‘act of wildness’ because it is such a beautiful countryside scene.
Saturday 23rd January 2021
There was a very hard frost this morning and, in no time at all, I found myself sliding around on black ice as my partner and I made the most of our daily walk. It was pretty cold but had definitely been colder in the past few weeks. This was 100% the hardest frost we’d had though. Seeing the fields, hedgerows and trees shimmering with ice was definitely a treat!
Sunday 24th January 2021
I finished off a watercolour of some flowers this afternoon. I don’t usually focus much ‘art attention’ on plants but these tulips and hyacinths were gagging to be painted. I particularly enjoyed creating the lilac by mixing crimson, cobalt blue and white.
Ramblings of a (very!) amateur artist 