Early Bird...

While this is one phrase that will never be applied to me... this is a good time to get better acquainted with our feathered friends!

One of the chief pleasures of the allotment is being surrounded by birdsong... I am not familiar with which song is which, maybe spending more time there I will get chance to separate out some of the melodies...with help from the RSPB birdsong identifier... What a great resource!

Birdsong

My only bird drawing to date has been for christmas cards, only one of which I can put my hands on... 'Robin' was made into a rubber stamp cut with a scalpel and printed like you would do block printing. A black ink pad for the outline and then getting more complicated with blocks cut from sponge for the red breast and a yellow beak.

I found a few more pictures and while I don't have my robin rubber stamp I do have this Dove which was a present; just for contrast to show the more complicated manufactured stamps - if you want to make your own start with simples lines, straight lines will be easier to cut to start with and do be careful using craft knives or scalpels!

This commercially made stamp is from Yellow Owl Workshop, worth a look for some inspiration.


Some bird based artwork I have been looking through recently to follow up. I had the pleasure to work with Jo Ruth in the Midlands, in a college art department, she now lives in York making fabulous artwork.

Jo Ruth

Clare Youngs

ColorMyBliss

Pete Cromer

Always good to get some antipodean artwork in, Pete Comer is based in Australia. Kathy Boortz on the other hand despite doing a great sculpture of a cockatoo is American (I think!?!)