Hello Birds!

A little practice drawing birds on my journal during my vacation to Spain. And why birds do you ask? We happened to be stopping by for a few days in Delta de l’Ebre, northeast coast of Spain. Developed into some wetlands along the River Ebre, the area has become a paradise for a huge species of birds. This time of the year (late September) flocks amd schools of them migrate from Europe towards Africa making a “stopover” by the Delta. Apparently there exists more than 300 species of birds, among them seagulls, herons and flamingos!

Watercolor

Along with my sketchbook I brought with me a small travel-sized box of watercolor pans. Sennelier has a really cute one with 12 assorted colors. Accompanied by this I also packed a packet of six brush pens in which you fill water. Great substitutes and certainly more convenient than lugging brushes along, especially when you’ll need a jar filled with water as well as space to lay everything! I first drew these kawaii birds with a thin black marker by Faber Castell Pitt Artists Pens. So far so cute, on the left page of the sketchbook!

Markers

The next evening, I went for the right side of the book. Markers were used this time instead. In my kit I also had a selection of Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens in limited colors as well as thin and thicker nibs. I thought I’d also bring along some neon shades and went for Promarkers by Winsor & Newton which I later discovered were (unlike the Pitt Artist Pens) water soluble! Oh well, ever mind…

Open Page

I was initially going to have each of the above as separate drawings and write about them individually. Then when I happened to open the pages flat, I was quite amazed how much more abundant the paintings turned out when joined together. Doesn’t matter that they were done with different mediums. I love how colorful and vivid it all turned out!

And now I wish I had bought myself a properly binded sketchbook which many artists use as journals. For the moment I’ll have to do with the rings in the middle but I shall make it a note to get one when I’m back home. The doodling was nevertheless so much fun and a great way to practice my whimsical animals. Plus it’s a means of relaxing after a day of sightseeing and photographing!