Drawing without a doubt is satisfying in its own right. It has its own skillset, I am discovering, a range of techniques and tools. It is also really helpful to gain some insight into the subject you intend to paint. It helps with the shape of the body, the structures and flows of feathers, the details. You notice things you might miss. It also connects you closely with the bird. During the last corona-virus year, my heart has sang to the fleeting sighting of a wren, a robin or a dunnock. It is quite another challenge to draw and paint it. It is good to try.

 

Look and see. One of my favourite birds is the dunnock, a little brown job! It is described as a plain brown bird. It used to be miscalled a 'hedge sparrow'. Well, during lockdown, I had time and opportunity to regard a dunnock during a year in a berberis tree. I came to appreciate the beauty of its creamy, sometimes mottled feathers. It is such a beautiful bird and, when one appears under my feeder, it plays my heart strings.