Bluetits on Lard Ball
The Bluetits are some of the smallest birds that come to the garden, and I love how quickly and nimbly they hop about to swipe the food available from the bigger birds! They've got really sweet, cheeky faces. Usually I see more than one at a time, so I thought I'd show several in one picture here.
Robin on Feeder
Collared Doves
When one of these Doves comes to the garden, the other is never far behind - I hardly ever see them apart, which shows the loyalty of some birds to their mates which is so endearing to me. They're very mild-mannered and polite compared to their cousins the Woodpigeons, who come in gangs and eat all the food put out in one go. I wanted this image to reflect the delicateness of the Doves.
Blackbird and Blackbird Hen
More usually referred to by me as Mr and Mrs B. The Blackbirds have scurried about in our garden for a long time and have raised broods of chicks every year, despite being harangued by the Magpies. Unlike the Robin pair, all the Blackbirds are noticeably shy and always alert to the smallest sound. I love how Blackbirds move, hopping and scuttling through the grass and chasing each other through the branches of trees. And of course nothing is more beautiful than Mr B's triumphant singing at twighlight!
Below are the rough inital sketches for each card design. I tried to decide on the final colours at this stage as it would be one less thing to worry about after doing the final lineart and actually settling on a style to paint the birds and some of the foreground in. If nothing else, I wanted all the colours in these cards to work well, so I hoped that sticking to these early plans would help stop me from overworking the final images and making the painting style too intense.
I thought I'd include the lineart for the cards for good measure, as it's my favourite part of the process!
