A studio for bird study
Tag: birds of prey
August 20, 2018
An Illustration of Some Members of the Genus Buteo
by Bryce W. Robinson
18×24″ Gouache on watercolor paper. From top left: Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus), Swainson’s Hawk (Buteo swainsoni), Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus), Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), and Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis). Purchase limited edition prints here.
I’ve been illustrating raptors in flight for some years now, which really took off when I met Jerry Liguori. Jerry took me under his wing, so to speak, and filled my head with everything he himself has learned over his many years studying the identification of raptors, particularly in flight. His tutelage accelerated my skills and knowledge in raptor identification, and I can confidently say that without his selfless teaching, my illustrations wouldn’t be the same.
I’m currently focused on tuning in my raptors in flight. I am about to start some large illustration projects focused on these taxa, so I am working to develop my technique and process as well perfecting relative shape and sizes. It’s a challenge, because illustrating each correctly involves so much more than the obvious differences in plumage. What makes each unique are shape, proportion, and posture. I’ve found posture to be the most challenging aspect to capture, since this seemingly simple factor has so much power over whether the bird looks real or not. Furthermore, in flight postures and shapes are influenced by the direction and motion of a bird in that moment in time. For instance, a bird soaring has a unique shape but because of the position of the viewer, that shape may be different for each wing because of the birds posture and how wind or resistance bends the outer primaries. To understand and master this effect is going to take repeated sketching and exploration.
Purchase an 18×24″ limited edition archival print (30 available) of this illustration in the shop. Your support helps me continue to refine my illustration, so thank you ahead of time! Also, be sure to add Jerry Liguori’s unique guidebooks to your library. Jerry has taken raptor identification to the next level, and his guidebooks are a wealth of information for mastering in-flight identification. You can find his books here: Jerry Liguori’s Hawk’s From Every Angle and Hawks at a Distance
April 18, 2018
Light Morph Ferruginous Hawk Plate
by Bryce W. Robinson
In my continued practice at illustration and the design of guide book style plates, I took the opportunity of expanding a needed Ferruginous Hawk illustration into a full plate. I focused on a goal to illustrate light morph adult and juveniles perched and in flight, both topside and underside. I’m currently emulating the traditional plate styles you see in contemporary guides, but as I’ve been illustrating I’ve had some ideas that I may try going forward as I attempt to tune in my illustrations.
For polymorphic species such as the Ferruginous Hawk, illustrating the entire spectrum of plumage types is entirely unreasonable if not impossible. Still, I think there are some plumage types that may deserve attention, apart from the classic rusty bodied birds and dark morphs. I’ve seen some interesting individuals, such as dark birds with white streaking on the breast that is reminiscent of dark morph Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk. I think including these in an informative plate will communicate two things, one being of course some of the stranger possible plumage types but perhaps more importantly the pitfalls of focusing solely on plumage characteristics for identification.
I’ve produced prints of this illustration for purchase, but I’ve limited them to 25. You can find and purchase a print in the shop by clicking here.
January 7, 2018
An Illustration of a Few of the Larger Eagles (Family: Accipitridae)
by Bryce W. Robinson
Eagles – 18×24″ gouache on paper. From top left: Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja), Crowned Eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus), Bateleur (Terathopius ecaudatus), Martial Eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus), Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), Steller’s Sea-Eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus), Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), and Verreaux’s Eagle (Aquila verreauxii).
I appreciate commissions because they provide the opportunity to paint something that I likely wouldn’t otherwise. The above painting of eagle heads is a great example. I have always enjoyed illustrating raptor heads floating alone, but I’ve never tried painting multiple on one canvas. My friend Mike Lanzone reached out to me to make a request for an eagle painting, so I was pushed to put together the concept and paint multiple birds in one place. It was a challenge for sure, but quite rewarding in the end.
Mike wanted the painting to gift to his wife Tricia Miller. Mike and Tricia are excellent biologists that work with many of the species in the painting. Mike is the CEO of Cellular Tracking Technologies, an awesome company that outfits wildlife researchers with the technology necessary to study movement ecology. Tricia is the Executive Director at Conservation Science Global Inc. Needless to say, they’re quite the power couple and I really look up to them. Among many great research projects, they are integral in Project Snowstorm, a research project aimed at understanding irruption and interannual movements of Snowy Owls. I’m honored to provide them with an illustration for their home that will help capture and celebrate the great work that they do.
If you like this image, you can buy prints here:
http://ornithologi.bigcartel.com/product/11×14-limited-giclee-print-eagles
ornithologi.com 