MATERIALS
• Canson “C” 220gsm paper
• Staedtler 4x 2B pencils
• 145x20x10 mm white rubber
• Masonite board 400 grit sandpaper
• Clean sharp knife
PREPARATION
Using painters’ masking tape I fixed the drawing paper to the Masonite board – stretching it as tight as possible. Once happy with this I drew a straight line on all four sides of the copy then repeated this on the drawing paper. I then used these lines as my profiles (building terms).
The rubber I cut into three lengths wise and wrap them individually in clean butchers’ paper. These are protected with only 4mm protruding at one end. The important thing is to keep the rubber clean at all times, cutting the end off after each use.
I sharpen the four 2B pencils each at least 40mm then gentle rub and roll it along a piece of 400 grit sandpaper (which has been clipped to a piece of 280x 75mm Masonite). This then gives me the needlepoint tip required.
STEP ONE
Being right handed I mark reference points from my profile lines (top and left hand side) to tips and base of crest feathers, beak and eye. Very lightly I sketch in shapes, making sure that I allow plenty of space for tight spots. I complete each crest feather as I work down to the bottom right hand corner. By the time I reach the bottom of the beak I have re-sharpened the pencils and cut off the tops of the rubbers countless times.
STEP TWO
I use two or three sheets of A4 copy paper to separate my hand wrist from the drawing. As I have had many eye operations I found I needed a hand-held magnifying glass to draw the gill feathers.
STEP THREE
Moving down the left hand side, again using my profiles, I marked intersections points of the chest and wing feathers, once again sketching very lightly each and every feather. Once I lightly start hatching in more graphite, as this allows me to see if each of the feathers line up or overlap in the correct spot. If I am happy I then complete this part of the bird.
STEP FOUR
Focus points need to be marked for the claws and where they meet the branch. Once achieved the dark areas need to be hatched and crossed hatched in with my 2B pencil until I was satisfied. Because there was no bottom to the reference picture, there is no botanical name for the vine or branch, so this was my own creation.
FINAL STEP
Once I stood back and studied the drawing, I either lightened or darkened any areas I thought necessary.
The thing I found hardest was remembering to wash and dry my hands properly after each sharpening of the pencils; being a builder I was used to wiping my hands on the tail of my shirt – not anymore!
