Birding at Lake Renwick and some small paintings

I feel like I've been posting show after show and not much work lately. I am making a very conscious effort to journal my artistic process more and give a more "inside view" on my working process. Part of the working process for me is being an active birder. While there are times I would much rather paint, as a bird painter and  illustrator I need to have a good understanding of my subject matter in their natural habitat--that includes studying and becoming familiar with different environments, their patterns, the way birds perch, fly, and even sit perfectly still. While birding may sound like a simple past-time, it is an essential part of my understanding of birds and nature. So, I decided to brave the cold weather and go to Lake Renwick, a local rookery in Will County, on my free morning this past Saturday. It was a glorious morning, though windy and cold. I haven't seen the sunrise like that since my school days in May.

As beautiful as the morning started, my mom and I had gotten there a little too early and there were no birds to be seen or heard. After about a half hour or so, the sun started to warm the air and I started to hear some White-Breasted Nuthatches in the more woody part of the preserve. Anxious to see these little birds, I forced my mom to follow me again onto the path we had already taken. From there we saw a decent number of species, but nothing too grand or exciting:

White-Breasted Nuthatch

Downy Woodpecker

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

American Goldfinch

Am. Crow

Canada Goose

Am. Robin

 B/C Chickadee

European Starling

N. Cardinal

Am. Tree Sparrow

There might have been more, but I can't recall them now. There was a strange duck-like bird flying onto the lake near the many flocks of geese but I couldn't identify it. I'm going to try to go back with my scope to see if it's still there next week. I was eager to reach the other side of the lake and hopefully see some more birds as well as sit down and sketch for a little bit, but the sky had clouded over and the wind bit right through my thin gloves. I was starting to get chilled. I decided to call it quits early, only because I wanted to get back into the groove of birding and I knew I could return more prepared on a later morning. 

Not the most exciting trip, but it helped me for future bird mornings. This weekend, I managed to also finish some paintings I have been late with, but I think they still came out well and I enjoyed painting all four. I had painted these small bird studies for my friends at work as a late Christmas gifts:

 

 

Right now, I'm working on a large painting that I hope to finish before the end of the month. I will also be working on some smaller studies like the ones above to have ready to sell in a pinch. I will have that opportunity soon for a show in the Health in the Art program at UIC. More details to follow about that.