Loosey-Goosey

I have had my eye on these girls for a year, as I run past their field several times a week. I more than half expected them to disappear around about Christmas, but they made it through safely, I’m pleased to say.

So, when our sketching and photographing friends came to stay, it seemed like the perfect afternoon to pay the geese a visit.

What I hadn’t expected was how mobile the geese were; they were very keen to see whether we’d brought food, and were also occupied in battling with the ponies in the field to get a prime position by the gate where we were standing. We had to work fast – see an image, capture it in the mind as best you can and then try to get it on the paper.

Being left-handed, I started at the right hand side of the page and worked across to the left. You can see how I start to get my eye in, and notice the’real’ shapes rather than the imagined ones – the beaks and head shapes definitely improve across the page. Using fineliner at first, I only added the shading with a black Tombow and water brush pen at the end, once all the outlines were complete. This definitely reduced the risk of accidental smudging.

By the time I’d moved onto the second sketchbook page, I felt I’d made huge strides. Nice loose and suggestive marks, finally!