Streaming Eagle Cam sketches

I've found in the past that it's always educational to attempt to draw a moving subject which has a routine or a limited range of movements. It's a useful exercise to follow, as a step up from life class, when trying to learn how to draw a live and moving object with no routine. My typical subjects in the past have been people eating in cafes or restaurants and other artists. The process of attempting such drawings also seems to make the challenges of a life drawing class rather less daunting - at least there the model tends to sit still!

However I've never ever tried to draw a live bird before. I heard about the web cam which is watching a mummy eagle sitting on her brood (she seems to have two eggs). I wondered what sort of drawing might be possible in a short space of time. So I set a challenge for some friends of mine and myself to click the link - with pen/pencil and paper in hand and then sketch for 10 minutes. The results have been very interesting - and accomplished - and the consensus seemed to be that the exercise was a real confidence booster in relation to drawing in this way again!

What were the problems? Well the main problem is that she's very interested in her surroundings - see for your self! http://www.infotecbusinesssystems.com/wildlife/ The other problem is that there are some problems with page loading presumably because the site is getting a tremendous number of hits - once the sponsor advert starts rolling and the man starts talking just hang on - Mummy eagle is just behind. And the final problem is you keep wanting to watch the eagle - very distracting!

Here's my two 10 minutes sketches of an eagle who constantly turns her head and periodically gets up and inspects her nest and her eggs. I was only intending to do one but she turned around!



Have a go at drawing her and see what you learn!

Technorati tags: art , drawing , eagle , pencil , webcam