Wildlifeart » Plein air sketching

Trip to Utö

admin — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 04:41:20 +0000

Finnish coast has thousands of islands and islets. These kinds of islands are paradise for bird painters. Some of our bird painters have spent weeks or months in small islands sketching, drawing and photographing birds. We went to Utö island for end of summer trip. This island is southern most inhabited island in Finnish coast. Most of time was spend photographing great views and birds, but on ferry and photographing hide there was time for sketching.

My sketches are almost always very quickly done and small. I do them when I want to plan painting composition or when I am building idea for a painting. Sometimes I draw details that I will use in painting. Other Finnish painters make many times more detailed and larger sketches that they colour. I admire their skill but I often would like to start making the final piece right away.

Some of my newest paintings will have original sketch attached on back of the painting.

Detailed story can be found in our birders diary blog

Birding on winter day

admin — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 15:17:54 +0000

Wildlife artist can not just stay in atelje. You have to search for inspiration and painting ideas. Today it was very dark day but still we managed to see species like Hawk Owl, White-backed Woodpecker, Marsh Tit, nice male Sparrow Hawk and lots of Goldeneyes and Mergancers.

During the day we visited this very nice and active hawk owl. It hunted this vole in front of our eyes. They have great eye sight and this bird poitend its prey from couple of hundres of meters! Video by Janne Aalto

Birding art artists trip to Hanko

admin — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:08:42 +0000

Finnish birding art artists made their autunum birding expedition to Hanko in Finnish most shouthern tip. This long weekend consisted drawing, photographing and of cource lots of talking about birds and bird art. Timing of the meeting was exelent and we had a chance to see thousands of Jay´s, tens of thousands of wood pigeons and hundreds of sparrowhawks on their migration.

Picture collection of highlighs of the week end.

Hannu Sarvanne is drawing

Jari Kostet (left) and Hannu Sarvanne

Dick Forsman is photographing huge Jay flock.

Jay trying to fly south

Crossing the sea is very difficould for Jay.

Sparrow hawks vere attacking migrating birds.

Kari Eicher, Esko Railo and Seppo Leinonen are ready for next flock of birds.

Hannu Sarvanne is looking for wood pigeon flocks

Pekka Suhonen

Juho Könönen smiles happily after great birding day

Mating Grass Snakes.

Sketching in rocky shores

admin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:08:37 +0000

For inland living artist sea and it´s shores give endless inspiration. I usually paint at home so I have to do sketching or photographing interresting subjects. If I find smaller interresting rocks, branches or plants, I often take them to my home. Many times I have plan for a painting in my head years, before I am ready to paint it. Then all sketches are waluable help.

I had a change to spent couple of days in Finlands shouth coast studying rocks, plants growing in cracks and small ponds of rainwater.

Gneiss and granite forms interresting patterns.

Tiny plants are trying to survive in the heat of rocky shore.

Shores of Koivu-island

Sun is setting behind fog and smoke