We were recently lucky enough to have a visit from waxwings in Ramsey at the end of November. The European Waxwing is a distinctive bird species native to northern Europe, Scandinavia, and parts of Asia. Every so often, they visit the Isle of Man in autumn or winter in their search for food. Their arrival caused quite a flurry of excitement amongst birdwatchers and photographers, with several people crowding by the side of the road in very cold conditions, trying to capture great shots of these magnificent birds. In this week's blog, I'll share a sketch of the waxwings and some facts about how they got their name and why they visit the Island. I'll also uncover the latest Diamine inks from the Inkvent Calendar and explore their varied characteristics.
Recognized for its elegant appearance, the European Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) is characterized by a soft plumage featuring a palette of brown, gray, and cinnamon tones. Its most striking feature is the bright red wax-like tips on the secondary feathers, adding a touch of vibrancy to its overall demeanor. It's these bright red tips that give the bird it's name. They are truly beautiful birds and so I was delighted to find that a friend of mine had taken some excellent photos of the birds. I was particularly struck by a photo of two of the birds from underneath and thought it a good test for my recently purchased luminance pencils. Here's the resulting sketch on a watercolour background on Arches cold-pressed paper:
The flock was spotted in Ramsey towards the end of November and stayed for a few days, before apparently moving to St Johns for a brief time.
These medium-sized birds are highly nomadic, undertaking seasonal migrations in search of their preferred food source – berries. Berries make up the majority of their diet, and the consumption of pigmented berries contributes to the colourful accents on their plumage. Sometimes, berries will have fermented on the tree and waxwings can get inebriated from eating them, despite having some ability to metabolise the ethanol for energy. Waxwings can eat very large quantities of berries in a day and are so focused on eating them, that they can be quite oblivious to their surroundings. This, along with their striking plumage, makes them a great subject for photographers. No wonder there were so many alongside the road for those few days in November!
You can find out more about waxwings at the Manx Wildlife Trust and RSPB websites.
Inkvent Inks: Week 2
For the inks from week 1 see last week's blog.
Day 8: Jacaranda (Standard Ink)
Jacaranda is a delicate, purple ink. It looks quite blue on the pen nib, but warms up to purple as it dries and has some subtle shading qualities. On addition of water, it splits into pinks with a little blue. It almost seemed to delicately glow and I'll definitely use this for floral sketches in summer.
Day 9: Moon Beam (Chameleon Ink)
My sketch really didn't do this ink justice as Moon Beam has a lovely shimmer to it, that really looks great against the dark background colour of the ink. It was quite lively on addition of water and split into cool and warm greys. The chameleon shimmer particles changed from green to blue to yellow with some pink, depending on the viewing angle and looked much prettier than the picture shows. I really like this ink and can't wait to use it again in future.
Day 10: Velvet Emerald (Standard Ink)
Wow! It's green! It's a more muted deep tone of green when used straight out of the bottle, but when watered down, it turns into a very phthalo-like bright blue-green.
I like it, but I think it's too vibrant for me to be using this in many sketches. I also wasn't keen on the contrast between the previously laid down neat ink and the diluted ink as the colours didn't seem to complement each other.
Day 11: Glacier (Star Bright Ink)
This is glorious, and another that my photo couldn't capture properly. As a Star Bright ink, this seems to have much more shimmer to it and it was quite mesmerising to see it move as I laid it down on the paper. The base colour is a lovely shade of cool blue that has a dark tone when laid down thickly, but becomes very light when diluted with water. The shimmer is silver and so this ink really evokes an icy winter morning. It's a great choice for the Inkvent calendar and feels really special!
Day 12: Bah Humbug (Chameleon Ink)
I love this ink! It's a deep red-brown colour with a beautiful red shimmer to it. The photo didn't capture the shimmer, but it's a red that really complements the base ink shade. I adore how this ink dilutes to a rich maroon-red shade and will definitely consider buying a larger bottle of this when they are released.
Day 13: Weeping Willow (Standard Ink)
This is a very interesting ink. It's a standard ink, and so doesn't contain shimmer, but has a lot of interest in the way it splits into red and green tones, even when used neat. When diluted, the shade is lovely and delicate with a very pronounced splitting of colours. I think this will be a very useful ink when sketching landscapes and trees and I can see me filling a fountain pen with this in the future.
Day 14: Rainbow's End (Chameleon Ink)
Another lovely ink! Rainbow's End is a blue-purple colour with a shimmer that ranges from pink to gold. The colour looks warmer on addition of water, becoming pink when very diluted. It's a lot of fun to work with and the deep purple of the base colour works well with the colour when watered-down. I don't see me buying a larger bottle of this, but I'm very glad to have it and look forward to drawing with it again.
Comments