Vintage Book Review: Keith Brockie's Wildlife Sketchbook

I'm very lucky to have a friend who finds wonderful books for me. The latest find was Keith Brockie's Wildlife Sketchbook, the first book to be written and illustrated by this talented Scottish Artist. Published in 1981, the book features over 100 sketches, drawings, watercolours and pastels of Scottish wildlife. A true nature lover, Keith Brockie favoured drawing in the field and really got to know about the wildlife he painted by working with local scientists, gamekeepers and even by working as a bird ringer himself. If you love Scotland and nature then this is the book for you!

Keith Brockie's Wildlife Sketchbook, Dent 1981

Keith Brockie was born in East Lothian, Scotland in 1955. He studied at Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee, graduating in 1978, After a short stint working as an illustrator he became a freelance artist specialising in wildlife, and in 1981 'Keith Brockie's Wildlife Sketchbook' was published.

He favoured drawing in the field and getting as close to the wildlife as he could without disturbing it. He certainly managed to get very close to the eider duck, featured on the front cover, and he described it as being about a metre from his drawing board as he lay on the ground sketching it.

Keith drew and painted wildlife and the occasional landscape from across Scotland, although he favoured the east and central regions as well as several islands.

The majority of the drawings and paintings featured in the book are of birds. Several are partial sketches with notes of size and other observation and some are more complete paintings.

I noticed that one page features the Manx Shearwater, which he sketched after it was caught at night during a bird ringing excursion. Apparently about 1000 nesting pairs were present at the time on the Isle of Canna in the Inner Hebrides where this bird was caught.

Every so often, amongst the sketches and notes, there appears a more fleshed out painting. A couple are double-page spreads showing one fantastically detailed and atmospheric painting, such as one of a red deer stag. Some are of the local landscape, such as the coastline of Soay and Hirta in St Kilda. St Kilda is the UK's only dual UNESCO World Heritage Site and is home to nearly 1 million seabirds. It's very remote and forms the westernmost point of the UK. The islands of St Kilda have an interesting history as they were inhabited until 1930. More information about this remote archipelago can be found on the National Trust for Scotland website.

It's very hard to pick favourites from this book as so many of the drawings and paintings are quite exquisite. I do have a soft spot for red squirrels though, and I think he's captured their personality very well in the series of sketches he included in the book.

Not all of the book features birds and mammals however, with some attention being paid to local fish and wildflowers, including Harebells. Harebells are known as 'Marrane Ferrish' or Fairy Thimble on the Isle of Man but are often called 'Bluebells' in Scotland, according to the Manx Wildflowers website. A confusing thing as this is usually the name given to the common bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta).

Keith Brockie's Wildlife Sketchbook is a fascinating and beautifully illustrated book by an artist that would go on to publish several other titles. His work conveys more than just a visual translation of the subject. It communicates a deep understanding of the nature being depicted and, as such, provides the reader with a great resource for learning and experiencing more of the Scottish environment. As an artist who loves to draw nature, this book is a real inspiration and I intend to try to replicate some of Keith's techniques in my own sketches in future. If you'd like to own a copy of this book yourself, it's available on several second-hand resellers such as Abebooks or Amazon and Keith Brockie has a website at Keithbrockie.co.uk

Happy sketching!

Emma