A-Z of Bird Portraits

Andrew Forkner is a keen naturalist and has travelled the world in search of wildlife. His artwork has also travelled widely, with examples of his art in collections in the UK, Europe, Kenya, Canada, USA and Nepal. A self-taught wildlife artist, he works in a variety of media, including graphite pencil, acrylics and pastel to complete his originals. Andrew lives in Oxfordshire. He has produced several commissions for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, of which he has been a member for over thirty years.

Acrylics are unique among paints in that they can be used like watercolours or oils and have their own special characteristics that make them a great choice for all kinds of painting.  This book looks at how to use them when depicting twenty-seven different birds. As this is a book about painting rather than drawing, that part has been taken care of so you can get on with learning more about acrylics.  Each bird comes with an outline to trace, plus detailed instructions on how to transfer it and even combine tracings.  This takes less time than drawing, so you can produce a whole wall’s worth of fine pictures in no time.  To begin there is advice on what to buy and why, a look at the palette of colours the artist works with and a piece about why he chose to work with acrylics.  There is also a chapter on how to make a pleasing composition, and paint features like feathers, bills, feet and eyes.  Throughout the book there are lots of tips showing how to do various things from working with washes, to using a viewfinder to test colours and how to paint various features from rocks and water to detailing on plumage, subtle shading and using backgrounds.  The birds themselves are a varied mix so you get plenty of practice at capturing diverse details.  They tend to mostly hail from the UK, Europe and the US rather than hotter climes and many you won’t need to go far to see if you live in these places.  There are colourful species like the kingfisher, bee eater and green woodpecker and more subtly coloured birds such as the barn owl, wren, mourning dove and golden eagle.  Each project features a full sized painting plus tracing, list of what you need and a swatch down the page showing all the mixed colours; a useful tool.  The instructions are broken down into preparation followed by the various layers and finishing touches.  There is usually an inset detail showing a particular technique plus a very helpful actual size image of the picture showing the base colours before the final details go on.  Although there is nothing on the outside of the book to indicate it this would be a wonderful choice for a fairly inexperienced artist.  Even a beginner could have a go with the user friendly projects and achieve decent results.  More books like this please! This book was originally published as a hardback in 2015. If you cannot find a good range of acrylic painting materials locally try http://www.searchpress.com for a list of suppliers.

• Introduction 6Materials 8Colours 10Composition 12Basic techniques 18Features of birds 24Projects 34Alcedo atthis Common Kingfisher 36Aquila chrysaetos Golden Eagle 40Bombicylla garrulus Bohemian Waxwings 44Cinclus cinclus White-throated Dipper 48 Dacelo novaeguineae Laughing Kookaburra 52Egretta garzetta Little Egret 56Erithacus rubecula European Robin 60Falco tinnunculus Common Kestrel 64Fratercula arctica Atlantic Puffin 68Garrulus glandarius Eurasian Jay 72Haliaeetus leucocephalus Bald Eagle 76Icterus galbula Baltimore Oriole 80Junco hyemalis Dark-eyed Junco 84Lanius excubitor Great Grey Shrike 88Merops apiaster European Bee-eater 92Nycticorax nycticorax Black-crowned Night Heron 96Oenanthe oenanthe Northern Wheatear 100Picus viridis Green Woodpecker 104Quelea quelea Red-billed Quelea 108Recurvirostra avosetta Pied Avocet 112Sitta Europea Eurasian Nuthatch 116Troglodytes troglodytes Eurasian Wren 120Tyto alba Barn Owl 124Upupa epops Eurasian Hoopoe 128Vanellus vanellus Northern Lapwing 132Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus Yellow-headed Blackbird 136Zenada macroura Mourning Dove 140Index 144