Wildlife Garden in January

The wildlife garden in January.

It’s hard to imagine the discomfort experienced by wildlife and birds trying to survive on what’s left over in the garden after a long, hot summer, followed by a long, cold winter.

Even with the good fortune of fairly mild weather – there may not be much food around for hungry mouths. With nesting season only a couple of months away, now is a good time to feed high-energy, fatty foods for birds to help them last the cold season and build their strength for Spring.

Other animals that come out of hiding on milder days, looking for an energy boost to help them survive the cold nights, would benefit from a few morsels left out. Many urban and semi-rural gardens are homes to hedgehogs, foxes, badgers, birds, squirrels plus a host of smaller mammals and mini-beasts.

Gardens close to specific wildlife habitats, such as woodland, might be visited by other wildlife, like deer, if the garden is accessible.

All garden wildlife needs water to drink – keeping bowls and ponds accessible by clearing a space in ice is often overlooked during particularly cold times but an essential activity in maintaining an active wildlife garden.

There might be small areas tucked away around the garden, which may provide suitable hideaways and cosy dens; a log pile at the end of the garden, access to undergrowth and hedging, plus some bird boxes, bat houses, bug hotels and butterfly houses should help keep the wildlife garden visitors safer and more comfortable until the better weather comes along.

Wildlife garden blog : January.

British Wildlife Watercolours

British Wildlife Watercolours. British wildlife, birds and flowers are carefully painted using watercolours, based on the wildlife and botanical subjects from the garden and local woods. Wildlife such as small British woodland animals (badgers, foxes, squirrels, mice, bats, deer, otters, wild cats, stoats, weasels - even wild boar, pine martens, beavers and, one day, lynx may return to the wilds of Britain!) and UK garden birds, butterflies and bees, along with ladybirds and dragonflies, add to the joys to be found in the garden, or just beyond, all year round. Watercolours can be used to capture the beauty in the animal or plant subject using the fluidity of the paints. Everyone's favourite! A beautiful owl resting amongst the bluebells. British Wildlife Watercolours : Watercolour Owl and Bluebell British Wildlife Watercolours : Watercolour Bird Painting of a Sparrow and Worm Watercolours can be used in a variety of wildlife paintings for different effects bas...

Wildlife Drawing Classes

Wildlife Drawing Classes Wildlife art classes in drawing wildlife. There is more to be gained from drawing British wildlife than drawing and sketching alone – with wildlife art classes, there can be enjoyment in discovering about some of Britain’s favourite animals and birds in the company of other artists and nature enthusiasts, through drawing wildlife classes which bring together like-minded individuals in a pleasant setting. Drawing animals and birds from life is an excellent way to engage with the natural world around us. An understanding of wildlife anatomy, behaviour and environment, through observations and sketches, can help build the skills and knowledge necessary for more detailed graphite or coloured pencil drawings of British wildlife and birds. Drawing class subjects include the familiar favourites such as: foxes, squirrels, hedgehogs, mice, deer and birds, plus some of the more elusive characters from the British countryside – badgers, otters, wildca...

Drawing Hares

Drawing Wildlife. When asked to present a wildlife art demo in March, one animal sprang to mind! The month has been all about March hares! Here's a work in progress study of a hare using coloured pencils. Getting ready for an art session. As preparation is key for any art demo, several images of hares were selected to be used as reference material - and so the wildlife sketching and drawing was ready for working on the easel at home. Drawing Hares and other Wildlife. Planning time to a hare's hair's breadth! The aim of the art demo was to go through the stages of completing a pencil drawing of a hare using coloured pencils. The demo was scheduled for about 2 hours' drawing time... Detailed, realistic coloured pencil drawings can take a very long time to complete, even in the comfort of an artist's usual studio or dedicated art space. Natural nerves in drawing a hare, or any animal, in front of members of an art group (in this case, consisting of...

British Wildlife Watercolours : Garden Birds

Bird Art : from the Garden There are a number of British birds that visit the garden daily for the abundance of naturally growing berries and seeds - and it's a good way to get ideas for later watercolours and drawings of birds. The traditional garden bird, the sparrow, seems to have been replaced by the more colourful birds such as bluetits, goldfinches, long-tailed tits and chaffinches – although a few sparrows do usually manage to make a daily appearance – especially around their favourite bird table where additional nuts, seeds and worms tempt even the most reluctant visitors. A favourite garden visitor is our British National Bird – the robin redbreast – or rather three of them! Plus all the wood pigeons and doves, crows, blackbirds, thrushes, woodpeckers – green and red - even fieldfares – it can get quite a busy! That is the best time to make sure a pencil and paper is nearby – for the birds are always entertaining to watch and sketch – it’s a most enjoyable way to ...

Bird Drawing Workshops

Bird drawing workshops can be a good source of information for anyone who loves birds and wants to draw them, especially beginner artists and improvers. Drawing Workshops. Wildlife Art. Kent. Surrey. Sussex. London. Drawing workshops and classes are a great place to pick up advice and resources that can be used to discover more about birds in the local area. Workshops can help introduce the beginner to outdoor bird sketching and keeping a bird diary or nature journal that can be used to identify birds and develop the drawings to produce more detailed, realistic bird paintings. Regular sketching can significantly improve bird drawings and paintings whilst developing knowledge of bird anatomy and habitats. There are many strange and wonderful aspects to a bird’s body (skeleton, muscles, feet, feathers and beaks) that serve a function and it is often through sketching and detailed drawing that these anatomical wonders are closely observed and begin to be understood. ...

British Wildlife Coloured Pencils

Drawing wildlife using coloured pencils Coloured pencil wildlife art paintings and drawings. Detailed wildlife and botanical drawings and paintings can be gained using coloured pencils which range from student grade to professional grade. The following animal pencil paintings were achieved using a mixture of coloured pencil brands but mainly Faber-Castell Polychromos and Caran D’ache Swisscolour. Detail is captured as realistically as possible whilst retaining the creative style. Realistic British wildlife art by wildlife and botanical coloured pencil artist. British Wildlife : Coloured Pencils : Mouse and Apple British Wildlife Art : Coloured Pencil Drawing of a Robin Snow Leopard : Coloured Pencils Coloured Pencil Drawing : British Bird : Owl Wood Avens : Coloured Pencils Coloured Pencils : Grape British Wildlife Art : Squirrel

British Wildlife Pastel Art

British Wildlife Art in Pastels. Fine art, traditional animal paintings and bird paintings in detail: local wildlife, animals and birds of the countryside - meadows, woods, riversides and gardens. Paintings and drawings undertaken using soft pastels, occasionally enhanced using pastel pencils. Wildlife pastel classes, workshops and demos available. British Wildlife Painting : Pastels British Wildlife Painting : Pastels Countryside Painting : Pheasant British Wildlife Art : Small Mammals

Traditional Bee Drawings

Honey Bee Illustration Traditional Bee Drawings at wildlife workshops. Enjoy a wildlife art workshop drawing bees! Beginner artists and nature enthusiasts can explore the world of bees and bee art through bee drawing workshops, alongside artists wishing to improve their art skills and discover more about the wildlife world of bees! This wildlife drawing of a honey bee was initially created as a quick sketch in preparation for a bee show. The original rough sketch had been done and, with a few colours applied to give an impression, it was left only partially coloured and a very rough version of what had been planned for a complete drawing of a bee. Before it was completed, however, several enquiries had been made, asking to purchase the rough bee drawing and, eventually, this bee was created but not before several hours of research into the anatomy of bees had been carried out! It was a good experience, though, because it provided the necessary information to get on and...

Otter Painted in Stages in Pastel

British Wildlife Art from the Riverside. Drawing otters in stages using soft pastels : Wildlife Art Demo : Otter 1) Study the otter and gather reference material for painting Some otters were splashing around in the mud on an icy cold day, which provided the chance to watch them at play for a while and take a few reference photos for later. British Wildlife Drawing : Otters : Demos and Workshops 2) Sketch out the otter Back in the warmth, a rough sketch of the otter was done onto a neutral shade of pastel paper. The main features were added with soft pastels to create some form to work with. British Wildlife Drawing : Otters : Demos and Workshops 3) Build up the layers More colour and depth were created slowly by building up the layers. British Wildlife Drawing : Otters : Demos and Workshops 4) Add some detail The finer details, such as whiskers, were added using well-sharpened pastel pencils. British Wildlife Drawing ...

Watercolour Bird Painting : Green Parakeet

Bird watercolour paintings. Painting animals and birds in detail can be intensive work due to the amount of focus required to, first, 'see' the detail and, then, 'capture' it, in the required medium. A short break from such work can be a useful way to restore energy and bring focus back to the right level of detail. Different art styles - detailed to loose watercolours. This loose watercolour painting of a green parakeet was done a couple of years ago following some traditional, detailed wildlife art. Alternating art styles can provide a rest from looking at wildlife in such a focused way whilst continuing with art and developing new ideas. Unfortunately, this parakeet didn't return the following year for further studies... Watercolour Bird Painting. Green parakeet in the garden. ...but the other morning, when the sky was grey and all other colours were muted into a motionless blank canvas - a parakeet visited the garden and perched in an app...

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