ARTWORK BY IAN MCKERCHAR

 

Despite having always enjoyed drawing from a very early age it is something I now only visit occasionally, currently mainly to illustrate the annual Greater Manchester county bird reports, and I ought really to have paid more attention to it and given it more of a chance than the more usual 'scribbles' in my notebook. Either way, this gallery may hopefully spur me on to pick up the pens more often (though I'm not sure where I'll find the time!) and all utilise black ink from various sized nibbed drawing pens, although I have recently attempted to utilise pencil within these drawings and would like to extend that further.

I am particularly fastidious about getting the subject's jizz, proportions and plumage features absolutely spot on in all my images and enjoy drawing comparison species side by side wherever possible to highlight these, backgrounds run from simple shading (usually using lots and lots of dots, highly time consuming but actually very enjoyable, therapeutic and productive) to carefully reproduced scenes from sketches made in the field or photographs taken specifically for that purpose.

Please click on a thumbnail to enlarge the picture, once done, some may require zooming slightly to eradicate slight 'blurring' of the image

Lesser White-fronted Goose, 1988

Drawn with a Greater White-fronted Goose for comparrison I paid great attention to detail in identification features, especially as this drawing was my first ever published in Twitching magazine (now Birding World), and illustrated a bird I saw at Slimbridge WWT

Rock Thrush, 1988

Another image which appeared in Twitching magazine (now Birding World), this one celebrated a memorable twitch to see this individual at Portland Bill by myself and Andy Makin in my battered old mini

Caspian Tern, 1988

Reproduced in Twitching magazine (now Birding World), this individual was my first ever of the species in the UK and was sucessfully twitched at Winthorpe near Newark

Yellow-browed Warbler, 1990

Always a delight to find, this bird was one of a few we self-found on the Isles of Scilly that year

Bonaparte's Gull, 1991

Having always been a gull enthusiast this Bonaparte's at New Brighton afforded excellent comparison with Black-headed Gulls and was something I endeavoured to capture in this drawing

Black-faced Bunting, 1994

I picked up the pens after a couple of years break for this drawing after being asked to produce it for the front cover of the annual county bird report, the Reed Bunting was for comparrison (and interest) and this was my very first attempt at obtaining some 'depth-of-field' in my backgrounds

Arctic Skua, 1999

Reproduced in the annual county bird report, the Black-headed Gulls added their own interest (an adult and 1st winter bird) and also gave some proportion to the skua

Honey Buzzard, 1999

Celebrating what was then the first record of Honey Buzzard in the county (although a much earlier record has now come to light), this drawing adorned the front cover of the county bird report, the background of Winter Hill was actually drawn from Rumworth even though the Buzzard was seen from Amberswood!

Shoveler, 2000

As a 'quickie' for the annual county bird report the subject offered the chance of contrast and shading but poor reproduction in the report never gave it it's due appreciation

White-winged Black Tern, 2000

Appearing in the county bird report this individual was seen (including by me!) at Pennington Flash and the background attempts to depict the spit as seen from the yacht club on the south side

Pectoral Sandpiper, 2000

Waders are one of my favourite subjects to draw so this front cover for the annual county bird report still remains one of my favorites to this day

Lapwings, 2001

Desite waders being a favorite subject, Lapwings are not so being commissioned to produce this annual county bird report front cover of Lapwings on a rooftop was actually pretty uninspiring to do, but it worked out well in the end

Barn Owl, 2002

Another annual county bird report front cover, sometimes you finish a drawing and think, "yeah, perfect!" and this was one of those moments, the background was drawn from a photograph I took of this actual bird's location so I even got a chance of getting the flowers in the foreground correct but the blackness of the inside of the barn really set of the bird itself

Spotted Crake, 2003

Actually produced to illustrate to the county rarities committee that 2 Crakes were present at the time, this was reproduced in the annual county bird report

Whiskered Tern, 2003

The last of my run of annual county bird report front covers this county first involved more work that any before it but the background of the yacht club and Green Lane at Pennington Flash, carefully reproduced from field notes and photographs gave the location it's identity, something I held important for this front cover

Kittiwake, 2004

Another 'quickie' for the annual county bird report, long and slim for the shape of the drawing fits in with the page layout better!

Yellow-browed Warbler, 2004

Another for the inside of the county bird report, the Sycamore leaves were copied directly from ones taken from the lawn of my garden and more 'depth-of-field' was attempted in the background

Little Owl, 2006

Much improved printing quality for the annual county bird report allowed the use of pencil as well as ink in my artwork, so extending the shading possibilities

Stock Doves, 2006

Again, produced for the annual county bird report this drawing includes both pen and pencil which allowed more detail in the background, the building of which was taken from a photo in a magasine

Yellow-browed Warbler, 2006

My first 'pencil-only' drawing for the annual county bird report

Little Egrets, 2007

For the annual county bird report and celebrating the 3 individuals as my patch of Hope Carr, the background is a depiction of the actual 'Willow Pool' they were on!

Scandinavian Rock Pipit, 2007

Published in the annual county bird report, after spending months researching this species for a website article I wrote it was nice to lay down all the relevant features of this race in a drawing

Long-tailed Tit, 2007

a pretty much black and white subject- what a pleasure! Published in the annual county bird report.

Greenshank, 2008

actual size only 10cm wide, published in the 2007 annual county bird report

Red-necked Phalarope, 2008

actual size only 10cm wide, published in the 2007 annual county bird report

Shelduck at Heaton Park Reservoir, 2008

actual size only 10cm wide, published in the 2007 annual county bird report

Tree Sparrows with Yellowhammer, 2008

actual size only 10cm wide, published in the 2007 annual county bird report

Wren, 2008

actual size only 10cm wide, published in the 2007 annual county bird report