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John Busby, Artist

Landscape and wildlife artist, illustrator and author

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Arlequin Birdwatching guides

June 20, 2022

some of the guides illustrated by John Busby

In the 1990’s and early 2000’s Arlequin Press published a large number of Birdwatching Guides to different areas, with suggestions for places to go, birds to see and, of course, a tick-list of possible species to cross off one’s lifetime list.

The publishing house was set up to offer limited edition wildlife art books (starting with John’s Nature Drawings and including Donald Watson’s One Pair of Eyes and Eric Ennion’s Birds and Seasons (edited by R Walthew) see RW’s memoir ) so it is not surprising that the Birdwatching Guides also featured illustrations by wildlife artists, among them John Busby!

In the studio I came across a number of covers and illustrations from the books, including alternative covers for Extremadura and Eastern Spain and the originals of Algarve and Southern France.  It is interesting to compare the alternatives with what was chosen. (The wild boar didn’t make the cut on the Extremadura cover, although I prefer the flying Azure-winged Magpies myself!)

The drawings and pen and wash illustrations were used in several books as appropriate, most of these found so far are from France South of the Loire, and Eastern Spain.  I shall keep looking for others.

 

Possible covers for Extremadura
“A possible idea for Extremadura, might not be strong enough, will try an Azure-winged Magpie one.”
Alternatives and illustrations for Eastern Spain

 

 

 

Algarve book cover Woodchat Shrike
signed watercolour 1995 26 x 19 cm £400 buy now Original cover of Birdwatching Guide to the Algarve Arlequin Press
Andouin's Gull
signed pen and wash drawing 11 x 14 cm £130 buy now original illustration in Birds of Eastern Spain Arlequin Press p.50
Black and Whiskered Terns
unsigned pen and wash drawing 12 x 17 cm £100 buy now original illustration from Arlequin Press' Birdwatching Guides
Black Woodpecker
signed drawing 13 x 13 cm £130 buy now original illustration from Arlequin Press' Birdwatching Guides
Black-winged Stilts
unsigned drawing 12 x 17 cm £100 buy now original illustration in Birds of Eastern Spain Arlequin Press p.75
Citril Finches
signed pen and wash drawing 16 x 11 cm £130 buy now original illustration from Arlequin Press' Birdwatching Guides
Corsican Nuthatch
signed pen and wash drawing 12 x 12 cm £130 buy now original illustration from Arlequin Press' Birdwatching Guides
Dabchick (Little Grebe)
signed drawing 13 x 13 cm £130 buy now original illustration from Arlequin Press' Birdwatching Guides
Dartford Warblers below Les Beaux, Provence
initialled watercolour 26 x 19 cm £350 buy now original cover for A Birdwatching Guide to France South of the Loire Arlequin Press
Eastern Spain 1 moorland
initialled watercolour 26 x 19 cm £350 buy now suggested cover for A Birdwatching Guide to Eastern Spain Arlequin Press
European Cranes migrating
signed drawing 14 x 20 cm £150 buy now original illustration from Arlequin Press' Birdwatching Guides
Extremadura 1 with boar and cranes
initialled watercolour 26 x 19 cm £350 buy now was a suggested cover for Birdwatching Guide to Extremadura Arlequin Press
Extremadura 2 with Azure-winged Magpies
initialled watercolour 26 x 19 cm £350 buy now suggested cover for A Birdwatching Guide to Extremadura Arlequin Press
Garganeys
signed pen and wash drawing 14 x 16 cm £130 buy now original illustration from Arlequin Press' Birdwatching Guides
Great Bustards
unsigned watercolour 23 x 29 cm £300 buy now very similar to the cover of A Birdwatching Guide to Eastern Spain Arlequin Press
Greater Flamingos
signed pen and wash drawing 12 x 17 cm £130 buy now original illustration from Arlequin Press' Birdwatching Guides
Hobby
unsigned pen and wash drawing 11 x 11 cm £100 buy now original illustration from Arlequin Press' Birdwatching Guides
Little Owl
unsigned drawing 11 x 11 cm £100 buy now original illustration from Arlequin Press' Birdwatching Guides
Little Ringed Plover and chick
unsigned drawing 13 x 13 cm £100 buy now original illustration from Arlequin Press' Birdwatching Guides
Red-backed Shrike
signed pen and wash drawing 13 x 13 cm SOLD
Red-crested Pochards
signed pen and wash drawing 14 x 14 cm £130 buy now original illustration from Arlequin Press' Birdwatching Guides
Sardinian Warbler
signed pen and wash drawing 13 x 12 cm £130 buy now original illustration from Arlequin Press' Birdwatching Guides
Short-toed Larks
signed pen and wash drawing 14 x 14 cm £130 buy now original illustration in Birds of Eastern Spain Arlequin Press p.25
Short-toed Tree-creeper
signed drawing 13 x 10 cm £130 buy now original illustration from Arlequin Press' Birdwatching Guides

Filed Under: Birds, Blog, Publications

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