The first of three flip books showing the Alphabet pictures. Click on links on back pages to see all three booklets [alternatively go direct to the Alphabet blog here]
Blog
U is for…(U,V,W,X,Y,Z)
U is for… unidentified (!) As a fairly hopeless birder compared to John there are always going to be some drawings that I can’t identify. Here’s a few where I need your help – thank you, hive-mind! see also Avocets to Egrets (A,B,C,D,E) Fairy Terns to Jackass Penguins (F,G,H,I,J) Kentish Plovers to Ospreys (K,L,M,N,O) […]
P is for… (P,Q,R,S,T)
P is for… Pochard, Peregrine chasing Red Grouse and Puffins on Fidra A winter visitor, the pochard feeds on seeds, waterweed, snails and other aquatic invertebrates below the water’s surface, so quite appropriately seen here underwater. The peregrine is very much a bird of the air. This one is an illustration in Lines from Nature […]
K is for… (K,L,M,N,O)
K is for… Kentish Plovers, Kittiwakes and Kilnsey Crag, Wharfedale Sketches of Kentish plovers doing what these elegant little birds like to do best and John’s favourite gull, the Kittiwake, “riding the air current at a sea cliff effortlessly, making subtle changes to body and wing shapes and keeping their centre of gravity in balance […]
F is for… more pictures (F,G,H,I,J)
F is for… Fairy tern, fox and flounder This fairy tern Gygis alba, also known as the white tern, was drawn during a dramatic trip to the Aldabra atoll in the Seychelles in 1974 (see Land Marks and Sea Wings Chapter 4). It is so beautiful and delicate against the blue sky. These are not […]
A is for… an alphabetic showcase
A is for… Avocets, Alpine Gentian and Aldabra kestrels What a spectacular way to start this alphabetic journey through John’s work – a colony of avocets on the wing. Beautiful birds and a such a symbol of conservation success they are now the logo for the RSPB. Over half the breeding pairs in the UK […]
Views of Scotland
With restrictions easing I have been lucky enough to get out and about in Perthshire, the Highlands and West Coast of Scotland in the last few weeks. The stunning scenery brings to mind many of John’s pictures and drawings, some of which I have showcased here. The last three pictures were illustrations for the book […]
Delving into the sketchbooks
With over a hundred sketchbooks from a lifetime of drawing, John’s archive is a rich source of observations of bird and animal behaviour. As well as drawings of the species observed, he would mark colours, habitat and sometimes note a compositional idea that he might later work up into a finished picture. I have dipped […]
Birds in your Garden
As we come up to the RSPB’s Big Garden Bird Watch can I recommend again this delightful book published 1989 and currently available very cheaply on the secondhand book market? It is full of wonderful illustrations by John, many in full colour and takes you through a whole year in your garden with ideas for […]
Silent cliffs and restless water
“The contrast between silent cliffs and restless water offer powerful pictorial dynamics for an artist, as do the changes of light and shade and the air full of circling birds. The cliffs are a frontier between us and the horizon – to the seabirds, they are a necessary foothold on which to nest; a vertical […]