A sparrow - Charcoal sketching on toned paper

Portrait of a sparrow.

Early morning I hear the incessant chirping by a host of sparrows in my balcony. It is fun to watch these beautiful elegant birds actively engaged in their furry movements. They are so full of life. My charcoal sketching as below is inspired by one such morning scene.

Hanging on

Charcoal and white pastel sketching on toned paper

Size 6"X 8"

Before starting the bird sketch I used my i pad to take a few photographs of the sparrows as they came and perched on my balcony grill. I also browsed through several other photographs on the net to get a little understanding of the bird anatomy. The outer form and structure is all carved according to the bones lying underneath. 

I titled this sketch as "Hanging on" to convey the feeling of perseverance and being here for a long time enduring all obstacles. The population of house sparrows is fast dwindling in cities as green space is giving way to high rise buildings. It is a pleasant change to see and hear them every day now.

I will be submitting this work in DPW " The bird challenge ".

Sparrows in my balcony

In December 2014, I created a bird sketch on toned paper from my Coorg reference photograph. In 2014 I was probably beginning to get into these kind of works. It is good to have a blog which is like a "Digital Diary"and it maintains a record of all your past work. Every time I create a work, it reminds me of something done in the past and I browse through my own blog revisiting my older works. It also helps me to analyse and evaluate my past works and then compare it with the present.

A Quote

"The object of art is not to reproduce reality but to create a reality of the same intensity." 
Alberto Giacometti