30 Days Wild day 10- Wild art

Today's random act of wildness was something a little bit different. It's been a long time since I've attempted any painting, but I found my watercolours and decided to see what I could do!

I've been wanting to improve my drawing skills for a while, particularly when it comes to wildlife. I'm friends with so many incredibly talented and creative people that it can be a little bit daunting to start from scratch, so I decided to start out using some photographs which I took when I visited Bempton Cliffs last year. 

I'd like to overhaul my blog over the summer, and am considering using a sketch as part of the new header, so I think I need all of the practice I can get! Still, considering how long it has been since I'd last made any serious attempts at drawing or painting, I'm quite happy with the results!

I found that doing these sketches made me take far more notice of the appearance of these birds than I would have done otherwise. The colouring of the gannet's plumage seems to highlight its posture as it sky points, which I'd never noticed before. I can't help wondering if this is an evolved trait to emphasise sky pointing as a communicative signal. A quick literature search didn't come up with anything related to this, but it's definitely something I'll look into when I have some spare time over the summer.