Sketching the Dodo at the Natural History Museum

The Dodo at the Natural History Museum
pen and sepia ink in Moleskine Sketchbook, 8" x 10"
all images copyright Katherine Tyrrell

On Friday, the Drawing London Group which I belong to visited the Natural History Museum for our monthly outing.

I was on a mission to produce a sketch for one of the Sketchercise members participating in "A Postcard from my Walk".

Like I said in my last post, museums and art galleries provide lots of opportunities for walking out of the nasty winter weather .  They are particularly valuable for me with my dodgy feet which don't like the cold, wet or icy underfoot!  So I figured the outing would give me lots of opportunities to find a subject for my postcard.

I was rather worried as I was going to be sketching at a completely new size for me 7" x 5" (having abandoned the idea of even trying 6" x 4".  The problem is I'm used to sketching big and this new size proved to be a bit of a problem.

I decided to have a go at sketching the Dodo.  I reckoned that had to be a bit unique as subject matter goes!  There are several types of images in the Natural History Museum (of which more in another post on Making A Mark). I started by trying to sketch the engavings and paintings of a dodo in the Images Gallery.

Engravings of the Dodo - Thomas Herbert

Well - I don't whether it's because it's a very odd looking bird or I just don't like sketching small but the first sketches came out looking rather odd.

Tiny Dodo sketch #1 - during which I learned they should not have a bulbous crop

Dodo #2
7" x 5" pen and sepia ink in Moleskine sketchbook

Having managed to get the second dodo sketch to actually fit a 7" x 5" space, I decided that maybe this wasn't the ideal subject as I felt I was cramming him in.  Obviously my eye was not used to having to sketch so small.

Also what I really didn't like either of the sketches as the dodo in both looked.....stuffed - if not wooden!

I finally came across "the real stuffed dodo" in the birds gallery and was able to produce the sketch at the top after I abandoned the constraint of the 7" x 5" format and went back to 8" x 10" which is the format I've used for a long while.  I'm much happier with that one!

The Cocoon at the Natural History Museum - floor to ceiling
Those tiny marks at the bottom are people walking up stairs!

At the end of the day I found completely different subject matter to sketch for my Postcard from my Walk (to Orange County California).  The subject in question was right at the entry to the Cocoon and next to this floor to ceiling window  - which left me feeling very wobbly and rather queasy!

It's ages since I've felt myself impelled to fall off a vertical drop!  Thank goodness there was a window inbetween!

Herons, coots and goslings - grooming, housekeeping and babysitting

Coot Nest in Victoria Park

pencil and coloured pencils in Moleskine sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

On Thursday I decided to take my sketchercise in the early morning and headed out for the walk up the Regents Canal to the Ecology Park Ponds and Victoria Park.

I was waylaid by some very demanding red poppies in the meadow grass of the Art Park but arrived at the Ecology Pavilion Roof at the same time as the heron arrived at Heron Bridge. Below you can see my photo of the heron coming into land on the bridge - he never gives me much warning and I was lucky to get this!

Bert comes into land on Heron Bridge
photo copyright Katherine Tyrrell

I'm afraid I have a habit of giving names to animals and birds that I see often. This Grey Heron has been named Herbert the Heron - or "Bert" for short. I think it's the same heron I see each time but I could be wrong.

He then proceeded to give himself an all over groom - all the time standing on one leg!

Bert takes personal grooming very seriously pencil in sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

It took a couple of minutes for me to realise that this was going to take some time and that I could try sketching him as he changed posture - so I did - and you can see the results on the right.

I found when watching him that he had a number of standard moves - and a lot of it depended on how he held his neck and whether or not it was folded or in twisting mode

Tomorrow I'll post the drawing I did inbetween his changes of posture.

The second drawing (top) is of the coot nest which is right next to the Pavilion Cafe in Victoria Park. I can sit with my cup of tea on one of the outside benches and sketch this little family which are only about ten feet away. The most difficult bit was trying to work out how the ripples worked as the Mum and Dad busied themselves with housework and looking after the nest - which was of course now needs an extension as their kids are growing up fast and now need more room.

I love the way coots seem to find the largest things to put between their beaks so they can add it to their nest on the water. They are the soldier ants of the water birds!

Greylag Geese Goslings with Mum and Dad
photo copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Finally, a photo of the other group of birds which I've grown very fond of in the last few weeks and that's the greylag geese families which live in Victoria Park. The Mums and Dads are most attentive and are often found standing around their brood on one leg, while the babes have a quiet snooze. I think this brood outgrew their nest a while ago!

My Sketchercise totals for Thursday were 7,548 steps or 3.57 miles

Links: Ecology Park Pond project plus RSPB links to each bird

• RSPB - Grey Heron
• RSPB - Coot
• RSPB - Greylag Geese