Sketch & Paint Live Birds

Description

Spencer Tinkham, the award-winning visiting artist at the Wendell Gilley Museum, will teach a three-hour field sketching workshop at Birdsacre in Ellsworth focused on observing and painting birds from life. Participants will have the rare opportunity to work closely in front of live birds including owls, waterfowl, vultures and hawks. Observing these birds at close range will offer a deeper understanding of bird anatomy, proportion, color, movement, and the unique characteristics that distinguish one species from another. Supplies provided but participants are welcome to bring their own. Working in watercolor, participants will learn how to sketch quickly and capture the essential character of a bird before it changes position or moves away. Students will begin by identifying simple silhouette forms, then break the bird down into larger feather groups and patterns before moving into more detailed painting techniques. Rather than attempting to record every detail, the workshop will emphasize learning what to look for first—shape, posture, gesture, major color relationships, and identifying features—and how to translate those observations quickly into a field sketch. No previous drawing or watercolor experience is required. Students must be at least 12 years old; minors must be accompanied by an adult. Space is limited and registration is required. Register at www.wendellgilleymuseum.org/calendar. Spencer Tinkham is an awarding-winning multidisciplinary artist based in Norfolk, Virginia and Madrid, Spain, whose paintings, sculptures, and installations explore perception, ecological change, and natural history. Drawing from research in natural history museums and scientific collections, he studies preserved specimens, migratory species, and biological structures as records of environmental transformation and cultural memory.