Robins

I see robins year-round but this time of year they are the stars in the spring drama that brings summer ever closer. And once again, a pair has nested in an exuberant honeysuckle vine and is raising two babies close to a window so we can keep an eye on them. They seem to have learned our habits and adjusted to our comings and goings. I see them foraging and returning with beaks full of some dark squirming thing. It gets quiet for a minute and then with a squawk, the robin is back to the grocery store.

05-14-24-robin
pastel, charcoal

05-17-24-robin
ink

05-20-24-robin
watercolor

04-27-24-robins
crayon, ink

04-13-24-robin
ink

03-25-24-robin
ink, pastel

 

The Sparrow

 I have befriended a sparrow. It not a good artist's model though so only the most superficial sketches have to do. I see it in the criss-crossed twigs and winter stalks alongside Leach's Brook where it crosses under the lane. 

04-22-24-sparrows
pastel, crayon, ink

04-21-24-sparrow
pastel

03-10-24-sparrow
charcoal

04-30-24-sparrow01
charcoal

04-30-24-sparrow02
charcoal, ink