Sketching in the field with crayons, imagining how the heron feels and looks, quickly using pencils and erasers while on the fly, is fun. Below, are three renditions of the same bird that I keep in my sketchbook for planning a larger oil or acrylic painting at a later date.
The bird was flushed out of the marsh as we ever so carefully approached her. It is so exciting to see her wings flowing into flight, as she flaps her way out of the grasses and winds her way nearer to the water and farther from us.
How can I emphasize her majestic wings? How do the textures of a marshland get depicted so that she fits comfortably, seen and hidden at the same time?
There she is for that brief moment then up into the air and away. What did I see? What did she sense as she fled her surroundings for a quieter place?
Sketching tools
First lines – Structure
Such a beautiful bird. And now to reveal the idea of her in a painting. She will linger in my memory for quite some time.
marysgardens 
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