hawking after swifts

I was thinking about Hobbies, the other day. The birds of prey, you understand, not the table football. I saw one last year, as we approached Day's Lock on the Thames, and it was breathtaking in its swoopiness as it chased swifts around the trees.

 

Are there, I wondered, any round here, at Sells Green? I've heard reports of them, but not from very reliable witnesses. But sometimes nature comes up with the goods most obligingly; two friends moored up here were rather excited to spot one, hawking around the reed beds here.

 

So that was a good reason to add one to a picture, and here it is, though I've drawn it as I remembered it on the Thames, because despite my standing around with the binoculars, hoping for a sighting, it hasn't reappeared, or at least not while I was watching.

 

And I've added my friends on their boat, too.

inking a bittern

bittern, originally uploaded by Dru Marland.

Another picture for the poetry anthology. I wanted to do a simple, slightly stylised reedbed. I've used inks for everything. Everything is outlined in India ink, because it is vividly black. I used dip pens because the lines respond more to pressure, as opposed to Rotring style pens which give a line of constant width.

The colour is Sennelier sepia and sienna, with a bit of India ink thrown in for the darker detailing. The ink's brighter than watercolour, but the wash is slightly uneven in places. Maybe I should have diluted it a bit more, and dampened the paper before laying down the ink.