For nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts who are budding artists, keep art journals, are learning to draw, or just want to hone their drawing skills, here's a suggestion: go on bird watching holidays! Does that seem like a strange suggestion? Read on, it will make sense.
For many enthusiasts, it's a given that learning to sketch can hone their bird-watching skills, improve their results and enhance the quality of their experience on bird watching holidays.
But for those who are already artists or budding artists, it can also work the other way around! How fast can you draw or sketch? Birds are active and energetic, and you will have to observe and record details about the bird's appearance in a short span of time.
This makes them the perfect subjects for quick sketching exercises, and bird watching holidays are the perfect opportunity.
Sure, you can probably go to the backyard and draw the birds that fly in, or head to the park to draw the pigeons.
But you can only draw pigeons so many times until they get boring and the colours seem drab.
Besides, in a park, there's a great chance that someone will come by and startle your subject before you can even start drawing.
This won't be the case on bird watching holidays.
Expertly led - and often taking place in an environment where a bird moves normally in its natural habitat while minimising any disturbance that may cause it to fly away before it has been sufficiently observed - birding holidays offer you a chance to draw and sketch your feathery subjects without pressure.
These holidays are also designed to offer you a chance to observe some of the most colourful and interesting birds in the world - perfect subjects for your works of art.
Keep your eye on the bird, and other tips Another reason why bird watching holidays can help expand your drawing skills, is that the key to successful birding is exactly the same as that of drawing and sketching: careful observation.
The first rule for learning to draw and improving it immensely is simple: draw what you see, not what you think you see.
Look at what you're drawing, not on the paper or canvas.
Whether it's watching birds, or drawing and sketching, the primary principle is the same: keep your eye fixed on your subject and study it intently.
Some other skills you can learn while birding are also essential skills for drawing and sketching: how to estimate size, lengths and shape - from the overall shape to the details such as wings, tail, curvature of the bill, legs and feet.
Details come next; what are the patterns and markings on the head; the body and feathers; what direction do the feathers grow? As you get more involved in the hobby, you will slowly but surely improve your observational skills as well as your concentration, and with them your ability to record your findings on paper or canvas.
Bird watching holidays let you observe many different species in a number of different ways.
For many enthusiasts, it's a given that learning to sketch can hone their bird-watching skills, improve their results and enhance the quality of their experience on bird watching holidays.
But for those who are already artists or budding artists, it can also work the other way around! How fast can you draw or sketch? Birds are active and energetic, and you will have to observe and record details about the bird's appearance in a short span of time.
This makes them the perfect subjects for quick sketching exercises, and bird watching holidays are the perfect opportunity.
Sure, you can probably go to the backyard and draw the birds that fly in, or head to the park to draw the pigeons.
But you can only draw pigeons so many times until they get boring and the colours seem drab.
Besides, in a park, there's a great chance that someone will come by and startle your subject before you can even start drawing.
This won't be the case on bird watching holidays.
Expertly led - and often taking place in an environment where a bird moves normally in its natural habitat while minimising any disturbance that may cause it to fly away before it has been sufficiently observed - birding holidays offer you a chance to draw and sketch your feathery subjects without pressure.
These holidays are also designed to offer you a chance to observe some of the most colourful and interesting birds in the world - perfect subjects for your works of art.
Keep your eye on the bird, and other tips Another reason why bird watching holidays can help expand your drawing skills, is that the key to successful birding is exactly the same as that of drawing and sketching: careful observation.
The first rule for learning to draw and improving it immensely is simple: draw what you see, not what you think you see.
Look at what you're drawing, not on the paper or canvas.
Whether it's watching birds, or drawing and sketching, the primary principle is the same: keep your eye fixed on your subject and study it intently.
Some other skills you can learn while birding are also essential skills for drawing and sketching: how to estimate size, lengths and shape - from the overall shape to the details such as wings, tail, curvature of the bill, legs and feet.
Details come next; what are the patterns and markings on the head; the body and feathers; what direction do the feathers grow? As you get more involved in the hobby, you will slowly but surely improve your observational skills as well as your concentration, and with them your ability to record your findings on paper or canvas.
Bird watching holidays let you observe many different species in a number of different ways.