Derek Robertson, one of our renowned judges, has an excellent page on his website entitled ‘Inspiration’, where he has a selection of videos of him drawing and painting different birds. Watch how he builds the image from a simple sketch, using pencils, pens, paints and adding colour, until eventually the image comes to life. He talks about angles, shapes, colour, light and shade. It is really interesting to see how his pictures come to life.
Derek Robertson: Inspiration
Follow the tabs off this page so see some previous winning images that have been selected by judges over the past five years as a guide to know roughly what we are looking for. There is a selection from ASN, Primary and Secondary artists.
Remember: Ponies and Highland cows do not count!
While you are researching and creating your species, have a think about what they eat. Does anything eat them? Where do they live? What is their life cycle like? What sort of habitat do they need to survive? Do they like wide open space or do they prefer to hide away in long grasses? How does their habitat relate to the food they eat?
Enjoy this timelapse of Emily Crookshank drawing a grey partridge in charcoal: