Tag: cormorant

Posted on by

Monday Moodboard: Birds

Monday Moodboard Birds

Well it was only a matter of time before I treated you a Monday Moodboard of birds.

As you know an awful lot of my drawing practice centres around birds. So much of my time is spent trawling and taking images of birds to study and illustrate. This is absolutely no hardship for me. I could honestly spend all my time looking at my feathered friends.

Recently I have been  focussing on heads and shoulders to create bird portraits for my show at the Over The Sofa Gallery at Wivenhoe Bookshop. It’s a small space and I wanted to do it as a site specific piece, the show is called Family Portraits so it has a kind of homely feel. It consists of nine A6 watercolour and ink drawings and four A6 pieces.

The show is on until April 30.

Birds at Wivenhoe Books

Wanna know what each bird is? Well here they are…
Top row from left: Puffin, Long Eared Owl, Starling
Middle row from left: Lapwing, Peacock, Pigeon
Bottom row from left: Cormorant, Robin, Crested Grebe
On shelf: Black Redstart, Budgie, Goldfinch, Dartford Warbler.

Posted on by

Drawing of the week: Cormorant bird

Cormorant Bird illustration (c) Ella Johnston

My drawing this week is that of a cormorant. When I do my little morning walk along the Wivenhoe quayside I often see these pre-historic looking birds with their wings out stretched soaking up the sun or in a little group looking like they are waiting for a bus. When the tide is up they often bob about in the water on the hunt for fish.  I love them so I wanted to capture these creatures in watercolour and ink.

If you want to catch a glimpse of these sleek guys, you can find them around the UK coastline on rocky shores, coastal lagoons and estuaries. You may also catch them at reservoirs, lakes and gravel pits.

Posted on by

Pinning images the old-fashioned way

PinboardI’m constantly pinning images to my Pinterest boards (here) and they’re great for inspiration in my work on magazines, as well as creating mood boards for styling my home. At home I like pinning things too – I have real-life pin boards in my studio space and also in my kitchen (pictured, above). These boards are constantly evolving – they get so full – and they’re great for reminding me of some of the things that I’ve enjoyed and over recent months and years. So what’s on the board above? Well, roughly, from top to bottom and left t0 right:

  • Perfect Match card by illustrator Tom Frost, given by friends as an anniversary card for me and Dr B.
  • Factory Records postcard – I think the world’s a better place for having had Anthony H Wilson in it.
  • Golden Lane Estate, Christmas card, by Stefi Orazi – we used to live here.
  • Norfolk Broads – postcard of a vintage tourism poster.
  • Invitation from Tracey Emin to her private view at Sketch, London. I got rather drunk.
  • Royal Festival Hall Christmas card, by Stefi Orazi – one of my favourite places to hang out.
  • Dedham Vale, by John Constable – one of my newer favourite places to hang out.
  • Paper butterflies, made from paper designed for one of my magazines.
  • Loving Budgies – one of my own business cards.
  • Lucknam Park hotel. We stayed and it was heaven.
  • Bicycle card – with a quote from HG Wells. Dr B is a big fan of the Tour de France.
  • Door 102, Crescent House, card by Stefi Orazi. We once lived at 230.
  • Rose print card from my sister, from archivistgallery.com.
  • Jennings beer mat – Dr B’s favourite brew, from near where he grew up in the Lake District.
  • Alresford Creek photograph/birthday card taken by Dr B. This dilapidated hut is just a walk downriver from us.
  • Matisse blue nude – I never tire of looking at Matisse’s work. The Matisse Museum in Nice is one of my favourite places.
  • Crescent House, again by Stefi Orazi. This shows our old flat.
  • The Beatles – I love this picture of them and George looks great as ever.
  • I Want to Rock Your World – postcard picked up in Barcelona.
  • Bewick Swan – Dr B received the gift of sponsorship of a swan for his birthday. It shares his last name.
  • The Piano Lesson, by Matisse – an earlier work from 1916. We saw it where it lives at MOMA in New York.
  • The Beatles Show birthday card.
  • James Joyce – one of the greatest authors ever. We had a reading from Dubliners at our wedding. Beautiful.
  • Emmeline Pankhurst.
  • Forget-Me-Not drawing by me.
  • Adanaland handprinted stamp, given to me by the maker, Alan Brignull, who lives not far from me here in Wivenhoe.
  • Red Wallpaper card – an postcard from a series of paintings I did a few years ago.
  • Cormorant, card of print by Richard Bawder.
  • Isambard Kingdom Brunel – an iconic photograph.
  • The Rolling Stones – and it all ends with some rock ‘n’ roll!

If you’ve only been pinning to online boards recently, maybe it’s time to do it for real and brighten up a working space at the same time.