birdspot

A few more sketchbook pages..

Catherine — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:38:03 +0000

I am going back to Costa Rica. It’s a bit of a long story. I thought I would post a few more pages out of my Costa Rica sketchbook now, before it gets hopelessly behind. I am hoping that on this trip, which involves family, that I will have a few hours a day to sit and paint. Hard birding and sitting and painting do not always mesh – my last three trips to Central America have been devoted to birding, and pretty much only birding. Twelve or more hours a day birding. A lot of birding. Insert smiley face.

New blog URL

Catherine — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:47:06 +0000

Hey! Things are a little skeletal in my new theme here, but it is up and running. For blog subscribers: there is a new URL for the blog – use this link in your feeder to get updates from just the blog – Birdspot blog.

If you want updates from the whole site, then keep your subscription set to the original URL (please note that for the next two weeks, as I upload portfolio pieces, these will show up as posts in your feed): Birdspot site.

Thanks for your patience while I build the site!

White-crowned Sparrows, adults

Catherine — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 23:25:25 +0000

Watercolor, gouache, and ink on tan paper, 11 x 7.5″, 2011.
Bottom image: detail of same drawing.

White-crowned Sparrows, immatures

Catherine — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:01:12 +0000

Watercolor, gouache, and pencil on tan paper, 11 x 7.5″, 2011.
Bottom image: detail of same drawing.

Slider 01

Catherine — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 07:53:39 +0000

Slider 02

Catherine — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 06:32:56 +0000

Slider 03

Catherine — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 06:31:46 +0000

Costa Rica sketchbook

Catherine — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:05:22 +0000

A few pages of drawings and notes…

Pura Vida (Nueva)

Catherine — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:31:46 +0000

And she’s off! I’m headed to Costa Rica tonight, to meet my friend Andrew and to go look for a few tasty birds. I need to make drawings and get reference photos for a certain project, and he is co-authoring what looks to be a phenomenal new book… so be assured that this is a very serious work trip (insert a winky here, I hate how emoticons look in print so I will refrain). I’ll try to post photos and sketches as I go along; no promises on internet access as I ~~get massages and eat myself stupid at lodges~~ I mean spend 16 hours a day scouring the rain forest. These trips are usually pretty grueling, in reality. More winks, and smiley faces.

Happy New Year, 2012

Catherine — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:27:04 +0000

Happily ensconced with family on the high plains of Colorado, I am also happily thinking of warmer climes and further travels. I decorated the endpapers of my next sketchbook in preparation for a trip to Costa Rica this January. It seems my (Not a) Big Year has turned into a strange new Big Life. The illustrations here were a little challenging: the endpapers on a Moleskine sketchbook are not an easy match for water-based media!

Sketchbook 2012, endpaper. From left to right: Green Violetear, Keel-billed Toucan, and Turquoise-browed Motmot (with separated tail). Watercolor, 3.5 x 11″ open.