Drawing a Bird

Personally, I've never like drawing birds. There aren't many near my house, and any that are near are about the size of my palm and are still for only a few seconds, which makes it very hard to get their rough shape. When I saw birds in  6 Week Drawing Course, I was hoping I could just skip over it. But while I was doing the drawing for the next post, I had an opportunity to draw a bird so I decided to follow what the book said on drawing birds. The book states that " although they aren't often motionless, they have fairly straightforward shapes and can be drawn quickly" (Barber 100). Since I was already at the zoo for my zoo animal drawing, I headed over to the avian section and found a bird called the spur-winged lapwing and took a photo, even though the book states that " Taking a quick look and remembering what you saw is a very good discipline" (Barber 100).

I quickly sketched out the rough shape of the bird, with the only really noticeable movement being the leg.

Since there were a few of the birds, I was able to get the markings down with relative ease.

I think with a bit more practice I could learn to love drawing birds. What do you think about drawing birds? Or do you have a way that I could improve my drawing? Please let me know, I'm always looking for feedback.

Barber, Barrington. 6-Week Drawing Course: a professional programme for artists.
     Arcturus Publishing Limited, 2014.