I've got this buddy, Todd, who partakes in more activities than any other human I know. But- without a doubt, the coolest thing that he does, is he's a falconer. He has trained several Red-Tailed Hawks and currently has a Harris Hawk. I've accompanied him a few times on hunts- where we are basically whacking the bushes and trees with ski poles while the bird follows us through the woods. In the times I've been with him, we've never actually had the bird take or try to take a squirrel or bunny but there is something definitely cool about being in the woods working with a hawk.
This drawing is for Todd's mentor. A falconer has to be trained by someone in order to become licensed, and Todd's teacher is retiring. Todd already has a falcon drawing of mine, and asked me if I would do his teacher one as well. This particular fellow, the teacher, raises Gyrfalcons and I know that Todd someday, hopes to get one for himself.
Wow, Jim. That's incredibly beautiful. "Majestic" comes to mind right away. Well done.
ReplyDeleteReally Cool. Did you sketch this from a live falcon?
ReplyDelete-->> GEE WHIZ ..
ReplyDeletekind of a radical departure for Jim but NOT ..
those Raptors are essentially 'Dinosaurs' .
wow
This is really a great piece. A bit different from your own "copyrighted" style but still awesome. If you look at the tiny details on the rock, they scream "Lawson" tho... Loved it!
ReplyDeleteYa know- this is my technique for doing "representational" drawings like this, and the one I use when I draw my motorcycle drawings for the A-J's tee shirts.
ReplyDeleteI'll find a picture of the subject and pose that I want and enlarge it on the photocopier here at work. From there I'll light table it and rough it in. It's sketchy here- literally. I don't want to just make a copy of my source material so I try to only use the original as a guide. With my guide done, I'll go over it and rough in all the details by hand, feathers, etc.-changing what I want. I'll also add in the elements that I think might make it a better picture, in falcon's case I added the feet and the rock that the bird is perched on.
It's weird here- I honestly don't know what the rules are or where the morality is. By using someone else's photograph, am I stealing art or if I don't use it exactly as it appears, is it cool?
When I worked with the Philadelphia Zoo they always asked me to change my illustrations from any photo source material provided. Apparently there is a law out there that stipulates that you cannot copy (draw, paint, sketch) a copyrighted photo but it is okay to use it as reference and change it just enough that it is not infringement.
ReplyDeleteWondeerful work by the way. It's nice to see something other than the turtle stuff from time to time.
Hi Jim,
ReplyDeleteNice blog. I like all the work you've been doing. We should get together soon and have some suds like buds.
Later,
A.C. Farley
When I get back from SD, we'll haveta make a date.
ReplyDeleteHello Mr. Lawson,
ReplyDeleteIt appears that I have found your blog. Since you are on blogspot it also appears I have to dust off my blog account and actually put it to use. *dusts away*
Very lovely work on this. By skimming your blog I see you seem to do a lot of art for others. That is very kind of you, especially around a busy schedule. :)
Later, and all such things,
Marie (from Canada)