Dougalis Wildlifeart-Life studies-Portraits

Two years ago , in March of 2009, I was very privileged to be invited to join an international group of nature artists in a ANF ( Artists for Nature Foundation ) and SPNI( Society for the protection of Nature in Israel ) Project which took place at the magnificent Hula Valley in northern Israel. The Hula Valley, an agricultural region in northern Israel with abundant fresh water and many swamps has been almost completely drained during the 50's of 20th century. Today, 60 years later, the importance of the lost ecosystems has been recognized and recently a small section of the former lake and swamp region was reflooded in order to recreate partly the former environment. Meanwhile , the whole area has been transformerd to one of the most important stop overs of migrating birds in the Middle East, and the main overwintering ground for thousands of Cranes,as well of Pelicans,and Eagles ... The whole scenery was magnificent, the people there extraorinary friendly and helpful, and the a...

A Sakerfalcon portrait sketched using a scope today morning in Munich zoo..The main medium was the Bic black biro pen while a Brush Black pen from Faber-Castell has been also used for the darker parts..

Once again an eagle owl study sketched today morning in Munich zoo.. The light was very low due to overcast weather... Siberian eagle owl

The cold and misty weather doesn't allow any attempt to use watercolours in the field. In this case I use to visit the dark aquarium or even other houses where because of the low light, my beloved Bic black biro pen is the only medium I trust ... Indian Rhino study Blacktip Shark

It's true that I haven't been particularly interested in fishes in the past, but this has been meanwhile changed, and since I've been commisioned to illustrate several species lately, I thought that I had to give me the chance to study them closer... The Aquarium in Munich zoo hosts many species from all over the world but this time the european species caught my attenion...all have been drawn using Bic pen European chub Sturgeon head study Sturgeon overall view

Today morning in Munich zoo.... Barn owl Nyala antelope, female

The Mhorr gazelle , critically endangered species,became extinct in the wild during the sixties, caught my attention during a visit in our zoo... After a couple of failed attempts, I managed to get this one ...

A chamois study made today morning in the Munich zoo.. Because of the distanse I used my scope to see the details. Abruzzo chamois

I've spend last weekend in Berlin and had the chance to visit after many years the East Berlin zoo with it's rich mammal and bird collection. The Raptors are always worth a visit and I couldn't resist to make a couple of studies... Eastern imperial eagle Harpy eagle female

After a long period time of sketching and illustrating almost solely birds or trees, I went back to my beloved mammals with their exceptional facial expressions and I didn't regret it... Today morning at Munich zoo..... Abruzzo Chamois Mountain lion or Puma or Cougar

A siberian eagle owl study done on location in Munich zoo today morning... Siberian eagle owl, Bubo bubo sibiricus

It is true that I've been very quiet lately... It was because of the tight deadlines I had to catch up with, while doing illustrations.. The German Bird atlas has been finished now, and during a visit to my Parents in low in Saxony , I used the limited time I had to recover and to do some field work.. (All the attached studies have been done on location in Saxony with the exception of the Cormorant's head done in Munich zoo last week) Great Cormorant head study White Stork head study Common Rudd Red Kite European ground squirrel

A new european tree guide has been published by the german publisher KOSMOS a week ago.. My contribution was to illustrate 351 tree species occuring in Europe, and took me almost two years to complete the series... Just click on the above title to see more ... Larix kaempferi Juniperus turbinata ssp. canariensis Callistemon viminalis Abies alba Tsuga heterophylla

A quick study of a juv.Peregrine today morning in Munich zoo...