Dougalis Wildlifeart-Life studies-Portraits

Attached this time, the preparatory studies and the final Gouache painting of a male Levant sparrowhawk chasing Spanish sparows. Initial idea & drawing Reworked initial study creating background and colour with coloured pencils The final Gouache painting

Once again a painting of a male Levant sparrowhawk this time , painted in acrylics and inspired also by the latest video based studies.

The levant sparrowhawk a migrant raptor to south eastern Europe, one of the most handsome to me.  Though it is quite common, there is very little known about his distribution and biology. Thanks to a friend of mine wo was able to get some video of this bird,(of poor quality but containg enough visual informations )I managed to create a series of  studies of both sexes. It seems that except of bird guide illustrations, there are no other painted images of this species to be found. I did  also several small paintings based on these studies during the last years, and hope to make more in the future. Attached , b/w studies based on video footage, and more images will follow soon..

I spend a couple of hours in Wild Park Poing close to Munich, and managed to get the following studies. The weather was unusually cold and wet,and was glad to be able to sketch even using an umbrella

Once again an image inspired from my trip to Extremadura. A male Woodchat shrike while calling. In b/w the field study and the studio watercolour, based on this sketch and my videos.

Once again a field study of a Little bustard sketched four years ago in Extremadura -Spain from life, a watercolour study based on this field sketch and on my video footage, and a Gouache painting I did a couple of years ago. There is also a close up of the bird in the painting to be seen.

It was four years ago, when I first visited the Extremadura region in Spain, well known for its rich bird fauna and biodiversity. I did a lot of fieldwork on location but because it`s impossible to capture every scene around I took also a lot of video footage, which gives me the opportunity to study the birds and behaviour at home without any pressure of time. Attached an image of a male Montagu`s harrier, which has been sketched first based on my own footage, followed by a watercolour study, and the final Gouache composition which made it to the cover of "British Birds" magazine.

A new study of a "new" Tawny owl called " Michael",painted in Nymphenburg park today in the morning in watercolours. A perfectly camouflaged bird.. Me while painting the Tawny owl watercolour from life in Nymphenburg park in Munich(photo credit: Danijel Nincevic)

Beside my regular illustration work, I`m taking also private commissions, in case my time allows. Attached, few watercolours I did for a client few months ago.

It was the perfect sping day today, and since I haven`t been in Nymphenburg park for ages, I drove there in the morning and the only Owl I found first, was one of the pair close to Pagodenburg. My first ever study from life using Acryla Gouache.On my way back to the car I met a couple of photographers who led me to an other Owl, a new one of the Reddish phase posing and enjoying the sunshine. The setting was excellent, but sadly I didn`t have enough time, so I decided to make a monochromatic study, and promised to myself to go back for a coloured version soon.