Well, Friday afternoon has rolled around again, and I inevitably arrive at T.Loafer, and am attempting to paint birds, inspired in no small part by the wonders of the Beastlyworlds blog, and doing my very limited best to keep the flow of Taiwanese birds going for the time being. Outside the long-promised (threatened?) thunderstorm has finally arrived, and the world is full of splashing and banging as drops fall from leaves and rooftops, bouncing onto scooters and plastic air-con covers. Even the bulbuls have gone quiet and hidden in sheltered corners.
After a way too long but very pleasant stroll along the Jilong River last weekend, I can now report that I have happily stared at a great number of ibis, most of whom seemed to revel in eating what looked, through my binoculars, like the smelliest dead fish available. Thankfully for me, ibis are more-or-less graphically perfect, with extremely distinctive black heads and messy dark tail feathers contrasting nicely against the white of their bodies and wings. Here are my sketches so far. Real ibis have eyes rather than white dots, but white dots look more exciting, and are feasible with my watercolour set and caffeinated coordination.
pottering about Taipei 游逛在台北里 