A Female Pied Flycatcher Ficedula Hypoleuca…
The Pied Flycatcher is a summer migrant to the UK.
As the name suggests, it feeds on flies that are caught by making a quick dash from an obvious perch. There are around 40,000 pairs in the UK each summer. The Pied Flycatcher is a small unmistakable bird that often sits with drooped wings. It spends its winter in Africa.
Identification:
Adult
Adult males and females share the same plumage pattern but are different colours.
Male Pied Flycatchers are small and chunky,13cm in length and are black and white all over, they are quite unmistakable.
The upperparts are black and white, tail is black with white base to outer tail feathers, rump is a slightly paler, back is jet black, wings are black with white wing patch (tertials)
The nape and head is black except for small white patch above the black bill. Chin and throat white, extending to form a half collar.
The entire underparts are white, ie; chin, throat, breast, belly and undertail coverts. Legs, bill and eye black.
Females are brown versions of the male although tail is dark, no obvious white patch over the bill and the collar is less distinct. #piedflycatcher #brd #birdart #birdartist #birdsketch #birddrawing #bampidraws #birdlovers
I kept my eyes on it the whole time. Now it was moving so slowly that you couldn't really see whether it was coming towards you or not. Occasionally its shape changed just slightly and its black tummy swept over the concrete floor. I could hardly breathe. I knew that I ought to run away and hide bur I just couldn't. Now it moved diagonally again towards the wall and wasn't to be seen any longer. It was in the pile of junk behind the modelling stand, it was somewhere behind the sacks of plaster and might appear again just anywhere.
It was getting dark in the studio. I knew that it was me who had let the creature out and I couldn't capture it and lock it up again.
- Sculptor's Daughter by Tove Jansson
Orangutan sketch (Original Dimensions: 3000x3000px x 300DPI) to try out my new iPad Air M2 13 using both iArtbook Pro and Artstudio Pro artist apps. This iPad is awesome for power and quickness.
Here are three main facts about adult male orangutans:
1. **Physical Characteristics**: Adult male orangutans are significantly larger than females, with an average height of about 1.2-1.5 meters (4-5 feet) and weighing around 50-100 kg (110-220 lbs). They develop distinctive physical features such as large cheek flanges (fleshy pads) and a throat pouch, which they use to produce long calls to communicate across the dense forests.
2. **Solitary Lifestyle**: Unlike many primates, male orangutans are solitary creatures. They spend most of their lives alone, except during brief periods of mating. This solitary behaviour reduces competition for food and other resources. The males will range widely and have large territories that often overlap with the ranges of several females.
3. **Long Call**: Adult male orangutans have a unique and powerful long call that can be heard over great distances. This call is used to establish territory and attract females. The call consists of a series of roars, grunts, and bellows, and it serves to warn other males of their presence, helping to maintain social hierarchy and reduce conflicts.
I crawled right up to Daddy's modelling mirror which stands on the floor by the box of plaster. A great big black creature was creeping towards me.
I got cautious and stood still. The creature was shapeless. It was one of those creatures that can spread itself out and creep under the furniture or turn into a black fog that gets thicker and thicker until it is quite sticky and gets all around you and fastens itself to you.
I let the creature get a little closer and put its hand out.
The hand crept along the floor and then was pulled back suddenly. The creature came even closer. Suddenly it got scared and ran quickly in an oblique direction and stopped still. Now I was scared.
- Sculptor's Daughter by Tove Jansson
#dailydrawing #tovejansson
What a wonderful Kirkus review!
(Paired here with my favorite improper contraction.)
"A thoughtful look at life, in all its beauty and strangeness.
...
This delightfully deadpan musing on life urges compassion for others. Howden’s straightforward text is on the philosophical side, though also rooted in the absurd. Hahn’s spare black graphite pencil watercolor, mostly set against a white background, are imbued with humor and empathy for the pickle, with the foodstuff’s expressive eyes conveying many emotions at once. "
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sarah-howden/the-wise-pickle/
THE WISE PICKLE
by Sarah Howden ;
illustrated by Sabina Hahn
RELEASE DATE: June 23, 2026
A vibrant, hand-drawn urban sketch capturing the quiet magic of a black cat wandering through a Mediterranean-style alley. Featuring warm orange and yellow hues, loose marker strokes, and a whimsical atmosphere, this piece brings the warmth of a European summer right into your home.
One year towards autumn a geologist was living in the pilots' hut. He couldn't speak either Finnish ow Swedish, he just smiled and flashed his black eyes. He would look at people and immediately make them feel how surprised and happy he was to meet them at last and then he just walked on with his hammer and hammered a rock here and there. His name was Jeremiah.
- Sculptor's Daughter by Tove Jansson
#dailydrawing #tovejansson
Finally getting back into the swing again , heres my p40 drawn out on the canvas . I inked it so hopefully the details will show through when im painting it ...
It got cold very quickly and the fog was there, moving thickly around us, shutting us in on all sides. The smooth swell rolled out of the fog, crawled under the raft with a swallowing movement and rolled back into the fog the other side.
....
Albert picked it up by the neck and looked at it, and it began to screech and flap one wing.
Let it go! I shouted. Everything looked so terrifying with the fog and the black water and the bird creeping around and screaming that I was beside myself and said: give it to me, I'll hold it in my lap, we must make it well again.
- Sculptor's Daughter by Tove Jansson
#dailydrawing #tovejansson
I turned the key and waited. After a while the door opened of its own accord, very slowly as if someone inside the wardrobe was forcing it. And then the black tulle skirt poured forth and the door stood still. I did the same thing several times. Each time Mummy's tulle skirt opened out as it is was alive.
- Sculptor's Daughter by Tove Jansson
#dailydrawing #tovejansson
