Rook I

Soft Ground Etching Printed with five coloured inks Plate Size: 16.5cm X 20.5cm

Study of an exquisite Rook.

In order to study a subject such as a bird, you have three choices - you can either study it from life, from photographs or dead.

Photos can be hugely informative, but are a different experience. It is not always satisfactory to study birds on the wing in detail, so the option of working from death has an enduring appeal. There is also a poignancy, and a little melancholy, to this practice which makes me ever more thoughtful when I am looking and drawing.