The Cornell Lab Bird Academy Discussion Groups Nature Journaling and Field Sketching Drawing What You See – Upside Down Drawing

    • Diane
      Participant
      Chirps: 6
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    • Kathy
      Participant
      Chirps: 4
      upside down 10.01.22 2nd   This was very challenging and very engaging--not so much fun as absorbing!
    • Karen
      Participant
      Chirps: 15
      Wow, that was really hard and I didn’t quite get it right but it was a lot of fun. I did it in pencil then inked the lines and erased the pencil—no I didn’t draw it in ink :)     60B2BC10-CC50-42CD-88E9-21CBD870F4DC
    • Gillie
      Participant
      Chirps: 26
      Lol!  That was sooo tempting. Draw what you see
    • Cheryl
      Participant
      Chirps: 10
      Sparrow It was interesting drawing the sparrow upside down. I knew it was a sparrow, but I really tried to focus on the shapes and the negative and positive spaces.
    • Jennifer
      Participant
      Chirps: 6
      I was surprised by how much easier it was to focus on shapes when drawing upside down & how well the final drawing turned out. CD585C01-8716-423B-8FB6-FA9CC651270D
    • Rhonda
      Participant
      Chirps: 6
      This was difficult. I will need to repeat both proportions and upside-down drawing. I fell that even trying to concentrate n just shapes, I could not keep the proportions right.
    • Jane
      Participant
      Chirps: 25
      In my opinion, upside-down drawing was both fun and difficult. I viewed as a collection of shapes, lines, and proportions… as best as I could. The erratic lines were a challenge (perhaps this would have been better as an earlier in the day exercise- I did this one fairly close to bedtime!) 44ED7203-32D9-4CE0-8FA4-78E16FF497B9
    • Debra
      Participant
      Chirps: 16
      Upside down drawing was fun because it is challenging. I guess as I was drawing, I was aware that it was a bird but also was looking at how the shapes related to each other. For some reason, I had difficulty sizing this drawing down to fit my smaller nature journal. I had to erase what I started and then kind of put some marks at the edges so I'd know how much space I could take up. Even so, I know the bird's leg is shorter than it should be because I was out of space! So lots of erasures on this one!IMG_8710
    • Arti
      Participant
      Chirps: 1
      20220507_153149Drawing upside down was difficult. It took a while to remember to keep the proportions while drawing
    • Cecilia Louise
      Participant
      Chirps: 13
      Upside-down drawing was pretty easy. It took me a little while at the beginning to stop thinking about it as a bird and just as a shape with lines in the middle, but once I got over that yes, it was lots of fun. It's easier, I find, to get things in accurate proportions when you're focusing on it as a mere shape rather than as a bird. IMG_20220505_111321
    • Natalija
      Participant
      Chirps: 16
      The upside-down drawing was easy and a lot of fun. I was pleasantly surprised at how thinking about the individual shapes and not the big picture made the drawing process more relaxing. upside down exercise
    • TJ
      Participant
      Chirps: 7
      Fun exercise. Keeping track of each shape was tricky, especially in the breast feathers. I was viewing as a collection of shapes and lines, it was too awkward to view as a whole bird. I was surprised by the accuracy when I turned it upright after I was finished. 7A175AAE-59D5-4BDB-BC24-6C38922D40DF_1_201_a
    • Kayla
      Participant
      Chirps: 19
      IMG-7185IMG-7186 Upside down drawing was difficult. I was able to view the sections as shapes, but there were definitely times where I viewed things as part of a bird rather than  a shape. The patterns on the breast and belly were particularly difficult, but when I flipped it over I felt better about it. The only parts that really bother me are that the head feels a bit too small, and the left leg is too long.
    • Olivia
      Participant
      Chirps: 17
      It was fun but more difficult than I thought at first. Usually I start drawing or I take as a guide from top (head) to bottom (rest of the body), until the drawing is complete, and curious but for the exercise, I needed to do in the same way so I started draw in the opposite direction, bottom (h.) to top (r.o.b) / In combination I could see what bird is, and then, looking for different shapes, lines, etc (and getting to fly my imagination of course) I found yes, something else, but it´s easy to find it if you roll your eyes (it's a little trick) that I shade to emphasise. dia18febrero
    • Christine
      Participant
      Chirps: 9
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    • Christine
      Participant
      Chirps: 9
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    • Ria
      Participant
      Chirps: 22
      RVK_SongSparrowUpsideDownRVK_SongSparrowUpright I also surprised myself! It was more difficult than I expected it to be, really required me to slow down, and challenged my concentration and perception. There were times I got lost and had to regroup. That being said, I think the accuracy is well worth the effort!
    • Anastasis
      Participant
      Chirps: 10
      It was fun and I was surprised by the final outcome. WhatsApp Image 2021-12-09 at 19.20.24
    • Nancy
      Participant
      Chirps: 16
      This lesson was fun.  Especially when it was time to turn the bird right side up and see how the drawing turned out.  The body of the bird was the most challenging.  I was pretty absorbed in this lesson.  AD5F9D39-E731-4977-A83B-133E913BFAD5
    • Katherine
      Participant
      Chirps: 2
      Upsidedownsketch10_24_21 I definitely had to slow down and concentrate.  This was one of the best drawing exercises I've ever down.
    • Beth
      Participant
      Chirps: 15
      For whatever reason I lost my patience with the slow methodical method less than a minute in so just did a quick copy and really enjoyed it. He probably wouldn't have hawk talons if I'd gone a bit slower...!IMG_3027
    • Jacqueline
      Participant
      Chirps: 14
      The activity drawing upside down was both difficult and fun. It most definitely required slow short strokes and frequent looking at the picture as I attempted the assignment. It was a lot to incorporate proportion and negative space while drawing some of the more complicated and intricate parts of the bird and stock.It did take some time and erasing as I went along.979D8A0F-41A2-43D6-906E-B921B799A916
    • Christine
      Participant
      Chirps: 10
      Song Sparrow
      • Christine
        Participant
        Chirps: 10
        I think I should have all my subject upside down!  Really enjoyed this technique.
    • Robin
      Participant
      Chirps: 8
      I was really surprised how well mine turned out. I have to admit, I got a little frustrated with the fiddly chest markings and kind of winged it (no pun intended), but everything else I strove to do by observing the shapes, negative space, relationship of the shapes, etc. and it worked! I also used the proportion tricks taught in a previous lesson. IMG_3421