Draughts

Hardly a species to get the heart racing, but the drakes do make fine subjects and are always around as practice pieces. And if you have enough tufties on your patch it's always worth scanning through them for a 'rare'. My ducks have never been much kop - it's all that foreshortening, weird bumps and curves and funny bill shapes - in other words I find them difficult! Many efforts just need colouring in bright yellow, as they often resemble the bathtub variety! As I'm trying to keep things more simple but effective from now, on I thought the sketches of these drakes would make for an interesting composition when put together. They've recently started to become a bit frisky, showing more than a passing interest in the ducks, so I've tried to capture them looking both alert and perky, and smartening themselves up. The basically three-colour scheme (black, white and light blue) also appealed. Anyway, a bit of an improvement me thinks!
Thanks for looking.
Russ

                               Field sketches of Tufted Ducks, Old Moor, 6th January 2016