So...I've been working digital a lot lately, I've tended to sing its praises as I love how editable creations are, as long as you have a good graphics tablet, such as a Wacom, most of the time you don't feel you're working any differently to when you have a 2B pencil in your hand, except when you need to make a correction, its complete, no smudge or immovable residue. 

But...I don't know exactly why, maybe it was because I'd read an article debating wether digital art is art at all, and it upset me a little, because I realised that there really are a number of people out there who take a photograph, feed it into Adobe Lightroom, apply a few filters and....Hey presto! 

And actually, in itself that doesn't offend me, quite the opposite, I think many of these people are very talented photographers and photo manipulators.

I just feel there needs to be a degree of honesty, and most show it in buckets! I follow such a brilliant chap on Flickr, who is totally transparent about the process he uses, and the results are stunning, but he doesn't call them digital paintings, because that is not what they are.

Anyway, the offshoot of all this, is I had the compelling urge to put down my digital pen, and take up a good old fashioned graphite writing stick of the 2B variety.

I'd been planning to do a series of drawings of bird of prey heads, (birds of prey having always as you know been a favourite subject) for some time, but I'd been thinking to use a digital emulation of a pencil, instead I sharpened up a faithful Derwent 2B (another fave) squared up to an A4 sheet of Derwent paper, and got to work, and heres the resulting drawing in progress shot.

I've surprised myself actually, I instantly remembered all the lovely subtle advantages of an actual pencil, the wonderfully fine shading possible, and the sheer sense of joy at the lovely tactile materials in the hand.

I get the feeling I may be dusting off the oil pallet quit soon.

Anyway, Peregrines are one of just about everybody favourite birds of prey, and no wonder eh? If you've ever seen one either in the wild or at a falconry display you'll know the "Buzz" of watching one is fantastic, the speed and precision of their flight is legendary, and rightly so!

Add to that the beautiful blue grey plumage, the contrasting bright yellow spectacles, cere and feet, add the beautiful barring on the breast, and it all adds up to a stunning bird of prey.

Nottingham University has a 3 webcams watching a pair of Peregrines nesting on the University building at the moment, and I seriously recommend a look, it offers a chance to observe these wonderful birds in a way we are not normally able to do, the eggs hatched a couple of days ago, of course, I wasn't watching at the time :-)