Wildlife art and illustration

2012-01-01T13:59:00.002+01:00

I decided to end the year with a day in the field. Had an amazing time at a wetland close to my home. The best moment was when 4 White-tailed and one Imperial Eagels were fighting over a Teal caught by one of the former:

Had several Red-breasted Geese amoung thousands of other Geese. I would like to wish you all Happy New Year (and a late Merry Christmas) with this sketch:

2011-11-18T09:35:00.001+01:00

5th Nov was a perfect day. Our guides checked the nearby valleys before breakfast, and found fresh SL pugmarks leaving the lower one (Tarboung-valley), and found it entering the upper one (Husing). The Leopard must have passed the campsite during the night). So we headed into Husing. Fresh pugmarks, scraping, fresh but frozen faeces, fresh rockspray. We followed, but after a few hundred meters we... lost the trail. The Leopard left the bottom of the valley. We had no idea in which direction. We climbed up to our usual watchpoint (where we had our first sighting on 1st from). We were very lucky to find very fresh urine right on our watchpoint. We climbed to a higher point, and started scanning from there. I think no more than after 10-15 mins, our guide Dorjey called us to the scope.... The left upper photo of this montage shows what I saw in it.....

I had no time to sketch the Leopard, only when we lost it. These are from memories, quite not the same as if working directly from what I see:

2011-11-17T08:33:00.001+01:00

Male Bharals are staying at higher altitudes at this time of the year, so it was a nice opportunity to get close views of this nice one, that joined females an juvs in the Tarboung-valley:

2011-11-14T17:52:00.001+01:00

Our guide, Dorjay Stanzin used my telescope to look for Snow Leopard, so I had time for some landscape and rock sketching.

View from the Tarboung-valley:

2011-11-12T18:09:00.003+01:00

I'm back from my 2nd Snow Leopard study trip in Ladakh. We had an increadible time, will post my photos and sketches in the nest days.
Fresh Snow Leopard tracks and signs (footprints, scraping, rockspray and hairs):

The view from my hotel room in the last morning in Leh:

2011-07-28T19:48:00.001+02:00

Some new watercolours from the last weeks.
Singing Bluethroat:

Male Whinchat:

Common Buzzard:

Bee-eater:

Red-backed Shrike:

2011-07-19T13:17:00.000+02:00

Ibisbill watercolour. A memory from the Himalayas in Ladakh.

2011-07-08T20:15:00.002+02:00

I've spent the day by the river, at a small creek. Little Bittern is regular there, and I was lucky to have really good views of both the male and the female. Here's a sketch of the latter:

While waiting for them i could sketch some Edible Frogs:

European Pond Terrapin loved that small creek, sadly the exotic Red-eared Terrapins took up residency, and pushing the native ones out. This was done a few days ago at a gravel pit:

2011-06-23T11:18:00.001+02:00

This is a sketch from this morning, done close to my home.

2011-05-23T19:13:00.001+02:00

Donate $1 to the Nature Conservancy to help Dow Chemical's CEO Andrew Liveris plant a billion trees.

2011-05-21T13:13:00.001+02:00

Sunrise found me in my newly discovered area. I made sketches of singing Great Reed Warblers:

2011-05-19T10:49:00.001+02:00

I moved into a new hosue a month ago (same district of Budapest), just about to explore the surrounding area. Right at the edge of my district I found rich birdlife to ym great surprise and joy. Qauil, Red-backed Shrikes, Corn Buntings, Marsh Harriers, Yellow Wagtails, Hoopoe, Stone and Whinchats, Tawny Pipit, etc. Skethed this singing Whitethroat this morning:

2011-05-10T21:20:00.002+02:00

I've received 20 bird illustrations back from the publisher. All are painted with watercolours, and are for sale for 58 EUR (which I reduced by 40 % till the end of the summer).

The birds: Bramling, Marsh Tit, Firecrest, Willow Warbler, Hawfinch, Whitethroat, Long-tailed Tit, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Ring-necked Parakeet, Redwing, Stock Dove, Fieldfare, Feral Pigeon, Dunnock, Italian Sparrow, Hooded Crow, Kingfisher, Goldcrest, Greenfinch, Pied Flycatcher.

2011-05-07T11:30:00.001+02:00

I got up before sunrise and went down to the river to sketch Great Reed Warblers. My district has a good number of these birds, I cannot get bored of them:

The setting is not the most romantic with some ugly blocks of flats:

2011-03-28T18:51:00.002+02:00

My friend, Gerard Ramsawak, the manager of the Pax Guesthouse on Trinidad made a nice surprise for me. He created a short video of me working on a Hummingbird sketch. It can be seen on Youtube.

2011-03-28T18:49:00.001+02:00

There's a park close to my home. Despite having not too much bushes, it was bursting with migrating Passerines today. I went there for a few hours to sketch. Here's a Robin:

2011-03-22T10:32:00.002+01:00

I spent yesterday in the field, not far from my home. Similarly to last spring, I found some Curlews beside the road, and could make some sketches of them:

The male bird with broken bill has returned! It has a territory in a restricted area for at least 10 years now. It was with a female, and made some display flights:

Greylag Goose in evening light:

2011-03-05T18:13:00.002+01:00

I'm happy to announce my 2-man exhibition with my friend, Jonathan Latimer at the Donald Watson Gallery in Aberlady, Scotland. I'll be there on the private view on 1st April, and around on some good birding spots during the weekend.

2011-02-28T16:46:00.002+01:00

I went back to the Alpine Accentor site. This time it took 4 hours to find them. The watercolour was not freezing, only me. I could make this one sketch only with my stiff hand:

The hill where they are wintering on is in the middle of a town, called Budaörs:

2011-02-24T15:53:00.001+01:00

There're 2 Alpine Accentors present in a small area since December. The site is very close to the city, so I decided to give them a try. I was very lucky finding them in 10 mins (took hours for others, lot of people even missed them). I didn't realize how cold it was, until trying to add some colours to my sketches. So I need to go back on a warmer day. But here's one pencil sketch, and a photo of the scene.

2011-02-21T20:36:00.003+01:00

I'll have an anniversary this summer. It was exactly 10 years ago, in the summer of 2001 that I decided to quit my job, and became a full-time artist and illustrator. My commissioners and customers made this possible. I would like to thank for all the support and help with an offer. I will sell my original illustrations on a discount price till the end of thsi summer. Reduce all the prices on my other blog by 40 %. If someone buys 5 pieces, the 6th is free.

Not all my illustrations for sale are on this blog, so if you are looking for a particular species, it is worth to ask.

2011-02-21T17:49:00.000+01:00

Workign on a few birds for some publications. Barn, Long-eared and Little Owls:

2011-02-12T15:44:00.001+01:00

I think these are the last skecthes worth to show you from my trip to Trinidad:

Agouti, White-lined Tanager, Palm Tanager, Copper-rumped Hummingbird, Great Kiskadee, Scarlet Ibis, Blue-crowned Motmot.

2011-02-11T08:42:00.001+01:00

The most extraordinary bird of my trip was the Bearded Bellbird. Bellbirds are the loudest birds in the World. Check out youtube for videos to see (and hear) what am I talking about.

2011-02-10T08:31:00.001+01:00

Sitting quietly in the Golden-headed Manakin lek produced some other birds, like this White-tailed Trogon male:

2011-02-09T08:12:00.000+01:00

Golden-headed Manakins: another lekking species:

2011-02-08T12:35:00.002+01:00

A selection of my studies done of the plant life of the rainforest:

I could have easily spent a week exclusively painting the rich plant life, but the birds always drew my attention away.

2011-02-07T08:44:00.002+01:00

3 more sketches of the lekking White.bearded Manakins:

From time-to-time they became quite agitated, performing some spectacular dancing. I captured one moment of this dance (you can clearly see why they're called bearded):

2011-02-06T09:18:00.000+01:00

Theer's a White-bearded Manakin lek close to Asa Wright Nature center, so I went there almost every day. I really enjoyed sketching these charismatic birds.

I generally love leaf litter, so I made some sketches when the birds were close to the ground:

2011-02-05T09:11:00.002+01:00

The Green Honeycreepers were always present on the garden feeders. I had to use a bright blue for their colours, otherwise I would be unable to catch their amazing shine.

The females were green, but hold a faint version of the males' hood:

2011-02-04T09:08:00.002+01:00

Some more sketches of that lovely Coquette:

A flight shot:

I wasn't quite satisfied with my sketches of this Colibri. Somehow I felt that I hadn't caught its tiny character. The reason for this was quite simple: on my A3 sized sheets I have painted them 4-5 times bigger than their real lifesize.

2011-02-03T17:14:00.001+01:00

My favourite little bird on Trinidad was this beautiful Tufted Coquette. It was difficult to make sketches of him as perched only for short periods. I missed some breakfasts because of him, as he was a regular visitor in the garden in the morning hours.

2011-02-02T11:36:00.001+01:00

Crested Oropendolas, both in nice, subdued light:

2011-02-01T08:59:00.002+01:00

These huge Tegu Lizards were regular visitors in the garden. They picked up the remains around the bird feeders.

Sometimes they froze in one posture for minutes, giving me nice opportunity to make detailed portraits:

2011-01-31T10:24:00.003+01:00

Here are 3 Woodpecker sketches from the Asa Wright Nature Center.
Golden-olive Woodpecker. I decided not to study the birds prior the trip, sometimes I was completely surprised to realize how beautiful birds are living there. During the sketching of this bird, I had no idea what species I'm looking at:

Male Lineated Woodpecker:

Same tree, another day:

2011-01-30T12:43:00.004+01:00

I've arrived back from Trinidad. I spent a fantastic time with sketching mainly birds. I stayed a few nights with my friend, Gerard Ramsawak at the Pax Guesthouse, and 10 days at the Asa Wright Nature Center. I'll post most of my sketches here on my blog from day to day.First, the Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola):

They are quite restless birds, but visit the feeders regularly, so had opportunity to sketch them:

2010-11-26T12:08:00.002+01:00

The Wild Goose Festival is going to be held this weekend. As usual, I was asked to support the event with one painting. It will be a prize for the rarest species found during the bird race held tomorrow.
I've painted this Waxwing watercolour:

2010-11-19T15:35:00.003+01:00

I've sketched this adult Dlack-headed Gull in my district on the river. It had a red colour and a metal ring. I've drawn these on the original sketch, but the bird left and had to complete the sketch after other individuals.

I've received the ringing details, it had been ringed by my friend on 14th December 2001, in Budapest. It had been reported from Austria twice.

2010-11-14T19:46:00.002+01:00

There's a Cormorant roost in my district by the Danube. I've visited the site yesterday afternoon, but had to leave before the birds arrived. I could make this one sketch of an early arrival. I'll go back in the coming weeks as there's an increadible light on these birds in the evening.

2010-11-12T10:50:00.003+01:00

I've received the email this morning about winning the Don Eckelberry Scholarship Award of the Society of Animal Artists . This is a prize in the memory of the late Don Eckelberry, American bird artist and is given to young bird artists under the age of 40.
I can travel to the Asa Wright Nature Center in Trinidad to study the rich birdlife there. This award is a milestone in my art career.
I would like to thank American artists, James Coe and Barry W. Van Dusen for their encourageing and friendly support in the previous years, and giving their support to win this award!

2010-10-25T16:20:00.004+02:00

I could have a Slender-billed Curlew specimen for one day. I took it to the right habitat to have an experience with this probably extinct species:

I made a few sketches:

Also studied its plumage in detail. Having only a few photos of this species, it is a valuable information for me:

There's no data for this specimen. From the bill lenght (almost double of the lenght of the head) and the not so contrasting head pattern, surely this is a female, and from the fresh plumage I think it is in winter plumage.

2010-10-10T08:48:00.003+02:00

It was a lovely autumn day yesterday, so I went to the Kiskunság area not far from my home. There are lots of wetlands everywhere:

By the same road where I sketched them in the spring, I found migrating Curlews. I could make some sketches:

I was surprised to see how many frogs they caught. Edible frog (which gave funny noise when got caught):

Fire-bellied Toad (which I thought to be poisonous):

2010-09-13T13:21:00.002+02:00

I've just received my copy of the newly published Field Guide to the Reptiles of South-East Asia by New Holland Publishers:

I've painted 11 plates of snakes for the book, here a sample page:

All these 11 plates are for sale, check out my other blog for them:
http://kokayillus.blogspot.com/

2010-09-05T14:41:00.003+02:00

There was a birdwatcher's meeting at Hortobágy this weekend. I had the opportunity to sketch some shorebirds in the area during Friday and Saturday. The birds were quite tame, so could have extremely good views. This photo shows this temporary habitat with the birds:

The majority of the flock were Little Stints and Curlew Sandpipers:

On this closeup, not cropped photo you can see a tiny spider on the top of the head of this juvenile Curlew Sandpiper:

Soemtimes the birds came down to even 5 meters:

Sketches of juvenile Little Stints in different light:

Juvenile Curlew Sandpiper:

2010-08-28T15:46:00.002+02:00

Again some Slender-billed Curlew stuff. I'm working on an article about this species. I drew some shapes, here's an example. I used Whimbrel and Eurasian Curlew references, but tried to change them to catch the soft, elegant shape of the Slender-billed.

2010-08-26T18:46:00.001+02:00

I've painted another Slender-billed Curlew painting, this time in watercolour and gouache.

There's a birdwatching meeting and race next weekend on Hortobágy, this will be one of the prizes for the winner team.

2010-08-10T13:54:00.002+02:00

I've finished my Curlew oil today. It shows the part of an Eurasian Curlew flock with the extremely rare (thought to be extinct by some, but not me!) Slender-billed Curlew. During the spring I made my Curlew studies for this painting. It's oil on canvasboard, 50 x 70 cms, and will be on display at the British Birdwatching Fair.
I've painted similar scene back in 2001. I cannot find better, so this will have the same title: 'Alone'.

I have only a poor quality photo of 'Alone I.':

2010-08-02T21:41:00.002+02:00

I'm working on a new oil. It took some days to establish the composition of the Curlew flock:

I've added the main colours with the first layer, establishing the strong side lighting on the birds:

The painting is at this stage at the moment:

I'm on a family holiday in the hills, but find some time working on the painting. I have this view from the terrace:

2010-07-26T20:31:00.002+02:00

I've been away on a family holiday, so the Snow Leopard had some rest. I've completed it in the previous 3-4 days. Here's the final result:

My signature is still missing, and probably will work a little on it with a fresh eye. It's on a 80 x 60 cms canvasboard, which is a big painting for me.

2010-07-17T22:05:00.001+02:00

Roughly the lower quarter is left. I think I'll start a new oil, and set this aside as I'm a bit bored of painting rocks. I'm doing it for over 10 days now.

2010-07-14T21:33:00.002+02:00

The painting is slowly developing. Sometimes I have company:

I'm working on the rocks from the top. With the 2nd layer I roughly make them complete:

Then I took a deep breath and started the Leopard:

This is the current stage, the upper half of the painting is almost done. I'll add smaller details and emphasize the light at the end:

I'm still working with the reduced palette (permanent yellow, ultramarine blue and cadmium red).

2010-07-07T21:28:00.003+02:00

I've started a big oil of a Snow Leopard. A great advantage of such projects is that I can work outside in the garden. I have a nice company, a Black Redstart family with recently fledged juvs. They sometimes come really close.

Usually I immediately start with paint, but this time the scene is quite complicated, so decided to make a more or less detailed pencil drawing:

Blocking in the main colours. I moved the Leopard a bit to the right:

This is the very first layer of colours. I've decided to reduce my palette quite seriously. I used ultramarine blue, cadmium red light and permanent yellow light (and titanium white of course). This can help to achieve a uniform atmosphere throughout the whole painting.

I'm working on a 80 x 60 cms canvasboard.

2010-07-06T12:50:00.001+02:00

8 months quickly passed since my Snow Leopard trip, but I could start dealing with the theme only now. I'm working on studies, I attatch one here:

2010-06-13T12:40:00.002+02:00

I had a nice but terribly hot day yesterday in the Kiskunság area. I've been just driving around sketching birds from the shelter of my car. Here are some example.

A morning Lapwing (around 7 am):

A cooperative Montagu's Harrier, posing for some 20 minutes for me:

Whinchat male in the early afternoon light:

A White Stork protecting her chicks from the heat:

I've photographed this male Red-footed Falcon with colour ring. It was ringed as a chick 2 years ago in the Hortobágy region:

2010-05-29T20:35:00.002+02:00

There was the opening ceremony of a big nature trail system at the Velence Lake (altogether 15 kms long). It was commissioned by the Duna-Ipoly National Park, and I made the illustrations together with my friend, Márton Zsoldos. I enclose some photos.

One of the 36 signs (autumn Geese) at the edge of the wetland:

Ancient seascape with Dinnyés village in the background:

An exhibition was also opened with all the paintings done for the trail:

And my favourite, our famous writer, Géza Gárdonyi's portrait by the house he was born in (see the painting in my earlier blog):

2010-05-25T11:03:00.002+02:00

Yesterday I went back to the Curlew site for sketching. The Curlews were not so cooperative, I could make only one sketch:

So I looked for other birds. The Purple Heron is usually secretive, but some birds were hunting in the open close to the road:

Lapwings had big chicks. This female was guarding hers, so posed nicely for me. This is in late evening light, with the sun covered by some not so thick clouds.

It was quite difficult to work on this as my car was filled with mosquitoes, torturing me while trying to concentrate on the bird.
Again, a beautiful farewell from the puszta:

2010-05-15T08:53:00.002+02:00

I could go back to last week's Curlew site not far from my home. I've sketched 2 birds from car from close distance. The changing of late afternoon's light can be seen on these 3 sketches:

~17.30:

~18.00-18.20:

~19.20-19.40:

Here's a photo without cropping to show how close sometimes they were (digiscoped from my car):

I had a nice sunset over the puszta:

2010-05-04T14:15:00.003+02:00

At last yesterday I could spend a whole day in the field. I'll work on an article about the ID of Slender-billed Curlew. Thanks to my brother, who gave me a good hint where can I find Curlews. Strangely, this was the exact location where the last Slender-billed Curlew was observed in the World in 2002.

I used my car as a hide, the birds were usually very close to the road.

The female on the above sketches has this strange, broken billed male, which can cause a lot of confusion. Though you can clearly see, that it is a big Curlew. It is present in the area for at least 8 years now.

2010-04-26T11:29:00.002+02:00

My greeting card series is at last published! I chose the following 9 paintings to feature them:

I would like to thank everyone who helped to choose the paintings. As I promised, I drew one name from the hat. The lucky winner is Andreas Noeske who sent the list in email to me! Congratulations, I'm posting the cards!

The cards are for sale for 1 EUR/piece (7 EUR for a complete set).

2010-04-26T11:27:00.003+02:00

The 1st Pannonian Bird Experience was held this weekend in Illmitz, Austria.
I was exhibiting with my friends, Stefan Boensch and Péter Csonka.

We could not spend much time in the field, but this beautiful male Common Redstart made me really happy:

To my surprise I came 2nd place in the official bird quiz competition! Surprized as it was after several glasses of good wine.

2010-04-15T18:33:00.003+02:00

I'm delighted to show you this recently published book written by my friend, Aasheesh Pittie. It is a bibliography of 300 years of South Asian ornithology. I'm privileged to have my Indian Pitta painting on the cover of this important book. It is definately a milestone moment in my artist carrier.

2010-04-11T21:47:00.002+02:00

At last I could start dealing with the Snow Leopard theme. First I would like to understand the character of this species (which I find really difficult). I made these pencil drawings from photos:

In the next days I'll try to visit a zoo in southern Hungary where they keep and breed Snow Leopards.

2010-04-07T21:45:00.002+02:00

I'll be exhibiting at the 1st Pannonian Bird Experience from 23-25. April. Check out the webpage of this event for more info:

http://www.birdexperience.org/

2010-04-04T17:49:00.001+02:00

I had to paint a kid with a smelly green bug for the mimicry book. I asked my smaller son to act for this illustration, and I've painted him:

2010-03-26T08:46:00.002+01:00

This is the period of my favourite bird's, the Firecrest's migration. I've found one bird near my home on Wednesday, then 2 yesterday. I made this sketch of the female:

It was really difficult as she was moving constantly, so couldn't get a clear view of the smaller details. I made some amendments at home checking photos (eg. making the eye bigger).

2010-03-22T08:28:00.000+01:00

Greylag Goose with young

2010-02-26T11:41:00.002+01:00

2 of our national parks have created a series of 6 mugs with my illustrations (Avocet, Great Bustard, Meadow Viper, Spoonbill, Saker and Collared Pratincole):

These can be bought at their directorates.

2010-02-18T10:14:00.002+01:00

I'm still working on the book about mimicry. I've just completed a scene with a small Namibian boy admiring at some flowering Stone Plants (Lithops marmorata).

I really enjoyed mixing the many different shades of his skin.

2010-02-05T11:59:00.000+01:00

Crab Spider (Thomisus onustus) with a Blue butterfly (wtarecolour on paper):

2010-02-01T12:07:00.002+01:00

I'm working on illustrations for a nature trail commissioned by a national park. This is a quite varied subject, the most interesting one is this portait of our famous writer from the XIX. century, Géza Gárdonyi. His most famous novel is about the protection of an important fort from the attacks of the Turkish army in the in the XVI. century (Egri csillagok).

A less known fact about Gárdonyi that he was a keen naturalist. He kept the natural scineces above all others.

2010-01-13T17:16:00.004+01:00

I'm planning to make postcards from 9 of my paintings. I would like to ask for your help to choose from my works. Please make a list of 9 paintings from the ones found in the watercolour, acrylic, oil and probably the field sketches gallery of my webpage.
To make this a little bit more inspirational, at the end, when I have the postcards printed, I'll pick one name from the hat from those who helped me, and will send a series of the 9 postcards as a present. Please put your choice list in the comment of this blog post.

I'm sure that this winning painting will be one of the 9. And that I'll try to include one Snow Leopard painting (in case I can deal with the theme at last).

2009-12-23T09:53:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I went down to the Danube in the afternoon. The edges of the river were frozen, sadly the coming mild weather will melt it. Good numbers of Black-headed and Common Gulls were gathering on the ice; I made this sketch of one of them.
I would like to wish all my visitors Merry Christmas and Happy New Year with this winter sketch! Thank you very much for your interest!

2009-12-06T09:38:00.001+01:00

I've got some original illustrations (mainly birds of prey) back. They are for sale and can be checked in my other blog.

2009-11-23T16:49:00.001+01:00

Short-eared Owl (watercolour on paper). It's a nice coincidence that this species is the current theme on my photographer friend's blog:
http://vasutag.freeblog.hu/

2009-11-21T10:08:00.002+01:00

I've painted a juvenile Imperial Eagle with watercolour and gouache. The original is for sale (roughly A4 sized).

2009-11-19T13:19:00.000+01:00

I've completed my Ladakh trip report. Please check it out on my webpage.

2009-11-15T16:05:00.002+01:00

I can show you now the front cover of the European edition of the recently published Bornean field guide by Susan Myers. Similarly to the American edition, the front cover is featured by my illustration, on this a pair of Blue-headed Pittas:

2009-11-11T12:50:00.002+01:00

I've spent 2 weeks with my friends from the UK in Ladakh, north-west India. This was not a birding trip, but to fulfil our dream. To see the ultimate cat, the Snow Leopard.
As usual, I'm late with my commissions, so didn't have time to complete a proper trip report. I'll try to make it in a few weeks. As a taster I attatch here a photo of the Snow Leopard we watched for 45 mins (good luck to finding it):

Here's the happy team at the observation point (our local expert, Smanla is in the front):

I've spent the long flight back home practicing the difficult character of the Snow Leopard (these sketches were done from photos):

2009-10-13T12:22:00.001+02:00

I've finished the shark work, what a releaf! Here are all of the illustrations done for this book:

2009-10-07T09:26:00.001+02:00

Slowly arriving to the end of my shark work. Here's a somewhat different theme, illustrating a polinesian legend, a White-tipped Reef Shark (Triaenodon obesus) changing into a human:

2009-09-29T18:39:00.001+02:00

Here's an example from the shark series, a Hammerhead with cleaner fishes around its mouth (Johnrandallia nigrirostris and Labroides dimidiatus):

2009-09-24T09:28:00.002+02:00

Menue for Sharks (watercolour on paper).
Skate, Mackerel, Octopus, Cod, Dogfish, Sealion, Lobster, Sea Turtle, Bottlenose Dolphin, Squid and Crab:

2009-09-19T18:00:00.005+02:00

I've spent 2 days on Hortobágy with my friend, Márton Zsoldos (his report is here). We helped the staff of the Salamandre Swiss nature magazine (their webpage). They will have an issue on the steppes in Europe, this was a study trip.
On Thursday we were watching birds in the western parts of the national park. There's an extremely strong migration of Pallid Harriers in the country, we were lucky to see 2 males together. One of them joined in a seemingly organized attack on shorebirds with a Marsh Harrier and a Peregrine Falcon. Undoubtly one of the best action I've ever seen.

In the afternoon we've visited the Przewalski-horse enclosure with some 130 individuals living in semi-wild conditions. The few hours visit was not enough to get more deeply involved in this theme:

Friday was spent with Dotterels in the south-eastern steppes of Hortobágy. Here are some of my sketches:

The illustrator of the magazine, Laurent Willenegger in work:

2009-09-15T19:24:00.001+02:00

A great white shark attacks an elephant seal (watercolour and titanium white gouache on paper):

2009-09-11T22:33:00.001+02:00

I'm workign on the illustrations for a book on sharks. This is the megalodon (Carcharias megalodon), an ancient giant shark:

2009-08-27T12:52:00.002+02:00

I've made a 90 series limited edition print of my 'Peregrine on Saint Stephen's Cathedral III.' painting. The prints are 42x30 cm (A3 size), and were printed with giclée technique. Each print is signed and numbered and are for sale for 39 EUR including postage cost.

2009-08-15T13:01:00.003+02:00

I'm happy to announce the new issue of Lesley Smitheringale's 'Nature's paint box' internet magazine (eZine). The featured artist in this issue is me. You can purchase it from Lesley's webpage: http://www.lesley-smitheringale-fine-art.com/shop/products/books_and_ezines/natures-paint-box-ezine-issue-3

You can see a sample page from the interview with me here:

http://www.lesley-smitheringale-fine-art.com/shop/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/szabolcs_kokay_page.jpg

2009-08-12T22:47:00.001+02:00

Here are 2 more birds of prey from the series.
Montagu's Harrier

Common Kestrel

2009-08-04T15:08:00.002+02:00

Here are some new birds of prey illustrations from the previous 2 weeks:

Hen Harrier

Marsh Harrier

White-tailed Eagle

Golden Eagle

Red Kite

All of them were painted with watercolours and titanium white gouache.

2009-08-02T22:05:00.003+02:00

A nice video has been uploaded to Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMHEfBiyrEI
It's about last year's Wild Goose Festival in Tata. You can see me and my friends, Márton Zsoldos and Stefan Boensch painting the mural from the 7.18 min.
Please check my blog in last November for more details about this event.

2009-07-18T09:20:00.002+02:00

Susan Myers, the author of the new Borneo field guide, 'Birds of Borneo', has just sent me the cover of the American edition. Although I've contributed only 1 % to the illustrations of this book, one of my Pittas (the Blue-banded) has been chosen for the front cover design! I've also found out recently that the European edition will also have my work on the cover, the pair of Blue-headed Pittas. I'll show you that version also when I receive it.

To see the Bornean Pittas I painted, check the bird illustrations on my webpage.

2009-07-16T18:18:00.003+02:00

I've painted this plate of Swallows and Martins for BirdLife Hungary. This will be used for publications next year, as these birds will be the birds of 2010.
It is watercolour and gouache on paper (42 x 30 cm). The original is for sale for 250 EUR.

2009-07-09T10:36:00.001+02:00

I've painted this plate of female diving ducks for a Serbian bird magazine. Common Pochars, Ferruginous and Tufted Ducks, and Scaup:

It's watercolour and gouache on paper (24x34 cm). The original is for sale for 90 EUR.

2009-07-01T13:40:00.002+02:00

Last September there was an extremely severe week, and a lot of Swallows, Martins died in Hungary. My brother collected 2 dead juvenile House Martins for me. I put them in the deep freezer. My wife decided to clean it today, and there was no excuse to preserve the dead birds. So I made a quick sketchpage of them, concentrating mainly to the juvenile characters. Please note the moulted uppertail coverts (which are bluish, compared to the brownish juvenile ones):

2009-07-01T10:08:00.002+02:00

I've finished the Long-eared Owl painting. It's 80 x 60 cm, painted with oils on canvasboard. I gave the title : 'Winter roost'. This piece will be on display at this year's British Birdwatching Fair in August.

2009-06-30T14:25:00.002+02:00

After some weeks break, I began working on the Long-eared Owl oil painting again. I've completely repainted the background as I hated the flat effect of the former solution (see my earlier blogs).
Here are some solutions:

Finally I stayed with this one. I've added a complex of weaker branches to the lower right quarter, and some more ivy leaves in the upper center:

2009-06-26T08:57:00.001+02:00

Here's my newest illustration for the shark book. It shows a group of South-African fishermen cathing sharks (watercolour and gouache on paper):

2009-06-19T22:10:00.002+02:00

I've been to the small creek by the river again this afternoon. I'm talking about this place so much, so I give you the coordinates: latitude: 47°24'54.07"N, longitude: 19° 5'51.46"E. Check out on Google Earth that this wonderful little spot is really surrounded by the city.
The Little Bitterns were not cooperative this time. The male has been there when I arrived, but left very soon. The female arrived very late, right when I was about to leave.
But I could work with the newly arrived Moorhen pair. I've seen them mating, so perhaps they will be breeing here. I would be happy for them.
Here's a sunny sketch:

And one after the sun disappeared:

I could see a short battle between them and the resident Coots. This is a videograb from my recording. The upper bird is just helping its mate to escape from the Coot that was helding it under the water for a sec (you can see the 2nd bird coming up on the left)! I really love recording videos, because I can see such moments that would be impossible with my eyes.

2009-06-18T11:28:00.003+02:00

I've visited my nature photographer friend, Péter Csonka (check out his website: www.csonkapeter.hu), and he showed me a very good spot for Bee-eaters. I could sketch them from my car:

Don't count the primaries on this sketch, my brush ran out of control:

The Russian transparent watercolours I began using recently were a real good help to mix the bright colours of the birds:

Here's the mess in my car. The birds usually perched on the bare branches on the top of the closer trees:

2009-06-16T16:01:00.001+02:00

I've begun working on the illustrations of a book on Sharks. Here's an example, a polinesian man swimming with a Whale Shark (it is watercolour and gouache on paper):