[cobalt]

Looking for inspiration for new projects and came across a childrens colouring book depicting 40 different birds of the world

Th plates came from the" history of birds of Europe" dated 1871 by H. E. Dresser and the" birds of America "It consisted of 40 birds and printed as a child's colouring book

For a mere £3 it seems a bargain

The prints seem a little stiff but there the ideal size for carving a topper without modifying the size .there about 5 inches on the colouring page Most of them are just side views but with a web search would help to improve them.

the 1st 5 pages are just thumb nail ref pictures the rest of the book is a full page pic of each bird

I would cut the heads the carving of them so I can turn the heads slightly rather than just a stiff side view

a few photos of the book

 

[gdenby]

Good find. Is the book contemporary? The line work is clean, and reasonably detailed. Good reference, and would be a good thing for a kid whose handy w. crayons.

 

[CV3]

That is a great looking reference book. I have mostly done birds of pray. This is a book I have found really helpful for carving them.

 

[cobalt]

That book seems to appeal to me think its more my standard great detail

We have several different falcons in the area and marsh harriers which live around the wild fowl sanctuary nearby

The most challenging thing with eagles and falcon's is getting the transition from topper to shank right and tend to favour the transition used on the puffin as all the birds in this family don't have a long neck lick wild fowl it just sits better aesthetically on the shank

 

[Gloops]

Good find, a couple of years ago I dropped on a Floyd Scholz book showing his carving of a full size Golden Eagke in Flight, Amazing well detailed and all for £2.50 $ 3.5 a true bargain, never having done anything with an open mouth it was the first time I understood how they get the in mouth detail - the lower mandible is cut off, internal carving done and then reattached , a revelation to me at the time.