Animal Art Notes - Bird Study Skins Part I

For those of you painting, drawing, or sculpting birds, learning how to work from prepared study skins can open up an entirely new area of reference material for you. I am grateful to have access to a couple of different college and university collections and look to these study skins to fill in gaps from blurry photos, or in composing paintings simply from a memory I have of a scene.

I do not personally advocate simply tracing a photo in order to create a painting or drawing, so study skins have become important reference material for me.

Why not simply trace a photo?

If you do not have the ability to draw and rely solely on tracing to create a painting, you are severely limiting yourself and what you can create. You are now a complete slave to your photo, relying on it for composition, proportion, pose/gesture,  movement, and detail. Your ability to "invent" or create scenes from your imagination is severely limited, as is your ability to make minor tweaks and changes. Basically, you have hog-tied your creativity. If you rely completely on tracing, do yourself a HUGE service and learn to draw. It's a discipline that will take time, but it's time well-spent.

So what is a bird study skin anyway?

Bird study skins are just that - the skin of a bird preserved for later study. These are not taxidermied mounts (although working from mounts can be a valuable aid as well). Preserving a bird as a study skin is a no-frills way to keep a large number of bird specimens in a neat and compact form for future study.

What you get:

1. Usually wings-in mounts
2. Good reference for overall length and measurements of head, beak/bill, legs, and some feathers
3. Body feather patterns and colors on fresh skins
4. The ability to see individual variability in a large collection of skins
5. A bird that stays in one place so you can practice your drawing :)
6. The ability to view and draw extinct species

What you don't get:

1. Typically you won't see wings-out skins because they are more fragile and more difficult to store
2. On older skins, colors of beak/bill and feathers may have faded or changed
3. Skins can be in "not-so-perfect" condition (missing feathers, somewhat contorted, broken wings)
4. Eye details (eyes are not preserved or replaced in these skins)

Do's and Don'ts of using study skins:

1. DO expect to work on-site, not at your home
2. DO bring white cotton gloves and use them for handling fragile skins
3. DO draw using dry media only: pencil and disposable mechanical drawing pens preferred
4. DO ask about photography before bringing your camera
5. DO be respectful and professional: show up on-time, work quickly, and handle the specimens carefully
6. DO gently smooth down feathers if needed
7. DO NOT try to pull the wings out or open the beak - you will break them
8. DO NOT try to move the legs or feet - you will break them too!
9. DO NOT allow water or other liquids near the specimens
10. DO NOT pull on feathers

Working from skins has its limits. It's probably best not to let working from bird study skins take the place of personal observation. Observing birds first hand will allow you to watch how the bird moves, behaves, and communicates. Direct observation also allows you to see accurate colors in different lighting situations. Because of this, working from study skins is a great supplement to personal observation and photograph reference material but in most cases should not replace it.

Obtaining permission to use a study skin collection will be the subject of my next post.

All contents of this post copyright 2011 Nancy Rynes