Sky Dancer!

Hen Harriers: 1 ¦ 2 ¦ 3 ¦ 4 ¦ 5 ¦ 6

Display Flight of Male Hen Harrier

Of all the names given to the Hen Harrier, that of Sky Dancer applies particularly to the male.

Tricky!

Drawing a 'Heather Gled' gliding is easy.
Drawing a Sky Dance is very tricky, and may engage the memory.

Further studies

Some sketches are very ordinary, although they always contain some visual information. However one on this page has captured the dynamism of the sky dive, as the bird begins to spiral at high speed.

The Elements of Earth and Sky

Circus Cyaneus, Ringmaster of the Sky

The inestimable value of a sketch book is that, to some measure, you see my mind at work. The use of ribbon-like vector arrows in an attempt to show the track of the sky dancer actually led to a realisation that here again was the Celtic Knotwork in the dimension of air.
At the bottom of the page, the Ringmistress of the Earth calls her encouragement and applause.

Sky Dancer

Misty Law in background

A very simple sketch, but a favourite of the Clyde-Muirshiel Country Park rangers.
The forming cumulus cloud building over the Law in a clear blue sky intimates the perfect conditions for raptors' display flight (blue sky, puffy clouds).

Sky Dance

Part 3

Before showing the four paintings in series, I've deliberately mixed them up as each one shows a different aspect of the dance, and yet each one is individually composed as part of the whole.

Sky Dance

Part 2

Sky Dance

Part 1

Sky Dance

Part 4

The Swoop

From the sketch shown earlier, I developed this painting in an attempt to show the swoop at the bottom of the sky dance, whereafter the dancer quickly climbs again into the roller coaster of his display flight.
As in the Food Pass painting, you must imagine that we are following the flight of the bird through binoculars and the background becomes an essential blur of moorland.

Sky Dancer: complete set

Photographed unframed to show the sequence, although the paintings have been separately framed, like the separate frames in a photographic film.

More Hen Harriers: 1 ¦ 2 ¦ 3 ¦ 4 ¦ 5 ¦ 6
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