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Indian Peafowl in Berlin? 05/2026
I ventured to Peacock Island with one goal in mind: to sketch birds. Little did I know how challenging that would be. Most of the birds stayed high up in the trees, tourists were swarming everywhere, and I was just about ready to leave empty-handed. Then, right before giving up, I spotted this walking beauty pecking at a discarded peach pit. It stuck around long enough for me to fill a whole page with sketches.
One thing that really caught my attention was how incredibly thin their necks become right below the jaw. I had never noticed that before.
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the unintended page 05/2026
I had absolutely no intention of making this whole spread. None. But I didn’t really have a choice.
A few weeks ago, while bikepacking near Sassnitz, a male Pied Flycatcher landed right at the edge of the road. He seemed completely unbothered by my heavily loaded bike rolling past, but I was a little too committed to the ride to stop and take a photo.
Later at camp, I wanted to sketch the little guy. But I realized I couldn’t – I knew the bird, I knew what I had seen and I had a general sense of the pattern. But I couldn’t really recall it clearly enough to draw it.
So I looked up a few references and planned to put together a quick sketch from some photos and videos. Easy enough, right? Except the more I searched, the less sense the wing pattern made to me. You know that itchy feeling when something doesn’t quite add up, and you can’t leave it alone until it finally clicks?
Yeah. That’s how I ended up taking the entire wing apart, feather by feather, trying to understand where the pattern actually comes from and how it changes as the wing folds, spreads, and overlaps. You can follow my thought process through all the arrows revealing how hard I tried to make sense out of it all.
A few weeks ago, while bikepacking near Sassnitz, a male Pied Flycatcher landed right at the edge of the road. He seemed completely unbothered by my heavily loaded bike rolling past, but I was a little too committed to the ride to stop and take a photo.
Later at camp, I wanted to sketch the little guy. But I realized I couldn’t – I knew the bird, I knew what I had seen and I had a general sense of the pattern. But I couldn’t really recall it clearly enough to draw it.
So I looked up a few references and planned to put together a quick sketch from some photos and videos. Easy enough, right? Except the more I searched, the less sense the wing pattern made to me. You know that itchy feeling when something doesn’t quite add up, and you can’t leave it alone until it finally clicks?
Yeah. That’s how I ended up taking the entire wing apart, feather by feather, trying to understand where the pattern actually comes from and how it changes as the wing folds, spreads, and overlaps. You can follow my thought process through all the arrows revealing how hard I tried to make sense out of it all.
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Mandarin duck flock 05/2026
I met up with a few of my former workshop participants for a drawing afternoon in Charlottenburg – and ended up with front-row seats to the park's most colourful residents.
I genuinely thought I'd run out of things to draw, but two hours later I was still trying to squeeze notes into every remaining corner of my page. And that was still just one species… I could've happily stayed there for another four hours.
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watercolour markers study III 04/2026
I started this mostly as a little color experiment and somehow ended up really loving the final result. I’m still exploring what this technique can do for me – these watercolour markers are still a new medium and I’m finding out the limitations and possibilities as I go.
However, I think there’s something about earthy tones and these more brownish birds that I really enjoy working with. The colours blend very easily and end up feeling very warm and nice, especially when you add a little bit of colour contrast.
However, I think there’s something about earthy tones and these more brownish birds that I really enjoy working with. The colours blend very easily and end up feeling very warm and nice, especially when you add a little bit of colour contrast.
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Blue WInged kookaburra 04/2026
More kookaburras? More kookaburras! I got slightly obsessed with them during my OWN workshop, started sketching them there and then finished the page at home.
It’s definitely not the last kookaburra I am studying this summer.
It’s definitely not the last kookaburra I am studying this summer.
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watercolour markers study II 04/2026
Last week, my students chose to paint a kookaburra in our workshop, and I took it as a chance to challenge myself too. I’ve been experimenting with watercolour markers lately, and while everyone else was nature journaling, I focused on something I personally find really difficult: loosening up.
Painting birds from photos makes it so tempting to obsess over every feather and tiny detail until the sketch loses its energy. So this time, I tried to paint more intuitively and expressively instead.
Last week, my students chose to paint a kookaburra in our workshop, and I took it as a chance to challenge myself too. I’ve been experimenting with watercolour markers lately, and while everyone else was nature journaling, I focused on something I personally find really difficult: loosening up.
Painting birds from photos makes it so tempting to obsess over every feather and tiny detail until the sketch loses its energy. So this time, I tried to paint more intuitively and expressively instead.
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Greylag goose 03/2026
This time I went for a walk along the Teltow Canal, where I heard a flock of geese long before I saw them. They were quite far away (I hadn't brought my binoculars), but that didn't stop me from filling several pages with sketches.
Armed with all the questions I collected on the spot – about their plumage patterns, behaviour, and the things I couldn't quite make sense of – I later turned my field notes into a journal spread that brings everything together.
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Soaring buzzards 03/2026
Spotted a couple of buzzards soaring above a valley at the bank of Walchensee and decided for a quick sketch during lunch break. I still wonder how big their territories are – something to research later.
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the Elvis presley bird 02/2026
Made a quick study from a bird feeder live cam to test out my new sketchbook. Approved. this male bullfinch really took its time to properly chew every single seed and it spent an eternity there.
