A watercolour and ink sketch of a Eurasian Curlew in flight - based upon a photo by Lars Petersson. Drawn to coincide with my “Trees A Crowd” podcast special episode on these wonderful waders.

Golden Eagle drawn in Indian Ink and Watercolours from a photo taken whilst shooting “The White Queen” in 2012.

An Eagle Owl drawn in chalk and charcoal.

Chalk and charcoal on paper.

Drawn for happiness, for special reasons that neatly corresponded with "Draw a Bird Day".

Ink and Watercolours.

I've been wanting to tackle a Puffin for a while - I've always found them to be such soulful birds. Subsequently, when commissioned to render a colourful bird for some lovely Northumbrian ladies, I leapt at the chance.

Ink on paper.

A dynamically terrifying presentation of one of the most beautiful seabirds.

Ink on paper.

“Ah, bitter chill it was! The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold…”

Late February and early March of 2018 met a creature known as "The Beast from the East" - a storm that brought with it snow, ice and left the United Kingdom at a standstill. On the 2nd of March, 8:45pm, I was set to be in Glasgow for the UK première of a film I shot in 2016, very aptly called "Cold Skin", but the storm laid waste to those plans - train nor plane could enter Scotland. And so I was left at home... with a pen... and an old photograph I had taken of an Eagle Owl... It's not a bad sketch, but I would have much rather been in Glasgow, in a Tux, on a Red Carpet, with a girl on my arm, and with a front row seat to watch a film about sea monsters... ho hum... next time!

Ink and watercolour on paper.

Drawn for the British Lung Foundation to be used as a Christmas Card. ON SALE NOW!

Ink and watercolour on paper. Named after Queen Victoria, this Victoria Crowned Pigeon is a native of Papua New Guinea. He was commissioned to coincide with my work as an actor on ITV's "Victoria" and continues my Blue Bird Period.

Ink and watercolour.
This was drawn as a commission from a photograph after a close encounter with a magnificent Peacock. Watercolour provides a distinct challenge, in particular forcing me to perhaps be more abstract in my presentation than I would be if it were simply an ink sketch. The tail feathers for example are far less precisely defined allowing the mash of colour to better represent the texture of the bird's legendary plumage.

Ink and watercolours. This was the final image for a highly enjoyable commission -  many thanks to LH for pushing me into a more colourful avenue. I look forward immeasurably to playing with watercolours in the future. Tempted even to go back through my earlier drawings and to "lift" them a little!

Ink on paper. Another in a long line of bird studies. This particular Bunting was a draft for an exciting commission which pushed me away from my simple line drawings and into a more colourful world! Indebted to the commissioner for bullying me into untested waters. Thank you.

Drawn in white pastel upon black card. Normally I'm more of a Goose-man, but Swans have started to make me smile of late! That is until I remember Henry VIII supposedly used disembodied Swan's necks to wipe his bum...! Anyway - here's a Swan, drawn in a break from shooting "The Living and the Dead" for the BBC.

My father's father drew and painted birds all his life. His and my grandmother's house was full of the things. EVERYWHERE! When they passed away we inherited all of them: my father's house is full of them, I have over 10 at least, my aunt's house I imagine is too. They're beautiful things. It's why I like drawing birds. I feel a "grand-filial" responsibility... I hope he's proud up there; I'm proud of him down here.

This little guy was scene in the shallows of a Californian wetlands centre. I loved being able to see not only him, but both his reflection and his shadow, and his footprints stuck into the sand nearby - all reminders of the many impacts we have upon the world by simply being. Ink and chalk on paper.

Back to Chalk and Charcoal again. Having shown the antelope skull sketch to a few people, they, perhaps not aware of my drawing, thought me rather morbid, so I returned to the wonderful birds again. This time, a regal Seagull.

This was another Crow study (one originally intended to be in chalk and charcoal, but turned out slightly more interesting in ink), but this one was drawn for the AccessArt "Share-a-Bird" campaign.

AccessArt is a UK Charity which supports visual arts teaching, learning & practice through the sharing of inspirational ideas.

Ink and pencil on paper. Drawn from a series of photographic studies I made of a murder of crows whilst I was on holiday in California recently. I took a series of photos that, due to the baking Californian sun and the nature of the photography, made the crows look white. I'm looking forward greatly to getting back to chalk and charcoal and giving them a go too - in the meantime, this drawing's all about the black!

Ink on Paper. I originally did a sketch of this blighter in charcoal; the original was the first piece of mine to sell at my first exhibition. Selling art work is an odd sensation. You feel a little like you've lost something - or hopefully that you've shared something you greatly care about. Subsequently I drew this little guy again, but this time in ink. I hope you like this landmark.

Been blitzing the birds lately. Here's another ink on paper sketch.

More Inky birds. This one was a little gosling that was walking around a small Lake at a place called Jake's... these descriptions are riveting aren't they!

Ink on paper.

Again, another quick sketch following my fascination with our feathered friends. This little guy was copied from a photo I took whilst I spent hours watching him and his friends fly in and out of their nest in a Lake District barn.

Drawn from a photograph taken on-set of the BBC/Starz show "The White Queen" in 2012. This was drawn in Charcoal at a later date a year or so after the show was originally shot.

The eagle was one from the set of "The White Queen" which David shot in 2012, however, this drawing wasn't done until 2015 when David was on the set of ITV's "Endeavour". The only other thing around to draw at that time was a car park in Beaconsfield, hence the retrospection. This is again a biro drawing upon a show call sheet.

Quick sketch of a Gosling from June 2015.

Scribbled upon the back of a yellow script page - it's a Pelican...!