Snettisham High Tide

Knot on advancing tide

Dispersing at high tide

Two sketches from Snettisham on the Wash, showing knot and other waders pushed inland by advancing tide and dispersing at high tide when the mud flats are completely covered. My first visit to Snettisham, not even sure whether the wader event, when tens of thousands of birds come to roost, would take place. From out of sight the tide advances rapidly and not knowing what to expect I had to choose my position and what to work on, then stick with that idea. I chose to describe the overall scene; big sky, bird flocks Peter Scott style, painting in the landscape before the birds arrived and then quickly marking in the formations as they happened. There is also scope for drawing closer, the dense flocks picking out individuals and movement of the bustling numbers as they run, take off and roost. (cb, cr, cy + wh in sky - wh allowing wet on wet to flow and describing the slight milky colour of the light. Ny + az dropped in on horizon. Lr, cb + az in places, not quite right for sand perhaps. Birds; darks of cb + bs mainly -going greener/bluer in distance, darker for densest flocks of knot. Species - bt godwit, redshank, knot, dunlin, little stint, golden plover, grey plover, shelduck, curlew, egret. Possibly enough info to develop in studio. Next visit fast drawings through optics of close action for multi plate print - using ghosts to describe movement.