http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/ http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/links.html http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/about.html http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/otheritems.html http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/gallery.html http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/news.html http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/more-on-its-way http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/new-artwork-hot-off-the http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/ive-won-an-important-award http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/new-downloads-and-links http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/page49665.html http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/help-our-bees http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/photography http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/publications http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/other http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/flies http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/mammals-birds http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/bees http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/anthophoracomboweb https://photos.on-this.website/wm/EN1CbkHt6J-c6qY4doXFTXEJe9o=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_11585220174f6a0aad92437.jpgAnthophora plumipes Combo [b]Anthophora plumipes Combo (pen & ink, 1984). Signed limited edition of 300 on fine card. A3. £50.00.[/b] Two of twenty pen and ink illustrations commissioned for a forthcoming book on British Bees. The project was instrumental in my mastering of cross-hatching and stippling, and these are two of the earliest illustrations I did. The beige-coloured male with his hair-fringed mid legs is above and the all-black female is below. This is a common spring-flying bee of gardens and also more natural habitats such as quarries and soft-rock coastal cliffs. Both sexes can be mistaken for bumblebees, but they fly in a much faster darting fashion interspersed with short hovers. Females will often nest in the mortar of walls and sometimes enter houses via chimneys and airbricks. But don't worry, they won't sting you. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/brownhareredforweb https://photos.on-this.website/wm/rAH_SurDbWm1091V4Ld9KFMsmpc=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_10956780674f69f6f5aeda9.jpgBrown Hare [b]Brown Hare (pencil, 1998). Signed limited edition of 300 on fine card. A3, £40.[/b] A pencil sketch of a Brown Hare done during a wildlife drawing session for children. I got a bit carried away and ended up with this. Not sure the kids got quite as much attention as they deserved. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/honeybeecomboweb https://photos.on-this.website/wm/Dt73wMucxM0_l1CCkTKqoFzORbA=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_15337136914f6a0aa7b3099.jpgHoneybee Combo [b]Honey Bee Combo (pen & ink, 1984). Signed limited edition of 500 on fine card. A3. £50.00.[/b] Three of twenty pen and ink illustrations commissioned for a forthcoming book on British Bees. The project was instrumental in my mastering of cross-hatching and stippling. This combo features a worker (sterile female) at the top, a queen (large fertile female) in the middle, and a drone (male) at the bottom. Notice how large the eyes of the drone are - his eyesight is seemingly designed to spot queens at distance and chase them at great speed in hope of a romantic encounter. He cannot sting you, but queens and workers pack a powerful punch if you annoy them. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/costa-rican-hoverfliesweb https://photos.on-this.website/wm/yPl8eEAqA7fVzridrW_XhvJ8Qg0=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_15434559674f3e60e2bed3a.jpgCosta Rican Hoverflies [b]Costa-Rican hoverflies (gouache & watercolour, 1993). Signed limited edition of 200 on fine card. A3, £60.[/b] These two rather stunning hoverflies were undescribed species when painted. They had been discovered during a Smithsonian Institute-led expedition to Costa-Rica and the artwork was commissioned by the world’s top hoverfly expert, Dr Chris Thompson. But I got some printed up before I posted off the original. The lower one is [i]Eristalis gatesi[/i], named after Bill Gates (yes the Microsoft fella) and the upper one is [i]Eristalis alleni[/i], named after one of Bill’s associates, Paul Allen. They apparently supported Chris’s work. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/bug-a3-3-gswebsite https://photos.on-this.website/wm/9xMgwjkQBhG0WMg46Fasl3-QCyY=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_20340727944f3e5e017035d.jpgCarpenter Bee/Nomad Bee Combo [b]Carpenter Bee and Nomad Bee Combo (pen & ink, 1984). A3 Signed limited edition of 300 on fine card. A3. £50.00.[/b] Two of twenty pen and ink illustrations commissioned for a forthcoming book on British Bees. The project was instrumental in my mastering of cross-hatching and stippling, and these are two of the later illustrations I did – in fact I think the dark winged Violet Carpenter Bee [i]Xylocopa violacea[/i] was the final one, and very much the most challenging. In black and white cross-hatching work, there is a golden rule – always wiggle your lines – if you do straight ones you’ll screw up. Look at any of my cross hatching whether it is trees or bee fur, and you’ll see what I mean. The human eye can pick out a few inconsistencies but not thousands, which is how you get away with it. The nomad bee below is the very rare [i]Nomada sexfasciata[/i] which is a cuckoo-parasite of the bee [i]Eucera longicornis[/i] featured in another combo. I like the way this combo contrasts two very different-looking bees. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/eristalissimilisredforweb https://photos.on-this.website/wm/d93NX5oMk6Hgq1CBiYyyEqQ06WM=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_21202285554f69f3d746214.jpgHoverfly Eristalis similis [b]Hoverfly Eristalis similis (pen & ink, 1995). Signed limited edition of 300 on fine card. A4. £35.00.[/b] In March 1990, at a site near Coventry during a very hot and early spring, I caught a hoverfly that I immediately recognised as something new to Britain. I had encountered the first British specimen of [i]Eristalis similis[/i] (formerly [i]E. pratorum[/i]), a species that has been steadily spreading north on the continent. A few further British records now exist, and I proved it is now a British breeding species in 2011 by finding a freshly emerged one in Sussex. This image was used for the paper that formally added it to the British list and is one of my favourite pen and ink illustrations - extremely detailed and coping with a variety of textures and tones. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/sussex-discoveries https://photos.on-this.website/wm/-BcNtpTaACecy-KBa2IWlwfc1-s=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_273402194f43525712df2.jpgSussex Discoveries [b]Sussex Discoveries 1980 (pen & ink, 1980). Signed limited edition of 300 on fine card. A3. £40.00.[/b] In 1980 I spent a week pursuing entomology in East Sussex and managed to discover two insects that were previously unknown in Britain. The more dramatic of the two was the French Wasp [i]Dolichovespula media[/i], found in Friston Forest. It was probably carried over to this country by ferry and has now spread over much of Britain. The second discovery was a small hoverfly called [i]Neoascia interrupta[/i] found at Ditchling Common. This plate combines the illustrations used in the two publications that formally added them to the British list. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/sparrows1cleanedweb https://photos.on-this.website/wm/aciKljIJI4HB0z_D06pZd8gX7a8=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_16764745454f3e659bd7eec.jpgSparrow Montage [b]Sparrow montage (pen & ink, 1989). Signed limited edition of 200 on fine card. W22 x H21cm. £25.[/b] Birds likes sparrows and gulls have always captured my imagination because they are taxonomic conundrums, where species are poorly-defined and therefore challenging to identify, name and categorise. When I drew this picture, most bird books classified the Italian Sparrow [i]Passer italiae[/i] (lower right and another face-on to its left) as a race of the beautifully marked Spanish Sparrow [i]Passer hispaniolensis[/i] (top and bottom images) rather than the House Sparrow [i]Passer domestica[/i] (European form with white collar extreme left and right, head of white-cheeked Oriental form near top). However, in places like Crete (where I observed and sketched Spanish and Italian Sparrows in close proximity) they act as two different species with the Italian Sparrow concentrated in the towns and villages and the Spanish Sparrow in the orchards and shrublands. Recent DNA analysis seems to have cracked it – the Italian Sparrow is a new species that originated as a hybrid between Spanish and House Sparrows but now tends to breed true. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/broadlands-scene https://photos.on-this.website/wm/D-05nqkLBZKfT46XHCmQ4ZS2aPQ=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_3770508204f434e6e3d29c.jpgThe Broads [b]The Broads (pen & ink, 1991). Signed limited edition of 200 on fine card. A4. £30.[/b] A simple and slightly naïve sketch of the Norfolk Broads featuring some of its characteristic wildlife including a Swallowtail butterfly, a soldierfly [i]Stratiomys potamida[/i], a Marsh Harrier, also Greater Bladderwort and pondweed in the ditch. It was a retirement gift for Alan Stubbs, my former boss at the Nature Conservancy Council. The naïvety comes from the fact that I still had a lot to learn about habitat ecology, but I had spent a lot of time at places like Woodbastwick Fen, and I think it captures the spirit of the Broads. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/birds-a4-1-5-gsweb https://photos.on-this.website/wm/cnvWIlnWe5Rd3EC2q1XCZdCRNsg=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_3839013444f3e62d8ad2a9.jpgChinese Magpie [b]Chinese Magpie (pen & ink, 1993). Signed limited edition of 300 on fine card. A4. £35.[/b] This features a Red-billed Blue Magpie [i]Urocissa erythrorhyncha[/i], one of the most stunning birds you will see in China - somewhat larger than the familiar black and white Magpie (with which it often flies) and with a longer, floppier tail. It is sitting on the roof of the Zhenhai Tower, in the city of Guangzhou (Canton), an ancient building that features some fantastic roof finials. The hill in the background is Coal Hill (Jingshan Park), Beijing, which is the hill that overlooks the Forbidden City (some Large-billed Crows are wheeling around it). The picture pinches architecture from other places too - the roof in the mid-ground is from Hong Kong! To be honest, you do not see a great diversity of bird life in Chinese cities, but in the 1990s many cities still had extensive areas of traditional architecture and ‘hutongs’. Much of this has now been cleared through re-development but I’m celebrating it here. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/euceracomboweb https://photos.on-this.website/wm/ErAT755sBqmwdKmC96ZkkJbW7oE=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_21130584674f6a0aa2e1750.jpgEucera longicornis Combo [b][i]Eucera longicornis[/i] Combo (pen & ink, 1984). Signed limited edition of 300 on fine card. A3. £50.00.[/b] Two of twenty pen and ink illustrations commissioned for a forthcoming book on British Bees. The project was instrumental in my mastering of cross-hatching and stippling. The male, which is somewhat larger than a Honey Bee with very long antennae is above, and the rather more robust female is below. This is one of the most declined bees in Britain, probably due to the loss of flowery unimproved meadows, though their is a hint that a slight resurgence may be taking place in the Midlands. Both sexes are most easily found by searching large patches of Meadow Vetchling [i]Lathyrus pratensis[/i] in May, though they will also visit clovers, vetches and other legumes. Males can be important pollinators of certain orchids. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/flys-a3-4website https://photos.on-this.website/wm/wgywv7fTpuj8UlVaYDkCKfqMxyY=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_1264273914f3e5edd13f79.jpgBlowflies [b]Gouache & watercolour, 1990. Signed limited edition of 300 on fine card. A3, £60.[/b] A plate commissioned for Knut Rognes’ superb monograph of Fennoscandian blowflies published as part of the Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica Series in 1991. Blowflies may not appeal to everybody, but they are quite stunning under the microscope and very challenging to paint due to their complex bristle arrangements (which had to be totally accurate in respect of both size and position), some challenging patterns and textures, plus the blue or green metallic colours of the greenbottle and bluebottles (which required a combination of gouache and watercolour). http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/birds-a4-2-5-gsweb https://photos.on-this.website/wm/ub1e0iXicZqFOug9N15oym1Tp68=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_2061471904f3e63bebe8af.jpgGreat Blue Heron [b]Great Blue Heron at Kejimkujic (pen & ink, 1994). Signed limited edition of 300 on fine card. A4. £35[/b] 1994 saw me visit Nova Scotia, Canada – a stunning coastal province with a rich history featuring Micmacs, the British Navy, French ‘Acadians’ and Scottish colonists (hence ‘New Scotland’). Like so much of northern America, the landscape is heavily forested and Beavers are numerous. Their activities can profoundly alter patches of forest, and here an unseen dam has flooded an area, killing the trees. But from death comes rebirth. A marsh is forming and a Great Blue Heron is hunting. The French made a return too, recolonising parts of Nova Scotia after the great evictions of the mid 1700s. Longue vie à Evangeline! http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/kathmandusparrowsredforweb https://photos.on-this.website/wm/FZweRmMlLVzdTmXX6UIy-wHzPN8=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_5629296164f69fa4854563.jpgKathmandu Sparrows [b]Kathmandu Sparrows (pen & ink, 2001). Signed limited edition of 300 on fine card. A3, £40.[/b] I’ve made many visits to Nepal, exploring the mountains, the lowland jungles and many of its towns and cities. The richness of Nepal’s wildlife and culture at times overwhelms me. For some reason, amongst all these exotic riches, Nepal’s sparrows caught my attention. In Europe, the House Sparrow dominates the urban environment, whilst in the Far East, the Tree Sparrow acts as the ‘house’ sparrow. But in places like Kathmandu, the two live side by side throughout the City in a strange ecological balance. Observe the people, and you’ll notice that the Hindus and Buddhists are doing the same. This image features some Oriental House Sparrows and some Tree Sparrows in Kathmandu’s Durbar Square, with the Taleju Temple in the background (which collapsed during the 2015 earthquake). Forces of evil wheel around them in the form of Black Kites. Good versus evil – my take on a Tibetan Thangka. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/platypezidredforweb https://photos.on-this.website/wm/9wqStT_QBWS9uyQzLH0Ubgu3QT4=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_1078317774f69f3dadbd06.jpgPlatypezids [b]Platypezids (gouache, 2000). Signed limited edition of 300 on fine card. A3, £60.[/b] A plate commissioned for Peter Chandler’s superb monograph of European Flat-footed Flies (platypezids) published as part of the Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica Series in 2001. These secretive flies breed in fungi and are most numerous in woodland during autumn. There are some striking species, and I wish I could have painted more of them. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/bee-a3-gswebsite https://photos.on-this.website/wm/OAGQq0fmc7jNsD5bJ1woPolknFo=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_7373822114f3e5ccd8ed4f.jpgBumblebee Combo [b]Bumblebee Combo (pen & ink, 1984). Signed limited edition of 300 on fine card. A3. £50.00.[/b] Two of twenty pen and ink illustrations commissioned for a forthcoming book on British Bees. The project was instrumental in my mastering of cross-hatching and stippling, and these are two of the later illustrations I did. I’m pleased by the way I captured the form and the furriness of each bee. The top bee is the Buff-tailed Bumblebee [i]Bombus terrestris[/i]. Below it is its parasite, the Vestal Cuckoo-bee [i]B. vestalis[/i], with its sparser fur, narrower build and lack of any pollen basket on the hind leg. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/melectaanthidiumcomboweb https://photos.on-this.website/wm/qtJnHs8wMCb4nueTuRZzXghELH4=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_13608735374f6a0aaac6e97.jpgMelecta and Anthidium Combo [b]Melecta albifrons and Anthidium manicatum Combo (pen & ink, 1984). Signed limited edition of 300 on fine card. A3. £50.00.[/b] Two of twenty pen and ink illustrations commissioned for a forthcoming book on British Bees. The project was instrumental in my mastering of cross-hatching and stippling, and these are two of the earliest illustrations I did. The bee above, [i]Melecta albifrons[/i], is a cuckoo-parasite of the bee [i]Anthophora plumipes[/i] (featured in another combo). It lays its eggs in the [i]Anthophora[/i] nest and its grub uses the food provisions collected by the host for their development. [i]Anthidium manicatum[/i] (below) is known as the Wool Carder-bee, and this is a male showing the row of spines at the tip of his abdomen. He is very territorial and aggressive towards other insects, often defending a patch of flowers such as Black Horehound or Marsh Woundwort with darting hovers. The smaller females (this is one of the few bees where females are smaller than males) nest in holes in wood and masonry, lining their nests with plant-fluff. Lamb's-ear [i]Stachys byzantina[/i] growing in gardens is a favourite source of such 'wool'. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/kingfisher https://photos.on-this.website/wm/ncd-LhQ5SPPXkUN7vRhCuvoju3o=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_15875779834f45f97f2dcc4.jpgSmyrna Kingfisher [b]Smyrna Kingfisher pen & ink, 1987). Signed limited edition of 200 on fine card. A5. £20.[/b] A Smyrna or White-breasted Kingfisher beside lake Phewa Tal, Pokhara, Nepal. These starling-sized birds give a flash of dazzling blue as they fly and are very noisy. As well as fish, they will eat insects and small reptiles taken on the ground. The forest across the lake contained a great deal of interesting birdlife. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/greattitredforweb https://photos.on-this.website/wm/e9nbu-N8Wh04S022_IArsIIPXJc=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_10617018304f69f6f0081ff.jpgGreat Tit [b]Great Tit (pen & ink, 1995). Signed limited edition of 200 on fine card. A4. £30.00.[/b] An attractive study of this lovely bird in low winter sun, embracing a lot of texture through careful stippling and cross hatching. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/woodland-pasturewebsite https://photos.on-this.website/wm/terCElXROTElAenOsubx0hlDWrI=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_17443338414f3e61a194655.jpgPasture Woodland [b]Pasture Woodland (pen & ink, 1991). Signed limited edition of 200 on fine card. A4. £35.00.[/b] Done at very short notice for an article about dead-wood invertebrates published in British Wildlife Magazine. Parts of it had to be rushed, but the two hoverflies on blossom in the foreground ([i]Criorhina berberina[/i] and [i]Volucella inflata[/i]) came out as well as I could have hoped for. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/shelduckforweb https://photos.on-this.website/wm/pNkLhCxobNZ-dZ0ZCCUnLyNJ4g8=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_14013147744f69f6f364141.jpgSuffolk Shelduck [b]Shelduck (pen & ink) (pen & ink, 2002). Signed limited edition of 300 on fine card. A3, £40.[/b] A study of a Shelduck feeding on tidal mudflats in Suffolk. http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/pied-wagtail2web https://photos.on-this.website/wm/QZXdJkDls03QUnAoNW5JIUyShao=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_6181278054f3e64944a143.jpgPied Wagtail [b]Pied Wagtail (pen & ink, 1988). Signed limited edition of 200 on fine card. W21 x H22cm. £25.[/b] Just a simple celebration of a smashing little bird backlit in the snow of late winter. A Winter Aconite keeps it company. How do these fragile creatures survive such harsh winters and stay so apparently cheerful? http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/hawfinch2website https://photos.on-this.website/wm/5z_GSX8EW-ECPjuBX9U5m8ojd68=/fwcb/1329487454/21577_21055679924f3e6c1c19fe0.jpgHawfinch [b]Hawfinch (gouache, 1985). Signed limited edition of 300 on fine card. A3. £50.[/b] One of Britain’s most stunning and elusive songbirds. This painting features a male in fresh plumage sitting on a Damson twig. Notice the strange glossy-blue primary feathers of the wing – if you can stop staring at that crazy beak.