I recently responded to an appeal from Access Art for birds. The idea is that artists donate a bird that they have created (drawing, painting or sculpture, etc.) and this is then given to a school as an inspiration for discussion - and hopefully the creation of more art.

I decided to paint an osprey, as they are majestic creatures, but also can be seen in the UK, despite being only seasonal visitors. I hope my acrylic paint avian made the journey ok and found a good home/school. I called it 'Wide Awake' - referring to the widescreen effect of its great wingspan, but also how alert the bird has to be to spy the fish it feeds on.

Thank you @magbanno for a powerful #ShareaBird http://t.co/JBjL2Y15nd pic.twitter.com/MWAOwrl2WJ
— AccessArt (@accessart) August 27, 2015

@BBCGetCreative @accessart 160+ artworks free to schools to inspire creativity #ShareaBird http://t.co/lr8m4v7TcX pic.twitter.com/5A8Ep1rdIp — AccessArt (@accessart) September 14, 2015

@accessart sending 160+ original works of #art to #schools to inspire creativity http://t.co/2d2OXJgwMd pic.twitter.com/tSbLJ6TIR9
— AccessArt (@accessart) September 11, 2015

Last week, having dropped off another supply of my Crystal Palace Monsters greetings cards with Brave Girl, in SE19, I travelled on to The Horniman Museum in Forest Hill. It's a great South London museum, created by a wealthy Victorian collector who decided to share all his finds with the public at large. I focussed my attention on their Natural History Gallery where they keep cases and cases of preserved animals, birds, fish (and human skeletons, too). Fans of taxidermy should pop in (it's free of charge) but also people who like drawing wildlife that doesn't move should find it useful. As a drawing exercise, I stayed with the birds, drawing them one after another on the same piece of paper, slotting different specimens into the gaps. I think the main pencil drawing took me about an hour and a half. They are/were: (L-R: back row: Golden Pheasant, Mandarin Duck, Senegal Parakeet, Red-Legged Partridge. front row: Greenland Falcon, Common Scoter).

I'm a bit concerned that I may be straying into the current fashion for drawing animals, though. This is compounded by the fact that my follow up to Crystal Palace Monsters features prehistoric deer. Aaah! I'll be drawing foxes and pandas on brick walls, next. I'll let you know what occurs.

As a spin off from the pencil drawing, I singled out the Senegal Parakeet. Using that oil paint transfer method, I enlarged it and added some watercolour to his beautiful plumage. Yes, reader, I managed to create a dead parrot sketch all of my own.