dove love

Call the bird a dove, and everyone loves it. Call the bird a pigeon, and suddenly the poor thing is a "flying rat." Well, not in my presence! I have a deep appreciation for every member of the dove family, including our humble pigeons, otherwise known as Rock Doves.



To celebrate the recent return of YouTube in Turkey (yay!), here's a terrible video of the old news story of a Turkish truck driver who refused to continue his route upon discovering a dove had laid her eggs in a nest she built upon his truck. The man would not move his truck until the baby birds hatched and fledged. Love for doves is a big thing here in Turkey, where it's not uncommon to see a rooftop coop of fancy pigeons carefully tended to by a burly man with a cigarette dangling out from under his moustache— and behold:



Some ancient artist in Zeugma felt the need to include this little pidge in a mosaic.

pigeon feet

two truths

One, I will never wear beige.
Two, everything is better with a pigeon.

everything's better with a pigeon

summer in sketches, part three

scenes from a stroll

one pigeon, two pigeon

I suddenly realised that I completely forgot to post the finished pigeon portraits that I showed you the beginnings of in March. Ta-dah!

laughter, and the sound of wings

no ordinary sunday

It's the first day of Spring!
What better way to celebrate than with a nice breakfast of buttered toast with honey, black olives, fried hellim cheese and a big mug of English Breakfast tea? Maybe... oh I don't know, paint portraits of pigeons?


As many of you know, I love pigeons. I find these overlooked and often despised birds to be beautiful and fascinating creatures. They have such marvellous shapes and colours— truly, is there anything more lovely than the heart-shaped curve of a pigeon's shoulders? I love watching the males twirling around in their silly, unappreciated mating dances, their tails fanned out like a matador's cape, charging unimpressed and fickle females. I love their gentle cooing as they snuggle up together on a branch or window ledge. Yes, I adore the pigeon, and have been honouring these humble birds in pencils, ink and paint, for a very long time.


I was thrilled to discover that Turks have a passion for pigeons as well. I have never seen such clean and healthy-looking pigeons in a city! Piles of stale bread scattered in grass or on the side of the road are a common sight, and birdseed sellers can be easily found along the Bosphorus walkway or in parks. If you examine the sides of buildings and the upper branches of trees, you might even see beautiful little houses constructed especially for these birds.

Once, as I was walking down Istiklal street, someone's yellow lab decided to take a bite out of a frightened pigeon he had been tormenting. Within seconds, people were scolding the dog's owner and forming a human barrier around the bird, and a woman swept its trembling little body into her arms and began whispering to it, as though trying to comfort a child. When I asked her if the pigeon was harmed, she told me she was taking it to the vet, and would care for it until it was well enough to fly away. Needless to say, this warmed my heart.

A couple of weeks ago, I walked by a colleague of mine's desk and noticed a bunch of pigeon pictures up on his computer screen. I let out an "Ooooh güvercinler!" at the sight of all the colourful birds, and he, caught off guard and perhaps a little embarrassed, fumbled to shut the browser window. After professing my love for pigeons, we clicked through picture after picture, and he wistfully told me about the pigeons he had as a child. Oh how I would have loved to have pigeons as a little girl! How wonderful that would have been— but the life of a nomad makes it hard to keep such pets.

Moved by his story, I thought I'd surprise my colleague with a couple of indoor pigeons that don't need to be fed or looked after.


I hope he'll like them.

exchange 13 and urban sketchers

The rain today was unlike any rain I have seen in a long time— massive drops flying sideways, up and down. It was a perfect day to stay in, drink tea and do some drawing. I finished my final entry in Emma's Moleskine for Moly-X13.


Please click on the image to see it larger.

Emma's work is so full of life, colour, fun and a looseness that I would love to achieve. The characters she creates have so much personality, they seem to leap off the page. I highly recommend visiting her site.

If you find yourself stuck inside on a rainy day, or curious to see what the world looks like through the eyes of its artists, Urban Sketchers is a great place to get lost in. You may have noticed our logo on the right side of this page. Urban Sketchers was founded in November 2008 by Seattle sketcher Gabi Campanario, to showcase the work of artists around the world who draw the cities they live in and visit. We've got over 70 correspondents on six continents— I happen to be one of them. The talent contained within Urban Sketchers is truly inspiring, and it's a wonderful way to travel to different countries and learn about other cultures. In addition to looking at all the beautiful sketches, I love reading the stories that accompany them.

Since I've posted all of my Istanbul sketches here, I thought I'd share with you some of the ones I did back in San Francisco.

clay pigeon

I've been running some boring yet necessary errands lately and cramming in as much art time as possible. My pigeons for Coup are coming along nicely, I'll soon be out of the matboard I've been drawing them on. Speaking of pigeons— I got this lovely Anatolian terracotta pigeon for my birthday that I love so much, it has become the inspiration for my entry in Emma's Moleskine for Moly-X13.



Our books for Moly-X13 are all on their final round— when each artist gets her book back, the Mollies will have been around the world twice. Once we've filled up all the pages, we plan on starting up again fresh with new books. You can read all about our little group on our exchange's blog.

Last night, in between militaristic and wide-eyed pigeons, I decided to quickly throw down a drawing of the migraine I was having. I used Micron Pigma pens and red gouache. Please click on the image to see it larger.