Original watercolour drawings, tracings and layout overlays for the publication The Australian Bird Guide, ca 2007-2016 / by Jeff Davies, Kim Franklin and Peter Marsack

PXD 1481/Boxes 01-26
PXD 1481/Folders 01-29

fonds

ca 2007-2016

Graphic Materials, Drawings, Watercolours

1009049

254 drawings - watercolour
254 drawings - pencil
5700 drawings - pencil and some pen

These original artworks were produced by three artists: Jeff Davies, Peter Marsack and Kim Franklin for the publication, "The Australian bird guide", published by the CSIRO in 2017.

Jeff Davies was born in 1957 in Victoria. His father was a member of the Bird Observers Club and both his parents were artists. His early observations of birds led to his drawing and painting them. He studied fine arts with a painting major at Caulfield Institute of Technology. After graduation he was employed as a technical illustrator of fish and other wildlife. The first bird book he illustrated was Shorebirds of Australia by Brett Lane (1987). He was employed full time as the chief artist for the first four volumes of the Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds (HANZAB), contributing 238 watercolour plates.

Peter Marsack trained as a zoologist and after moving to Western Australian in 1980 he worked for the Department of Agriculture on a variety of animals. A decade later, he completed a Graduate Diploma in Plant and Wildlife Illustration at Newcastle University. Since 1992 he has worked as a freelance artist based in Canberra. He has been recognised for his high quality work by the Australian Entomological Society and from Birds Australia (now BirdLife Australia).

Kim Franklin graduated with a BA (Fine Art) from the University of Cape Town in 1977. He relocated to Europe and worked as a freelance artist and illustrator, exhibiting in South Africa, Botswana and throughout Europe. His book illustrations include Parrots of the world, Birds of the Indian subcontinent, Shrikes & bush-shrikes, Raptors of the world and Pheasants, partridges and grouse. Franklin immigrated to Australian in 1991 and worked on HANZAB volumes 5-7, providing 30 plates.

Reference:
Library correspondence file.

254 watercolour plates, either on heavy watercolour paper or cold pressed watercolour board by artists Jeff Davies, Peter Marsack and Kim Franklin. Together with 254 original drawings of individual images on tracing paper that were overlayed during preparation of plate layout, and approximately 5700 layout overlays on tracing paper used to place the drawings in position for transferring the image onto the final sheet of rag paper or board for painting.

These drawings have been ten years in the making and cover all Australian endemic and non-endemic bird species which have been described and illustrated in all plumage states. 927 species have been drawn: 658 native breeding species, 89 non-breeding visitors, 154 vagrants and 26 introduced species.

The plates carry many images, illustrating species variations, including male, female and juvenile features. The artists have strived to depict the most exact details of all species and distinctive subspecies with the design focusing on placing similar looking species on the same page or within close proximity to better assist with direct comparison.

SERIES 1:
Marine and coastal birds, ca 2007-2016 / by Kim Franklin and Jeff Davies

SERIES 2:
Freshwater birds, ca 2007-2016 / by Kim Franklin

SERIES 3:
Land birds, ca 2007-2016 / by Kim Franklin, Jeff Davies and Peter Marsack

Collection has been arranged in the order of The Australian Bird Guide which was organised into 3 main groups of Marine and coastal birds; Freshwater birds; and, Land birds.

Copyright status:: In copyright - Life of creator plus 70 years
Research & study copies allowed:
Approval for publication required: From copyright holder
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy Jeff Davies, Kim Franklin or Peter Marsack

The Australian bird guide / Peter Menkhorst, Danny Rogers, Rohan Clarke, Jeff Davies, Peter Marsack, Kim Franklin. Clayton South, VIC: CSIRO Publishing, 2017. Held at State Reference Library call number G 2017/2312.