19. Gadwall (Anas strepera)

It's the turn of Gadwall, a duck which looks grey from a distance but close to has very elegant and intricately patterned plumage. Alas I didn't have enough time to depict each individual mark accurately (I drew this one whilst on a train to Cheltenham) but I have at least tried to go for a generally speckled effect which was aided by the fact that I was listening to Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians - it lulled me into a hypnotic state most conducive to drawing hundreds of dots!

Gadwall, ©USFWS Pacific Southwest Region, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Gadwall sketch