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By Nikolai Kraneis

See Nikolai's Website

I grew up in Bulgaria and in Germany. I studied veterinary science in Berlin. Married with 2 boys.

All these sketches are from different sketchbooks. It is very refreshing to paint outside, with the sun in the neck and the ants in the trousers. All these sketches are later a very useful source for paintings or illustrations at home. Most of the sketches are with inkpaintball, coloured pencil and watercolour.

European Bee-eaters: These colorful birds are always worthy of observation. They are real flight-machines. In Europe they occur more in the southern part of the continent. During their migration to Africa, you can hear their soft voices for days high in the sky. In Bulgaria the bee-eater is a common bird.
Blue Rock Thrush: Also a bird from southern Europe. Despite its blue feathers the male bird is hard to find. But during his display flight it is easily spotted. The blue rock trush occurs only in southern Bulgaria on rocks.
Little Bittern: He´s skulking in the reeds.
breeding Black-winged Stilt: A bird with very, very long legs. It is always funny to observe their copulation. The stilt occurs in Bulgaria only on the Black-Sea coast, in small reserves along the coastline. This breeding bird was painted in Burgas, only a few hundred meters away from the new part with its buildings.
European Hoopoe: In flight it looks like a huge butterfly and you can spot him immediately. In Bulgaria, the hoopoe is still very common, and in May and June his "hoopopo-hoopopo" is spreading around at a level, that can cause a headache.
Griffon Vulture: 100 years ago the vultures (all 4 european. species) were very common on the Balkans. But after the Otoman empire collapsed, and its territory was divided, its decline began. I painted this vulture in the Eastern Rhodope Mountain in SE Bulgaria.

Rock Bunting and Red-rumped Swallow: A rock in southern Europe without these birds is like the sea coast without the gulls.

See more sketchbooks in the Surfbirds archives