Gould the artist

As an artist, John Gould's skills were limited. His drawings in pencil, ink, chalk and broad colour wash reveal a quickness and boldness that often capture the very essence of a bird's characteristics, but are never more than rough sketches. As if to compensate for his technical shortcomings, Gould often annotated his work with colour notes and instructions for his artists to follow.

There is strong evidence that Gould was closely involved with the development of each illustration. His corrections are often found at different stages of the plate preparation. Gould was quite prepared to admit that he as not the sole creator of these works. In 1841, only weeks after the death of Elizabeth (his primary illustrator and lithographer), Gould writes:

"I am happy to say that I am getting my Birds beautifully drawn by other artists and as I have always and I shall continue to make the sketches."

By the end of the 1840s, Gould had established a 'plate formula' in his folio works: each plate depicted the male and female of the species. In the case of large birds the male and female were shown on consecutive plates. Similarly plumaged birds across the sexes were given both a dorsal and ventral view and, if available, the plate might include a nest with eggs or chicks in it. Once the finished watercolour had been approved by Gould, it was then ready to be copied onto a lithographic stone with a greasy crayon.

Creating the Moorhen in The Birds of Great Britain

Pencil, chalk and watercolour attributed to John Gould, Preparatory sketch of Moorhen and chicks for 'The Birds of Great Britain', c.1862.
National Library of Australia

Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
Now Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
Plate as it appears in The Birds of Great Britain, vol.4, pl.85, 1862-73.
Australian Museum Research Library

This recently discovered preparatory sketch for the Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) in Birds of Great Britain is attributed to John Gould. The image has been hastily sketched on the back of an old board and is perhaps Gould's first attempt at communicating his rough composition. Josef Wolf provided the finished illustration.