Lars Jonsson is widely regarded as one of the greatest bird artists of all time--no other painter of his generation captures the true look and feel of birds in the wild so beautifully. He has also great paintings of birds of Iran.

Lars Jonsson is widely regarded as one of the greatest bird artists of all time--no other painter of his generation captures the true look and feel of birds in the wild so beautifully. He has also great paintings of birds of Iran.

The decline in bird populations in the past quarter century has been unprecedented and severe. It is estimated that no more than 25% of the avifauna seen in the late 1970s is now found in Iran. Birds of Europe with North Africa and the Middle East is a magnificent ornithology guide book that covers some of the avifauna of Iran. The Tehran Times had an interview with this Swedish ornithological illustrator.

Q: What inspired you to paint animals and landscapes?

A:  I started to paint birds before I have any memories, at the age of four. I am convinced that it was a neighborhood where I grew up that inspired me to watch birds and wildlife. Also I started to spend the summers on the island of Gotland where I saw a lot of birds.

Q: As an excellent painter please tell me why you have strong focus on birds?

A: Birds did inspire me from early childhood, and they still inspire me more than any other group of animals or subjects. For me they are also a very integral part of the landscape, they represent the landscape where they live, as if they are a concentration of the color and the mood of a certain landscape, be it the northern woods, the open sea or the deserts. Birds have always since the early cultures been representing bearer of messages, and still many people when they see a bird close up think that they have a message. I guess that I still seek something, something hidden beyond their outward look that can open my mind to another world.

Q: What are major differences among normal paintings and illustrations for field guides? How much time you need for these pictures?

A: Basically I look upon illustrations and paintings as different branches of the same tree. They are both a part of me. An illustration for a field guide though have very precise purpose, to help people recognize a bird and that comes with strict limitations in the expression. My free paintings, which are usually done in the field, while looking through a spotting scope, show basically an impression of the bird. It makes me much happier to exclude details or use light effects. Still I always want to have what I call “presence” in both my illustrations and in my paintings. The feeling of being right there, experiencing the living bird outdoors, right now. These days I do very few direct illustrations and concentrate more on my artwork. When you are painting for a field guide, the research is very important and you need to plan the plate very carefully, it takes much more time. I work rather fast when it comes to painting in watercolor outdoor, I may finish a smaller painting in one or two hours. 

Q: Is it any difference among bird species in painting e.g. which one is more difficult: painting a sparrow or sketching an eagle?

A: They are certainly different. One difference is of course how familiar you are with a specific family. When I go to the tropics, and see totally new genera it may take much more time to get to know the characteristics in the shape and postures of a bird. One of my big challenges is often the feet and the legs of birds. Just like when you paint the human figure the weight and posture, the whole expression of an “animal” starts with the legs.

Q: In all your sketches especially in “Birds of Europe with North Africa and the Middle East”, birds appeared in different poses; please tell me about subtle differences and characteristics of birds?

A: It is very important for me to have something to tell about the birds, something that I have experienced myself. For me birds are always individuals, although they may be a representative of a species, I want to give them a “personal expression” which usually comes from a slightly different posture, the angle of the head, or small details that give each bird its own specific look. For me the expression of the face is very important. Therefore I basically only paint, when I have seen the bird myself and so I feel comfortably to paint it, when I have looked at the bird and have my own experience, my story is ready to tell. As a birder and painter I know that certain species are more characteristic in certain postures, they express their species more obvious in a certain angle or light. That could be different for each species, or plumage.

Q: How much time and work supported the publication of this book which is an important landmark and the best avian reference up until now?

A:  I started in 1974 with five field-guides divided into five different habitats. These where published between 1976 and 1980 (1978 to 1981 in English), then I started to revise them between 1985 and 1991 and put them in one volume. Altogether took ten years.

Q: Why do you think bird-watching is in all forms positive?

A:  It is something you could basically do anywhere on Earth and at any time. There are birds in the city as well as in remote areas as Antarctica and Arctic. I also think some knowledge of birds, insects and plants helps to understand better the habitat. The landscape and the history can be told by seeing the changes in the flora and fauna. Bird watching is also something that can be done with great pleasure at any stage of knowledge.

Q: Why birds of Middle East drawing your attention?

A: I always like the colors of dry habitats, the desert and the steppes. At the age of 18 I travelled to North Africa and through Sahara and I was inspired by the tonality and the wonderful effects of light that played over rocks and sand, and also the herbs and trees that can withstand the dry climate. As a young birder I had a dream to travel to Afghanistan, but I just been in Turkey, Kazakhstan and in Oman. 

Q: What was the most memorable experience in your journey to Middle East?

A: It is hard to say, but I guess my travel to Turkey 1978 was great. I remember when I had close encounters with Lammergeir and Caspian Snowcock after a very strenuous hike up to the top.

Q: Please point to some of your records in this region. How much time you considered in this region?

A: I have had a special interest in Siberian Gull and other forms of Large White-headed Gulls, and I have done several trips to Bahrain and Oman in order to study those on the wintering grounds. I was the first one who figured out the various subspecies of Gulls that wintered in the Persian Gulf.

Q: Do you like to gear your investigations towards birds of Iran?

A: I would be thrilled to visit Iran, and hope to have an opportunity.