Some More Firsts of 2017 and a Reminder About the Artistic Status of Wildlife Art

White-throated Sparrow Eating Staghorn Sumac. Watercolor by Ken Januski.

It's been a slow artistic start to 2017, probably due more to the number of bird censuses we do at this time than to any other factors. In any case I have been somewhat busy over the last week or so and am including that work here.

Above is a 9x12 inch watercolor of one of a number of White-throated Sparrows Eating Staghorn Sumac, seen along the Manayunk Canal in Philadelphia. It's on a new paper for me, Saunders Waterford.

Nashville Warbler on Bean Trellis. Moku Hanga Proof by Ken Januski.

I also decided to take a stab at traditional Japanese woodblock printmaking, called Moku Hanga. Since it can take a while to learn I've debated whether it was worth the time involved in learning it. Finally I decided to bite the bullet and buy the minimum materials required to give it a try. Readers may be most familiar with it as ukiyo-e prints from the 19th century. It is a watercolor based printmaking and thus uses far safer and more environmentally friendly materials, though it also has purely aesthetic appeal. In any case this is a first proof of the black block. When I receive some newly ordered supplies I'll be experimenting with additional color blocks.

If done correctly Moku Hanga allows for very precise registration which should allow colors and black to blend seamlessly. We shall see. That's never been a high priority for me but it's worth experimenting with.

Nesting Bald Eagles at Heinz NWR. Brush Pen Field Sketch by Ken Januski.

I was horribly lax with field sketches last year despite my stated goal of doing more of them. So at least this year I can say I'd done a number by mid-January. These are all from Heinz NWR based on birds seen last weekend. They include two nesting Bald Eagles above, a well-hidden Northern Saw Whet Owl below and a Black-headed Gull at bottom. The latter are life birds for us. There's nothing quite as exciting as sketching a life bird from life. Photos don't even enter the competition.

Northern Saw Whet Owl at Heinz NWR. Brush Pen Field Sketch by Ken Januski.

Black-headed Gull at Heinz NWR. Brush Pen Field Sketch by Ken Januski.

Lastly I was reminded recently of the artistic world I've abandoned: that of mainstream galleries, museums, etc. This occurred due to my being contacted by an old artist friend of mine. As I looked at her recent work and exhibitions I was reminded that though I once exhibited like that, though not as much as I would have liked to, I can no longer do so.  Most galleries and museums will not take seriously art that uses wildlife as subject.

But I've known this for the entire time I've focused on wildlife art, about 10 years now, so I'm not complaining. I knew exactly what would happen when I chose to use nature, especially birds, as subject. On the other hand I rarely try to show in wildlife galleries or exhibitions because to a large extent I don't like the art. In fact it more often illustration than art. I've also known this for a long time so it's not a complaint.

Though not intentionally or willfully I guess I've always been an iconoclast, even though I'm one with great sympathy for past accomplishments in the arts. Vital art always revives clichés and makes them live again, regardless of what art establishments of whatever sort think art should be. So I'm quite happy working as I am, with few venues in which to show or sell, but still able to do exactly what I want. You can't beat that!

Bald Eagles on Nest Brush Painting

Bald Eagles on Nest at Tinicum. Brush Painting by Ken Januski

I've fallen into a deep hole here with Chinese brush painting, or at least my version of it. The cold weather of January and February often finds me working from my photos, much as I dislike the practice. The same is true this year except that I'm using brush and ink or a brush pen. And, I'm processing the photos through my understanding of Chinese brush painting, limited though that may be.

It has proved very satisfying. Eventually all of this work will manifest itself in either woodcuts or linocuts. Most likely they won't look much like this. But winter for me is often a time for studying and practicing, trying to learn birds better and in this case also learn Chinese brush painting better. One day I hope it will all make sense.

Above are two Bald Eagles, one of them on nest, seen at Heinz NWR a few days ago. Bald Eagles have nested there for many years now and it remains a thrill to see them there and at other places throughout Philadelphia.

Fall Female Yellow-rumped Warbler. Brush Painting by Ken Januski.

An observant reader will have noticed that the last three paintings use subjects whose name starts with 'Y'. That's because I'm working my way through my collection of photographs, seeing what strikes my fancy, and I've gotten to the end of the alphabetized collection. Above and below are fall and spring Yellow-rumped Warblers. also done as Chinese brush paintings.

Spring Male Yellow-rumped Warbler. Brush Painting by Ken Januski.

And last but not least one of the birds we most enjoyed seeing last year, the Yellow-breasted Chat. We saw quite a number of them at Cape May last spring. And accompanying them a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron, seen along the Manayunk Canal many years ago in the middle of summer. These drawings are done with a brush pen. It of course doesn't have the tonal richness of brush and ink but I do like the way it forces me to simplify birds into just a few lines.

Yellow-Breasted Chat at Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron. Brush Pen Painting by Ken Januski.

2016 - Year of the Raptor

Bald Eagle at Dixon Meadow Preserve. Chinese Brush Painting by Ken Januski.

Northern Harrier at Dixon Meadow Preserve. Sumi Brush Pen Painting by Ken Januski.

Well at least it seems like the Year of the Raptor, based on the birds we've seen in 2016: a Bald Eagle at Andorra Natural Area and Dixon Meadow Preserve, probably the same bird; a Northern Harrier twice at Dixon Meadow Preserve; two American Kestrels at Dixon Meadow Preserve; and an accipiter(either Sharp-shinned or Coopers Hawk) in our backyard over the last two days.

American Kestrel at Dixon Meadow Preserve, Chinese Brush Painting by Ken Januski.

Bald Eagle at Dixon Meadow Preserve. Chinese Brush Painting by Ken Januski.

I hesitate to talk about Oriental brush painting, Chinese brush painting or sumi-e, since I know so little about each. What I do know is that I used a brush called a Kuretake Sumi Brush Pen in the painting of the Northern Harrier. When that pen ran out of ink and I didn't have time to refill I switched to a brush pen of another brand, Pentel I think, but possibly Pilot.

I also know that I did take a one semester course in Chinese Brush Painting many, many years ago. I greatly enjoyed it, and realized how complicated it is and how much skill is involved. And I know I never have studied sumi-e, which as far as I can tell, is the Japanese equivalent of Chinese Brush Painting. But I could very well be wrong since it seems to accentuate a simpler and more spontaneous use of the brush. Perhaps it is just one type of Japanese Brush Painting.

Who cares you might ask? Well anyone who actually knows something about sumi-e or Chinese brush painting probably does. So I'm trying to be as accurate as I can be, given my slight knowledge. When I did study Chinese Brush Painting I do recall that I preferred Japanese brush painting as far as I could tell. Japanese seemed bolder and less conventional, harder than the softness of Chinese brush painting. Today my tastes have changed and I'm more appreciative of Chinese Brush Painting, again with the caveat that I don't know much about either.

To further complicate things my recent interest in both stems largely from ukiyo-e printmaking, again a Japanese art. As I looked at some of it over the last few years I've realized how  elegant and rich the black outlines of so many of the shapes are. Those outlines are rarely just one undifferentiated width. They are light and dark, thick and thin, etc. This gives a real vitality to the prints, which often also have very strong colors. But the color is less important to me than the line. In particular this interest in ukiyo-e led me to the drawings of Hokusai, a master of the brush. He truly is someone who is  a master of rich line.

All of which leads me back to the work above. I've been using Sumi Brush Pens for almost a year now I think. I greatly enjoy them. But I have been bothered a bit by the fact that the ink cartridge can only hold one color, generally a rich black. It is difficult to get the rich variations of black and gray that characterizes brush painting of both China and Japan.

So over the last few months I've been experimenting with various sumi brushes and real sumi ink made from a sumi stick and capable of infinite gradations of gray and black. The first two sumi brushes I bought were far too large for my paper and created nothing but blobs. Finally I bought a very small Chinese calligraphy brush. It is the right size though probably not as flexible as a painting brush. If I could have found a small Chinese painting brush I would have bought it. In any case three of the four paintings on this page were created with it and sumi ink created from using an ink stick and water.

I realized that this is probably an impossibly convoluted explanation of how and why I did these paintings. But for the few people who read this and know something about Japanese and Chinese brush painting it will probably make sense. And, EVENTUALLY, I hope what I've learned will show up in my prints. For now though I'm still completely enamored of the brush painting itself, though I also realize what a rank beginner I must seem to those who actually know something about it.

Raptors Not Warblers

Osprey with American Robin. Early Proof of Linocut by Ken Januski.

Yes, yes, yes it is the time of newly arrived warblers and other neo-tropical migrants. And though I've been out many hours and walked many miles over the last few days I have seen very few warbler or new migrants.

Yesterday we saw our first Eastern Kingbird, Warbling Vireo, and first in Philadelphia Common Yellowthroat at Morris Arboretum. We also heard our first Baltimore Oriole at Andorra Natural Area yesterday and saw our first Yellow Warbler today at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, all locations I'm happy to say that are within 5 miles of our house.

So we have seen some new migrants, just not as many as you'd expect for the time of year. The last photo in this post does include a warbler, the brilliantly golden Palm Warbler. But a problem with slowly drying ink forced me to put it on hold yesterday and start something new.

I didn't want it to be particularly complicated so I went with a linocut based on the female American Kestrel eating an American Robin at the parking lot of Morris Arboretum about a month ago. I'll most likely print it in just one color but may hand color at least some of the resulting prints. It is based on a photo I took and then a pencil drawing based on the photo. So far I like it and the fact that it pretty well captures the stance and look of the feeding kestrel.

Mature Bald Eagle Along Wissahickon Creek. Photo by Ken Januski.

So the kestrel is the start of the 'raptors' in the subject line of this post. A few days ago I also saw my first of the year Osprey in Philadelphia, just down the hill from us along the Manayunk Canal. Then today, while looking for warblers along the Wissahickon, I saw this handsome mature Bald Eagle. This is near the place that I saw our last Philadelphia Osprey, on Thanksgiving, 2014. This part of the Wissahickon is also less than a mile from our house, like the Manayunk Canal, and like the nearby church that hosts nesting Peregrines.

It remains astonishing to me that all these raptors can be seen, though not by appointment, within a mile of our highly urban home.

Black Squirrel, Palm Warbler and Mourning Cloak. Early Proof of Reduction Woodcut by Ken Januski.

When I said that I wanted to do a simple linocut I meant simple in comparison to the complexity of the reduction woodcut above. It is tiny, only 4x6 inches. But the composition is complicated and I'm sure the process as it goes along will be complicated. I showed a pencil sketch and crayon version of this recently, based on something I'd seen one day.

What I like so far about this print is that it captures exactly what a Palm Warbler looks like in the drab days of early spring. a golden yellow bird, decorated in rich Burnt Siena. I'm taking artistic liberties by using the same yellow for the light part of the wings of the distant Mourning Cloak. And the Gray Squirrel is in fact a 'Black' Gray Squirrel, one that is almost velvety black. Every time I see one of these squirrels I want to include that rich black in a painting or print. So the challenge here is to combine the black and the yellow and Burnt Siena in some plausible and I hope strong way. Even though it is a very small print it is thus far more complicated than the larger kestrel print. Time will tell how they both work out.

And very soon, perhaps tomorrow, all those neo-tropical migrants will arrive and make it so much more difficult to concentrate on these prints. But who can complain?

The Rich Colors of Fall (Birds)

Palm Warbler at Manayunk Canal. Watercolor by Ken Januski.

Yes, everyone knows, and the lucky few appreciate the rich colors of fall. They seem a bit of a reward for the cold grays and browns that will be here soon. But occasionally you also find a bird that takes part in the rich splendor.

Such is the case with the eastern race of the Palm Warbler. The western race is much duller. And the eastern race in spring is very bright. But there aren't too many more richly colored birds, outside of perhaps some ducks, at this time of year.

As I walked along the Manayunk Canal and Schuylkill River this very brisk but sunny morning I decided to take a detour into a junky field, once an asphalt lot I think, that is now dominated by wild chamomile and who knows what other plants. Burs of some sort because I always leave covered in them. And sparrows.

But rarely warblers. I don't think I've ever seen Palm Warblers there though this certainly is the time for them. In any case a good number of them were there amidst the very rich, orange, red, yellow and purple foliage. I took a number of photos and determined that when I got home I'd find the time to do a watercolor. Not a watercolor sketch this time, but a finished watercolor.

It is 7x10 inches on Arches 140# cold press paper. I'm once again reminded that I think a well done watercolor is without a doubt the most difficult medium in two dimensions. It is so easy to turn it into mud. I was afraid many times that I'd done that here. But I think in the end that I've gotten the rich colors of the foliage and the handsome Palm Warbler.

Before I'd even gotten my binoculars out of the back of the car when I arrived this morning a mature Bald Eagle flew by, over the Schuylkill River. That I think was an omen that it would be a good day for birding and for art.

Addendum. After I'd posted this I looked at watercolor again and noticed how much duller the actual watercolor looked. Part of this is due to the nature of viewing anything on a computer screen and the heightened brightness that occurs. But the rest was due I think to the drying of the watercolors. So this morning I scanned what I think is a more accurate, but slightly less rich, version of the watercolor.

Memorial Day Birds and Butterflies at the Wissahickon

Bald Eagle, Scarlet Tanager and Zabulon Skipper at Wissahickon. Crayon Sketch by Ken Januski

Heat finally arrived in Philadelphia today. I used to love days in the 80s and 90s but now I much prefer, at least for my walks, birding and sketching temperatures in the high 50s or low 60s. To enjoy that cooler weather on a day with a predicted mid-80 high you need to get out fairly early.

So this morning Jerene and I were at the Wissahickon at 7:15 a.m. checking to see what might be around, hopefully some lingering migrant warblers and also some breeding ones, like a Louisiana Waterthrush.

I'm happy to say that we found both, hearing and seeing two Northern Parulas, which most likely will not stay though I wouldn't put money on it, and one Louisiana Waterthrush which is probably breeding.

The high point though was the mature Bald Eagle that sailed toward us from the upper parts of the Wissahickon, right over the Mt. Airy Bridge where we stood, and the further down the course of the Wissahickon. Only big birds like that make you think of the stream in terms of a geological feature, with accompanying twists and turns.

A few days ago we saw our first skipper of the year, probably the same one as the one we saw today: a Zabulon Skipper. True to the guidebooks he was perched high, waiting for approaching females.

At some other point, along with 30+ other species, we spotted a handsome Scarlet Tanager, really more of a crimson in my estimation, buried in the green foliage. It is always shocking to notice how easily they disappear, even with their brilliant red plumage.

I mentioned in my last post that I liked seeing flycatchers so that I could study them, and learn to see and put down on paper the subtle differences between the species. But far more than that type of analytical study I like to use my imagination, especially if it starts out from the real world.

When I was an abstract painter, my art almost never had its source in anything material or real. It was still imaginative but lacked a source grounded in the physical world. One of the things I love about doing art based on birds, butterflies, dragonflies, etc. is that it is based on something I've actually seen.

The works I most love doing start out often like this one, a loosely done sketch, taking great liberties with photographic realism, but still based on an actual experience. To me there is nothing more exciting that making striking art based on a real experience. It's a lofty goal and one that's often hard to reach. But when it is reached the artist and viewer I think have a feeling of great satisfaction.

This is a quick sketch in a Cachet sketchbook, about 14x11 I think. It's done in pencil and then colored with Caran d'Arche Neocolor II waters soluble crayons. I haven't used them in about a year I think. But they work extremely well in getting down areas of color. Once they are down I go over them with a wash, then go back in with crayon, the another wash, etc. They are more like painted sketches than drawn ones but serve the same purpose, an experimental study that may lead to something more developed.

Sketching the Natural Wealth of Cape May - Part Two and a Half

I never finished putting up the fieldsketches from our recent trip to Cape May. After the first batch I got distracted with new works and new birds seen in Philadelphia. So here's the remaining group. The sketch above is of a group of Short-billed dowitchers trying to find places to perch on a small fallen tree at Heislerville WMA near Cape May, NJ. I think part of the fun of fieldsketching is capturing real life moments like these.





Following up on the shorebird theme the two drawings above include another Oystercatcher as well as a Green Heron, and a page of Black-bellied Plovers along with a Semi-palmated Sandpiper, and a Laughing Gull. We did go to Reed's Beach by the way to see if any Red Knots had arrived yet. Nope, just hundreds of these raucous Laughing Gulls. Our single Red Knot was seen at Heislerville.







Next we have Glossy Ibises. They were everywhere. In the sky they just look like dark birds. Up close as many of these were they are wonders of iridescent colors, somewhat like the green and maroon of Green Herons, but toned down about 6 notches, to where they are very dark.

The top drawing shows a Glossy Ibis in an awkward but striking pose preening itself. Above it is an Eastern Willet. The middle drawing includes another ibis as well as many Purple Martins at the house at Cape May Point State Park and a Piping Plover on nest. The bottom drawing includes one more ibis as well as another Laughing Gull, rabbit and Osprey.



Finally two drawings of an immature Bald Eagle seen at Heislerville and one almost indecipherable Osprey, most likely also seen there.

Finally I should say that these are all done with a Faber-Castel 'Pitt Artist Pen.' I've had these pens for a long time but only recently started using them for fieldsketches. I think the fact that you have to live with what you put down and not worry about erasing makes for both more sketches and more spontaneous sketches.