First Warblers of 2011

Each year my belief in working from life is put to the test with Wood Warblers and Kinglets. I'm almost reduced to tears, at least to the state of rank beginner, when I try to sketch or paint them from life. And yet I do plod on. The main reason for this is that they're such beautiful birds. It's always a pleasure to see them, especially the warblers. But the temptation is always to just grab for the camera and forget about the futile attempt to sketch them. I confess I often do just this. But it always bothers me.

And when I see the work of artists who do work from life and manage to capture wood warblers I know why I pursue this. Their works seem worthy of the birds. They capture their beauty as well as their vitality and the actual experience of seeing them. I've done many drawings and watercolors of warblers based on photos I've taken. I like them. But they don't compare to how much I like the work of artists who work from life and capture warblers. I was reminded of this while rereading Darren Woodhead's 'Up River' the last few days. All of his work is in the field. And it shows. It just overflows with brightness and life. Since he's in the UK there are no wood warblers but there are similar birds there, as well as butterflies, another subject that looks best when done from life.

We had some high 70s weather here on Monday so I thought it might be worthwhile to go out and check for some migrants coming in with the warm weather. Sure enough: my first Pine and Palm Warblers of the year. As well as Golden-crowned Kinglets. They're all portrayed in the watercolor at top. This watercolor is based primarily on my field sketches, which are also at top. I also used my photos but only to check some detail that the field sketches missed. As you can see it leaves something to be desired. But I forced myself to work this way and will continue to do so. The work I admire most does not primarily rely on photos. There is an exuberance to it that I think happens precisely because it does not rely on photos.

Other birds seen the last few days have included Brown Creepers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Eastern Phoebes, Northern Flickers, etc. Still waiting to see an Osprey overhead, or maybe a Bald Eagle like last year, and of course one of my favorites, the Blue-Headed Vireo. Speaking of which it's hard to believe but soon the main song in the woods will be the Red-eyed Vireo. Spring and then summer are on their way.

Samson And Sparrow

The very last page of Darren Woodhead's 'Up River' has the acknowledgements. It's not often that you find any pearls of wisdom in this location. But here you do. He thanks his tutor at the Royal College of Art, John Norris Wood, for telling him 'just use colour direct in brush', thus determining the subsequent style of his work.

And a striking and beautiful style it is, painted watercolor with rarely any sign of pencil drawing. There's of course nothing wrong with pencil drawing and some of my favorite watercolor artists, e.g. Winslow Homer, use it. But it can also be inhibiting and restricting, something that holds you back from using the full expressive powers of watercolor.

I think most truly accomplished artists of whatever sort can claim that their artistic instruments become extensions of themselves, almost like an extra limb. That is true for me when I'm drawing. Whether it's pencil, charcoal or pastel I feel like I'm wholly connected to it. It's not a foreign object I'm holding in my hand. Not so with brushes and watercolor though. The brush often seems like a foreign object, whose directions are in a foreign language.

It was only by happenstance that I received 'Up River' while I was doing my quick watercolors. Their main purpose has been to get me to feel freer with watercolor so that the brush becomes as familiar as a pencil. It was just fortuitous that I got this book at the same time.

All of which is a long-winded introduction to the watercolor sketches at the top. A few nights ago I realized that our cats seemed to be posing for me every night, just asking to be drawn. I didn't want to draw them but I thought it was an opportunity to paint them in watercolor. As you can probably tell these are done very quickly, often in less than a minute. They've been fun. And besides having some visual memento of two of our cats, Samson and Sparrow, they're helping me to feel like a watercolor brush is just an extension of my hand.

The Joy of Outdoors

A couple things helped me to decide the title for this post: receiving a late Christmas present of 'Up River' by the artist Darren Woodhead, and spending five hours outside yesterday in 30 degree sunny weather counting birds for the Schuylkill Center Education Center Christmas Bird Count and the Philadelphia Mid-winter Bird Census.

Darren Woodhead's wonderful watercolors of the natural world are all done on site, outside. Some are done as the snow falls. But all show the joy of being outside. Additionally the five hours spent outside yesterday were terrific. It was in the 20s when we started and I had to get up about two hours earlier than normal, something I really hate to do! Still there is something I find completely enjoyable about being outside in winter, even more so when I'm counting birds for a useful purpose, such as the CBC and the mid-winter bird census.

It reminds me of what Ellen Snyder said recently in her Spicebush Blog: "Getting outdoors, bundled against the wind, is the only way to enjoy winter. "

Perhaps it's the fact that we tend to get outside less frequently in the cold of winter that makes it so enjoyable. Regardless of the cause it's an enjoyable experience. I think that Darren Woodhead's watercolors crystallize this. Nothing can match the experience of being outside and creating art outside. Now I say this as someone who doesn't do so all that often. You didn't see me doing watercolors in sub-freezing weather yesterday. But it's good to have some artists who do. The liveliness and vibrancy of their work reminds me of how much art can do and how much art has to offer.

The two create an experience of the natural world that I think is unmatched by anything else. As the natural world faces greater and greater threats, not to mention callous indifference, it's nice to see something that so brilliantly celebrates it. Europe lost much of its wilderness years ago. I can only hope that America will do better, especially as more and more reasons are constructed for its 'wise use', i.e. its destruction.

One of the small pleasures of yesterday and of most winters is rediscovering the beauty of the fairly commmon White-throated Sparrow. It's brilliantly white throat is a pleasure to see each winter, along with all it's other striking coloration. It's one of life's small pleasures.

The quick watercolor above is based on a photo I took yesterday. Perhaps one day later this winter I'll work up the nerve to try it live.