Heart of Steel

Eastern Towhee at Houston Meadows. Acrylic Painting by Ken Januski.

That's quite a title I admit. I found it while searching online for information regarding my recollection that Delacroix had a hard time letting a painting go, to the point of touching it up while hanging on exhibition. I never found anything regarding that but I did find something similar:

Finishing a painting requires a heart of steel: everything requires a decision and I find difficulties where I least expect them.

After the fact I realized that I might actually be thinking of John Constable or Edgar Degas. Perhaps all three of them had the same problem. In any case Delacroix says it well: a painting is really an orchestration, a visual symphony, of color, tone, shape, light, line, texture, etc. That's why there are so many decisions. Every thing you do affects everything else. Wildlife art or any art that just stresses accuracy in detail misses the only important thing in painting: the visual symphony.

All of which is just an explanation for the state of this acrylic painting of an Eastern Towhee. I think it's done. Every time I've tried to finish it up the marks I made in one area made another area look bad. So it's gone back and forth, back and forth. That's both the good side, and the curse, of acrylic painting. You can change it forever. The answer I think is either to sell it or hang it, in other words get it out of my hands so I can't do anything more with it!

Having worked so long in watercolor and woodcut/linocut where you can't keep changing over and over the freedom of acrylic is a shock. It's largely a pleasant shock. But still there is the problem of when is the painting done. This is something I'm sure all creators are familiar with. At some time you just need to boot the creative project out the door or have someone grab it from you, saving you from yourself. A less desirable alternative, though used by many, is to just destroy it in disgust. I've rarely used this method.

Great Blue Herons at Manayunk Canal. Field Sketches by Ken Januski.

Because of that these field sketches are a welcome relief. They of course don't have the detail of the painting, not even close. But they're fresher and simpler. These are two of the four different Great Blue Herons I saw at the Manayunk Canal the other day. Though there can be frustrations in art work in the long run I consider myself very lucky to be able to spend so much time either sketching outside or doing more developed work in the studio. It can't be beat.

Eastern Towhee in Wet Paint

Eastern Towhee at Houston Meadows. First state of Acrylic Painting by Ken Januski.

Wet paint of course is redundant. All paint is wet. But it's a tern used by many artists to describe juicy, thick paint. It's the way I painted for years when I was an abstract painter in oil and acrylic. It's the opposite of paint consisting of thin washes and glazes.

All in all I still have a preference for thicker paint, though it's not something I've indulged much in the last 5-10 years. In any case it is the state of this initial version of an Eastern Towhee seen at Houston Meadows this summer.

Towhees are common birds here, though heard far more often than seen. When they do appear though anyone who appreciates color has to be taken by their rich combination of black, white and chestnut. They are very striking birds.

I did a few field sketches of this bird, but also took some photos. But I've never chosen one as the subject for a painting or print. When I looked at the photo today though I couldn't help but think: wet paint! As I think about how I go about starting a painting or print it generally involves looking through my photos and sketches. More time is spent looking than doing anything else.

What is surprising now that I've resumed acrylics is that some subjects that never jumped up and said "Paint me!" now do.

My guess is that this will get toned down a fair amount as I develop it. But only time will tell.

Spring Photos - 2013

Wake Robin at SCEE

Eastern Towhee at SCEE

White M Hairstreak at SCEE

Bloodroot, Mayapples, Virginia Bluebells at SCEE

Pine Warbler at SCEE

Trout Lilies at Morris Arboretum

Spring Beauties at SCEE

Eastern Bluebirds at SCEE

Though I've done more sketches and paintings over last few days it seems time for a break. The last two days have brought us perfect spring weather, sunny but highs in the low 60s, with migrants appearing and wildflowers popping all over. Above are some photos I've taken over last two days. The one missing photo, a picture of the snow peas 2-3 inches high in the garden, and of course some of the migrants that just didn't cooperate such as the flitty Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

I much prefer to show sketches and paintings to photos but every once in awhile it seems worthwhile to document all that is around in photos. Back to sketches soon.