Wobbling Along

Canada Warbler Watercolor.  Copyright 2009 by Ken Januski.

Black-throated Blue Warblers at SCEE Watercolor. Copyright 2025 by Ken Januski

Nashville Warbler on Bean Trellis Mokuhanga, Copyright 2022 by Ken Januski.

Yellow-rumped Warbler Sumi Brushpen Field Sketch. Copyright 2025 by Ken Januski



I hope it will be somewhat obvious that the theme of this post is warblers, affectionately know at least occasionally as wobblers. Like many birders it was the wood warblers of North American that got me truly hooked on birding. Of course most should really be called the wood warblers of the Americas, not just North America. As an artist, especially one whose history was that of large, bold abstract paintings that is how I approached warblers: bold and colorful! 

There were a few minor problems with this, ones I've noted previously. The first was that I didn't know enough about the structure of birds to portray them accurately, especially if I limited myself as I did to my own poor photos and my visual memory. As a consequence many of my first attempts were colorful and bold but also skirted around bird structure as much as I could. The Canada Warbler above from 2009 is an example of this. A better example would be the watercolor I did of a Blackburnian Warbler seen and photographed at Shenandoah National Park that I used as the main image for my blog in its earlier years. I looked forever today and could not find it. And then the thought entered my head that I might actually have sold it. I think that is possibly true though it is a bit hard to believe just because it lacked so much accuracy thought not boldness!

Another problem I discovered early on was that I really didn't like the idea of a flattened space, almost design-like portrait of warblers, or really any bird. It sacrificed the bird for what by then to me had become an artistic cliche -- flattened space. That created another problem, what in the world was I supposed to put around the bird to fill up the space? Surely not all the details of surrounding vegetation!!

To make a long story short the recent opportunity via an on-spec commission of two Black-throated Blue Warblers for a wedding present allowed me to see attempt warblers once again but in a more finished work. That work is also above and was finished about a month ago. Also above a brand new field sketch from yesterday of one of a number of Yellow-rumped Warblers that were skittering all around and through some junipers yesterday, trying to escape the wind and also me. Finally a mokuhanga from about 3 years ago which is actually a new version of my very first mokuhanga which in turn was based on a watercolor I made of a briefly overwintering Nashville Warbler in our yard about 10 years ago. It is just one more example of the various ways in which I've tried to portray warblers over the years.


One of the reasons I accepted the commission was that I felt I'd learned a lot about the structure of both birds and warblers over the years and so wanted to see if that knowledge would appear in practice. Yes, to a certain extent. But the watercolor seems a bit overworked in ways, and has lost the sense of freshness that I most value in watercolors. But I also think it is the best finished watercolor I've ever done of warblers and is somewhat true to them. And I have to say the warbler that first set me off on warblers was a male Black-throated Blue warbler that appeared outside our cabin window around Montfair, VA about 20 years ago. So they are always special to me.

Over many years of both looking at warblers and portraying them I've also become much more interested in showing their movement than in showing the color and pattern of their plumage. That is something that I used in the Black-throated Blue Warbler watercolor but it is greatly subdued. All in all I think it will be much less subdued in most of my future work with warblers. Part of the reason is that they are living creatures, not fashion plates.

Common Yellowthroat Sumi Brushpen and Watercolor Sketch. Copyright 2025 by Ken Januski.

Black and White Warbler Sumi Brushpen Field Sketch. Copyright 2025 by Ken Januski

Tennessee Warblers Sketches. Copyright 2025 by Ken Januski.

Tennessee Warblers Sketches. Copyright 2025 by Ken Januski.

Tennesse Warbler Sumi Brushpen and Watercolor Sketch. Copyright 2025 by Ken Januski

Yellow Warbler at URRP Sumi Brushpen and Watercolor Sketch. Copyright 2025 by Ken Januski.

The images above are all from 2025 and are representative of my desire to capture a sense of movement in warblers and also to have a sense of liveliness. Overtime that sense of liveliness has come to dominate all other artistic desires, though with prints there is always the desire for an equally lively composition. Comparing these to the more finished Black-throated Blues at the top these come out on top. They are far more interesting to me, and far truer I think to the experience of seeing warblers. I do hope to return to warblers in mokuhanga hopefully combining something of these with the sense of a finished composition. They may be incompatible but we will just have to see what happens.

In any case I feel more and more confident about using warblers as subjects and will be making the most of the few that I can still see and perhaps sketch from life in the last weeks of possible warblers, at least where I live!

Changing of the Bird Guard

I've been wondering what changes I might find along the Wissahickon when I finally found the time to visit. It's my closest birding patch. But I know that at this time of year I might find more interesting birds at other nearby places like Morris Arboretum. Once migrating warblers arrive on their way south Carpenter's Woods, another nearby site, might be better.

But I miss knowing what's going on at the Wissahickon. When I got there at 8 a.m. this morning one voice was noticeably lacking, the Acadian Flycatcher. It's the most ubiquitous bird during summer, with the possible exception  of the Gray Catbird. Normally I see and hear seven or eight. Today I heard just one.

They seem to have been replaced by Eastern Wood Pewees and Red-eyed Vireos. Both of these birds are here, and somewhat plentiful, during the summer. But they never outnumber the Acadians as they did today. It looks to me like flycatchers may be on the move, especially when I think about the recently seen, and very  unusual here, Olive-sided Flycatcher.

Warblers on the other hand have arrived. I saw at least two Black-and-whites today, the first of the late summer, along with one immature American Redstart, and what I  think was a Worm-eating, though it might have been one more Red-eyed Vireo.

So once again I start a season of trying to sketch warblers. I did do one sketch of a female black and white from memory today, about 60 minutes after seeing it. Horrible! Later I tried a watercolor based on an old photo I'd taken. Horrible!! So finally I illustrated this with a very old charcoal drawing based on the same photo.  At  least it looks like the bird. I know I can draw likenesses from photos. But I  don't want to. I'd like to get where I can do a credible likeness from life. I  recently mentioned the great challengeof getting the complex feather pattern of an immature Green Heron, or that of sun dappled foliage. But another great challenge, and one I'd really like to conquer, is being able to draw warblers live!!

One other thing of note today was the number of birds feeding on Devil's Walkingstick, something considered an invasive by many but not by me. Thrushes, among others love it. Yesterday  we saw a Wood Thrush feeding on it. Today  I saw a number of Veeries, and probably 30 American Robins. Thrushes really  do love it. And at least one of them, the Wood Thrush, is drastically declining in number. One of the states in which it is still doing well is Pennsylvania. Do we really want to get  rid of one of the foods it feeds on?

Even a Black-and-white warbler showed his interest in it today, though he was looking for bugs on its prickly trunk and not eating berries. Hopefully  I'll do a little better annotating my blog on Devils Walkingstick this fall. I would like to continue documenting all the birds that feed on it.

So it seems we've begun a changing of the bird guard. Though summer isn't yet over many  birds have already started migrating south. It's a time to enjoy these beautiful birds one last time before they're gone for a much too lengthy  season.

Time to Paint a Warbler

With all the time I've spent out fieldsketching and hunting warblers and other migrants over the last two or three weeks I've had a sublimated desire to paint a warbler or two. But they're only here once a year, or twice actually if you include fall migration, and it makes most sense to get out and see them in real life. I've been doing a lot of sketches of Yellow-rumped warblers, you know the ones that you can ID just by their quick, flitty movements, only slightly less speedy and flitty than a kinglet. And I continue to learn as I do so.

But they are also beautiful birds. Wouldn't it be nice to get one down in paint? Well I was out fieldsketching again today. I saw my first Louisiana Waterthrush and Yellow Warbler of the season. Yesterday I saw my first Solitary Sandpiper, Fish Crow, Green Heron, Great-crested Flycatcher and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. And, more Yellow-rumps. I took a few photos of them as well as doing sketches.

The quick watercolor at top is based on one of the photos. But it's also based on all the fieldsketching. The beauty of fieldsketching is that it forces you to see how a bird is put together. Then when you see a photo, which is always an abbreviation or distortion of the real thing, you're better prepared to use its information to paint something that's true to the bird. So as I said this is based on a photo. But more than that it's based on all the time I've spent looking at and sketching Yellow-rumps over the last week or two.

The Year of Sketching Wood Warblers

I've been wanting to do successful field sketches of wood warblers for at least three and probably more years now. Wood warblers are my favorite birds and field sketching is my favorite type of art work, not that I'm accomplished at it.

But warblers move so quickly that so far I've found it next to impossible to sketch them from life. Of course I can do it from photos but it's just not the same. I thought of that again today when I deliberately left the house without a camera. Just my binoculars and a sketchbook.

And I'm happy I did. There's something frightening about trying to sketch them while they flit in front of you but also something exhilarating. I thought about my camera when I saw my first Common Yellowthroat of the season but was happy I didn't have it. With no such temptation I could try to really look at the bird and capture a mental image that I could then put down on paper.

Fortunately the male Common Yellowthroat was hanging out near a very small stream at Carpenter's Woods in Philadelphia along with one Swamp Sparrow, the first I've seen this year, a few White-throated Sparrows, many Ruby-crowned Kinglets and some Blue Jays and American Robins. So if I just stood still and kept my binoculars on the spot I could continue to get glimpses of the warblers and other birds.

At top is the second version of the male Common Yellowthroated Warbler. Beneath is a Swamp Sparrow, a Black-and-white Warbler, whose eye-patch I have a bit wrong, and two Ruby-crowned Kinglets.

For years I wrote about how impossible it was to sketch kinglets. But I'm finally getting the hang of it. Though I have to add that I only did these two sketches when I had at least 25 and possibly 50 different views today. But they move so quickly that they're gone by the time I get my binoculars up. Still I'm starting to at least get comfortable with them, and with wood warblers.

So far this year I've now sketched from life these wood warblers: Palm, Yellow-rumped, Black-and-white and Common Yellowthroat, along with numerous kinglets. The only one I saw but didn't sketch was a Pine. Hopefully I'll get another chance.

These sketches are not perfect by any means. But I think if I can at least get comfortable with sketching the general shapes that then I can start paying more attention to details, like all of the various markings on the Black-and-white warbler. I got the chest streaking correct today but completely botched the wings and face. I'm sure I'll get more opportunities.

All in all though I think that this might really become the Year of Sketching Wood Warblers. I'd be thrilled if I could add at least another 10 species. That's something to look forward to.

Next big question: Is it too early to consider a means of working with color in the field when sketching wood warblers? I don't want to get ahead of myself since I'm just starting to get comfortable with warbler shapes. On the other hand it seems criminal not to be able to include some sense of their striking color.

Palm Warbler Linocut Edition Completed

Well this has been a long print, especially for one that's black and white and doesn't have the complications of reduction color prints! Perhaps it took so long because I had high expectations for it, and because I wanted to get it done in time for a competition. In any case here it is.

One of the things I'm happiest with is that I was able to construct the scene from my imagination and other sources. But I never really saw this scene. I saw the Bloodroot, as well as the other leaf litter, and I saw a Palm Warbler, but never together in a scene like this. I sort of got it working in the earlier watercolor but I think it works much better and is more cohesive and believable here. I do thinks that's a virtue of pursuing the same subject in different media. You get to refine the idea. Of course if as a viewer you didn't like the idea to begin with you might have a different idea about repeating the theme.

One other thing of note. Linoleum cut really lends itself to line. So it's very tempting to put outlines around objects. This can flatten them out, like cutouts, especially if the outlines are wide. But you can also use line for hatching, something that etching and engraving excel at. But this use of line tends to create a sense of volume, just the opposite of a bold outline that counteracts volume. This print has some of both. At one point I did partially remove a bold outline on one of the Bloodroot leaves at lower left. It just made the entire print look too flat. On just about every print I do it seems that I fluctuate between flatness and volume, bold, graphic line and more subtle, modeled hatching. There's rarely a clear winner. But I hope that the print survives the battle.

One distraction while doing this print was backyard migrants, particularly a Hermit Thrush, and migrating warblers and other birds at Carpenter's Woods. Yesterday was so nice that I had to abandon the print early in the day and do the following field sketches.

The left hand page includes two first of year Yellow-rumped Warblers at top and a first of year Black-and-white Warbler, White-breasted Nuthatch, and one of many Ruby-crowned Kinglets below. On the right hand page another Palm Warbler and another Hermit Thrush. I didn't use a scope on any of these. They were all based on just looking at the birds in my binoculars, as long as they stood still that is, and then trying to get down on paper what I'd seen. I feel like I'm definitely improving in this direction. I hope this will finally be the first year when I can do some decent field sketches and perhaps even field watercolors of the neo-tropical migrants, especially my favorites the Wood Warblers.

Oh yes, the print is an edition of 12. It is 6x8, or 8x11 with print borders. Gamblin oil-based ink on Rives Lightweight paper.

4 at 2

Last Saturday Jerene and I went to one of our favorite nearby birding spots looking for migrating wood warblers. I'd been to Carpenter's Woods earlier in the week and seen Black and White, Blue-winged and one or two others. It was about 8:30 a.m. and sunny and seemed like a perfect day and time to find warblers. We found none.

So today I had to do some grocery shopping near Carpenter's Woods at 2 in the afternoon. A foolish time to go looking for warblers right? But the woods is so close to the coop grocery that it seemed silly not to stop by briefly. Sure enough I'd hardly gotten there before I saw a handsome female or immature Black and White, soon followed by a male Canada. Within the next hour I also found a female Common Yellowthroat and a female or immature American Redstart. Twelve other species, including a Hairy Woodpecker also made an appearance.

This shows that anytime really is a good time for birding. This summer I did some very early morning birding at the Wissahickon Creek and was happily astonished by the number of birds, especially singing birds. But you can also find birds at mid-day. Perhaps not as many, at least not all the time. Today from 2 p.m. until 3 p.m. I found four warblers versus none fron 8:30 a.m. until 11 a.m. a few days ago.

I've vowed to do some good field sketches of wood warblers this year and their season is drawing to an end with no success on my part. So that was one more reason to stop by today. But the two quick sketches I did of the Black and White and the Canada are just too bad to show. So I need to keep at it over the next month.

In the meantime I'm showing a recent quick watercolor of a Canada based on some photos I took a couple of years ago. I'm happy with it. But I'd sure prefer to show some good field sketches!!