A Finished Piping Plover Woodcut

Piping Plover at 'The Meadows' in Cape May, NJ. Multi-block Reduction Woodcut by Ken Januski.

Piping Plover at 'The Meadows' in Cape May, NJ. Multi-block Reduction Woodcut by Ken Januski

Well I kept it pretty simple. I added a third color on second woodblock which is barely visible, mainly toward the top. On the first woodblock, which was printed last, I printed black, and then just a few areas of orange, mainly in parts of the bill and legs but also scattered throughout the background. The third color on the first block really added almost nothing but I decided to keep small portions of it.

I'm happy with this print. I did what is next to impossible for me: keep it simple, also known as the KISS principle, a concept I first came across in computer programming: Keep it Simple Stupid! It probably applies in art as well. Don't trip over your own complications.

I wish the photos did justice to the print. They make it seem a bit crude I think and the blue/gray works much better than it seems to here. Perhaps I'll try more photos later. I've been surprisingly unhappy with my photos of prints recently but I'm not really sure why that is.

The print is 7x9 inches, with the image itself being 4x6. It is printed with Daniel Smith water soluble relief inks on Rives Lightweight printing paper. It is an edition of 12.

I've written about Piping Plovers numerous times. You can find the various post by using the search box at the bottom of this page. Though estimates vary the most recent data I could find in a quick search showed a total world population of 8000. In the US they seem evenly split between the East Coast and the Midwest.

Obviously they are a cute bird. But when you realize how few of them exist in the entire world you realize that they are far more than just cute. These were seen on the beach portion of 'The Meadows' at Cape May, NJ a few years ago. They are cute but also tough. Let's hope they're tough enough to withstand all of their challenges.

Rusty Blackbird and Carolina Wren at Manayunk Canal

Rusty Blackbird and Carolina Wren. Reduction Lino with second lino block by Ken Januski.

Rusty Blackbird and Carolina Wren. Reduction Lino with second lino block by Ken Januski

Barring a few little green tidbits here and there I think this lino is done. I know I'M done! It's always amazing to me how draining these reduction linocuts, especially when combined with another block, can be.

I read of another wildlife printer saying in  Wildlife in Printmaking that it was best to stay away from him on the day he printed an edition. That rang very true to my experience. There are just so many things to keep track of and so many things that can go wrong.

On the other hand I recently hung some of my linos in our bedroom and my wife Jerene was saying the other day how much she enjoyed just looking at the abstract qualities of the Green Heron and Twelve-spotted Skimmer lino. That's exactly the type of reaction I'd like. And it's one that I generally come to myself. It can just take awhile!

Because this is such a dark lino, intentionally, it was hard to photograph. The photos came out too bright and with too much contrast so I doctored them on the computer to make the photo a bit darker. I don't normally do this. But I think this does give a truer indication of what the print actually looks like.

I am happy by the way that it indicates the rich, almost iridescent colors of the Rusty Blackbird.

I'm also happy that this began as a sketch from memory after coming home from seeing the Rusty Blackbird last January or February. Often these sketches aren't great. They would never work as finished works. But they are the first step in articulating an experience. It's always very satisfying when a finished work like this results from it.

Rusty Blackbird LIno - TRUE Color Four

Rusty Blackbird and Carolina Wren. Multi-block reduction  linocut trial proof by Ken Januski.

Oops, I lied the other day. I thought I'd already printed four colors on the reduction lino block but had only printed three. I think I might have been confused by the other black lino block. In any case today I printed the real fourth color. This is the print as it looks so far on good Rives Heavyweight paper. Just one or two more colors here and then overprinting with the black block.

As usual by this time I'm beginning to get a bit exhausted by this. On the other hand I'm also pleased with the way it looks. Hopefully it will be done by the end of the weekend.