Continuing On, With Savannah Sparrow and Woodcut

Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Turkey Vulture, Two-block Reduction Woodcut Proof by Ken Januski.

Continuing on with the Work In Progess theme above you see the latest proof of the two-block reduction woodcut. I've added a blue to the color side of block, then printed the black block on top. I'll most likely carve away the black that overprints the blue, except for the Turkey Vulture, and let the blue show through. I may also add a second smaller blue area.  At the moment the black still overprints most of the green in the lower middle and left. Most likely I'll carve away more of that too but that decision is on the back burner.

After that I need/plan to add some red/orange/pink for the trumpet honeysuckle and Turkey Vulture head. Then I'll print the black on top and see what it looks like. Based on past experience I'll still be tempted to do more tweaking after that. I want the black to look integral to print, not some outline that is just plopped down as the last step.

Savannah Sparrows at Dixon Meadow Preserve. Watercolor by Ken Januski.

I did finally wade in watercolor on the pencil sketch of Savannah Warblers. This is based on a photo, and as so often happens with photos, it's easy to let the photo dictate too many decisions. In this case I stuck with the rosefish color of the railing at the preserve. Because of that the reflected areas on birds are more rose-colored than anything else. This gives an odd overall color to the watercolor. And perhaps the background could use a bit more definition. After the fact there always seem to be a million things that could be done to improve a watercolor. But almost inevitably, except in the hand of a master, they'll just deaden the watercolor. So this one is done.

Brayers, Baren, Ink Knife, Ink, Inking Plate. Photo by Ken Januski.

I was asked on Facebook to explain the tools and methods I use in my woodcut prints. So I'm adding those photos here. The ink is rolled on with brayers. Three of my cheaper ones are at top. I use a better one for the real print. They, an inking knife, a barren for rubbing the paper onto the block to transfer ink to paper, some ink and a glass inking slab are pictured above.

Old Linoleum Blocks. Photo by Ken Januski.

I mistakenly took a photo of old linoleum blocks rather than old wood blocks, but the photo above still gives a general idea. The brushes are for acrylic painting and have nothing to do with printmaking. They were just there, with nowhere else to put them.

Carving Knives. Photo by Ken Januski.

And finally my carving knives. All of those pictured above are Japanese. They are more expensive than some other carving knives and chisels but often you do yourself a favor when buying good tools. They are easier to use and often last a lifetime. Oddly enough the first one I bought was centuries ago, I believe in Berkeley, when I wasn't even doing woodblock printing. So I'm not sure why I bought it, especially as the cost would have been very high to me then. But I'm glad I did.

Whippity, Whippity WIP

Savannah Sparrows. Pencil Sketch in Progress by Ken Januski.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Turkey Vulture. Multi-block Reduction Woodcut in Progress.
 

Hmm. Is that the sound of some rare thrush, whippity, whippity, wip? No just a colorful, or perhaps just plain silly way of referring to two Works in Progess(WIPs). The more familiar work is the reduction woodcut the bottom image above. I've finished printing the yellow and brown on good printing paper. The green and the black are at the proofing stage. The black will print last but I need to proof it every once in awhile to see what it might look like at the end. As I do so I carve more of it away, as in the two arcs in lower left. There is more green than shows here because the black overprints it inside those two arcs. Right now I have to decide whether to include any other green areas. At the end I can decide whether or not I want the black to overprint or not.

In any case I'm happy with it so far. Soon I'll print the green. Then I'll have to decide whether to add any blue sky. Most likely I'll end with a red/pink for some of the honeysuckle and the vulture head. Followed by black of course.

The top image is something completely different: a fairly detailed pencil drawing based on a photo I took. Every once in a while I'll take a photo of a bird, especially one I'm not all that familiar with, and decide it would be good to make a study of it. That's the case with these recently seen Savannah Sparrows. Most likely I'll eventually add watercolor. But when I do the entire work may turn to mud. So just in case here it is in a fairly clear state. It does lack, some views might note, the fine stripes you expect to see on a Savannah Sparrow. I'll add them eventually but first I wanted to get the structure right.

Thrilled to Be Back in the SWLA

American Goldfinch Eating Thistle. Multi-block Reduction Woodcut by Ken Januski.

Mergansers and Grebes on the Schuylkill River. Multi-block Reduction Woodcut by Ken Januski.
 

It's been two years since I applied to the Society of Wildlife Artist's annual exhibition, The Natural Eye. This was for financial reasons and nothing else. It had just cost too much money between entrance fees, shipping, courier fees and import tax in 2012 when I exhibited three works I believe.

So foolishly I didn't apply the next year, which just happened to be the 50th anniversary, though I didn't realize it. To make a long and oft repeated story short I applied again this year. And I'm happy to say that the two reduction woodcuts above will be shown in the The Natural Eye - 2015.

I believe it was also in 2013 that SWLA and Mall Galleries started showing many of the works in the show online. It's the type of wildlife art I really like and it made my absence all the more bothersome. I'm not sure if the works will be available online this year but I expect they probably will and I'll post something when I do.

I don't buy too many books on wildlife art, partially because there's so much of it I don't like. But I'd guess 50% of the books that I do have are by artists who are members of the SWLA. I always have to tell myself I'm not dreaming when I realize that I'm exhibiting with many of the wildlife artists I most admire.

This is particularly hard to believe when I happen to look back at my very first bird art, done in late 2006. It was startlingly bad, though that is probably true for most people when they start to learn anything. Still I have to feel, even if only briefly, a sense of accomplishment nine years later, most especially for exhibiting with SWLA.

Marbled Godwit and Lesser Yellowlegs. Watercolor by Ken Januski.

It should have come as no surprise to me that as soon as I posted the last post about not working from photos that I'd experience a bird that I wanted to take a photo of, and that I wanted to portray using the photo. Such was the case with the Marbled Godwit above, our first one seen in Philadelphia, seen at Heinz NWR about a week ago. There were numerous yellowlegs around him and I've included a Lesser Yellowlegs in the foreground.

I also started a sumi brush pen field sketch of the Marbled Godwit but no sooner had I started on it than some people stood in front of my scope in order to see the bird themselves. I'm sure that they didn't realize it so since we'd been there awhile taking up space that other observers might have wanted to us we moved on. But I was happy to get as much down as I did. Below him are some House Sparrows seen outside my studio window.

Marbled Godwit and House Sparrows. Sumi Brush Pen Field Sketch by Ken Januski.

I'm trying to be a bit better about field sketches in my new sketchbook. Below are two sumi brush pen field sketches from today and last weekend: a Gray Catbird eating berries from Hercules Club today, and the first Palm Warbler of the year, western race, seen at Dixon Meadow Preserve. I had to do the warbler from memory since he flew moments after I sat down and pulled out my sketchbook.

Palm Warbler(western race) and Gray Catbird Eating Berries of Hercules Club. Sumi Brush Pen Field Sketch by Ken Januski.

I have had a chance to use my new camera recently and so, in a very rare post, am showing some photos that I've taken. They should all be identified in the captions.

Upside down Northern Parula, seen along Wissahickon. Photo by Ken Januski.

Osprey with Fish at Morris Arboretum. Photo by Ken Januski.

Palm Warbler(western race) at Dixon Meadow Preserve. Photo by Ken Januski.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak at Morris Arboretum. Photo by Ken Januski.

Eastern Bluebird Eating Berries of Hercules Club at Houston Meadows. Photo  by Ken Januski.

New Woodcut, New Camera

Turkey Vulture and Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Two Block Woodcut, first proof by Ken Januski.

Well after all my threats of returning to prints I've finally done so. The 6x8 inch woodcut above is in its earliest stages. I based the side of the block that will print black on my recent field sketch of a Turkey Vulture and Ruby-throated Hummingbird seen along the Manayunk Canal as well as another hummingbird seen the same day in our backyard. The other side of the block I'm printing in multiple colors, mainly as abstract shapes.

As usual I can't say where this will go. Though there are plenty of printmakers with a lot of plans as to how they will proceed I rarely have much of a plan. I trust my improvisatory skills. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't.  This also a reduction woodcut in the sense that each side will be treated that way. From the beginning I liked the idea of blue and white stripes. Who knows why or where it will lead.

I think it's very difficult to do wildlife art and not want to make it realistic. Part of this is due I think to a very simple reason: artists find the wildlife attractive, in some way or another, and want to portray it. I understand this. But there are two problems here I think, at least from my viewpoint. First it is so easy to mistakenly think that photographs of wildlife are real. But they're not. Photos capture frozen instants, instants that we as humans never experience. We always see things in a living continuum not a frozen instant. So I much prefer 19th century realistic wildlife painters to most current ones. They seem less beholden and/or enthralled to photography. The other problem I think is one of knowledge. If you know a lot about your subject there's often a reluctance to not show that, to fear that someone else will look at it and complain about a missing tail feather in an eagle. I think it should be obvious to anyone why this type of thing limits the art that's possible.

A number of years ago the Wall Street Journal ran a front page article on this type of art and the art collectors it inspires. It also mentioned what sticklers they often are about detail. If I remember correctly one complaint revolved around a button on a Confederate uniform. If that's what collectors want and artists feel the need to please them in order to make a living I understand that. In some way it's seem a healthy antidote to 200 years of the Romantic artist, working with himself as the only arbiter of taste. Nonetheless it leads to a very impoverished art. Imagine if music had such constraints on it. If so the weekly Lawrence Welk show, still on after all these years, might be the most revolutionary music around.

In any case this is just a long winded way of saying that I always shy away from too much realism. I see and value it in others and in field sketches. I do really like to know and understand the subjects I paint. But I'm much more fearful of the deadliness that can come about from both high finish painting and highly 'realistic' art. Both take away for me at least from art that is exciting and rewarding. So as you can see the new print at top does not have any problems with straying to close to realism. But it does give an artistic and expressive excitement that I hope I can develop in this print. As usual though with improvisation it's easy to fall flat on your face.

Female Black and White Warbler at Manayunk Canal. Photo by Ken Januski.

Last weekend my very old Panasonic Lumix FZ28 dies, after 7-8 years of great service. I never, ever care about getting artistic or well-composed photos. I use the camera for reference purposes, so that I can see perhaps the color of the feet on a Blackburnian Warbler, or the length of the primary projection on a mysterious flycatcher or to document an unusual bird, for instance a Worm-eating Warbler that we saw at Morris Arboretum a few weeks ago. Those photos were pretty bad but they were good enough to prove that the bird was seen.

So I really don't care much about cameras. Nonetheless the new one I bought has a greater optical zoom than the one that died so I was anxious to try it out. I didn't see that many birds today, and the first ever backyard American Redstart from an hour ago wouldn't sit still. But I did get this passable photo of an upside down female Black and White Warbler. The other 4-5 didn't turn out but I was happy with this one. It's hard to believe that soon, well maybe not all that soon, the warblers will be gone until late March or early April. It will be like a day without sunshine.

Completed Bufflehead and Mergansers Woodcut

Red-breasted Merganser, Common Merganser, Bufflehead at Flat Rock Dam. Two-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

I finally finished the two block woodcut of the Red-breasted and Common Mergansers with Bufflehead at Flat Rock Dam yesterday. It seems like it took forever, most of that time being spent with the final black block.

The problem was that I just couldn't get an even inking that both filled all of the framing edges but also filled the heads of the merganers, and yet didn't fill them so much that it blotted out the small orange/red eye of the Red-breasted Merganser in the foreground. I switched from Daniel Smith to Caligo in the proofing stage, trying to get the inking that I wanted. I finally decided to stick with the Daniel Smith, which is the ink I used for the other colors. But even then I went back and forth as I printed from a thinner ink to a thicker ink trying to get it just right. The print above, one of an edition of somewhere between eight and twelve, is one of the best but still leaves something to be desired.

I realize in using the heavy black outline, including frame, type of woodcut that I veer toward the heavy-handed and cartoonish. But I also find something quite desirable about this method. I have no interest in fussy brushwork that manages to get a great deal of plumage detail. Instead I find, at least at the moment, something appealing in this stark almost primitive portrayal of the subject at hand. But still I do think that if the black ink had worked more smoothly my goals, simple though they are, might have been more thoroughly accomplished.

Finally I should add that there is a little more color richness to the actual print than can be seen in this scan.

I'm still tempted to do something with the recent combination of drake Canvasback and drake Hooded Merganser seen at Morris Arboretum on Monday. But after that I think the season of waterfowl will be over. Though there is snow predicted for Friday. Perhaps one more opportunity for some colorful ducks.

One last thought, which I hate to bring up for any reader who's not a printmaker. I continue to be amazed at how much dumb technique plays a part in printmaking.  I don't like technique and I think I always kept my distance from printmakers in my art education because so many seemed thoroughly enamored of the esoterica of technique. I still dislike it. But the more you print the more you realize that at a basic level it is an integral part of printmaking. If you want to print an edition, i.e. more than one copy of a print, then consistency between the prints of an edition is desirable. And as with this print you don't want splotchy areas, or smudges or dried ink or any of the other small things that can ruin a print. It's a very different mindset from that of a painter or draftsman, unless I suppose you're looking for a very polished surface in either of those. With a painting you just work on one painting. It works or it doesn't and then you move on to the next painting.

Printmaking requires more thought and care I think, not that this in turn makes it better than painting. I like printmaking both for the surprise it offers, and for the need to have a dialog with the materials and process, but also because I can print more than one. And I better be able to for all the work involved. The virtue of this is that I can sell more prints for less. And even when I have sold one or many I probably still have a few more to sell. It's an odd way to work, and for me a very different one after so many years as a painter. But it seems like the right method for me now and it's one I imagine I'll continue for quiet a while, eventually learning the technique that I have so little interest in.

Proofing the Mergansers and Bufflehead

Common and Red-breasted Mergansers with Bufflehead at Flat Rock Dam. Early Proof of Two-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

Though we've gotten about eight inches of snow over the last couple of days that has nothing to do with the slow progress of this woodcut. Instead I was waiting for the delivery of a 'economy' print-drying rack before I started printing on good paper. It arrived early this week but it took another day to get it put together.

I've always just laid the proofs, and prints, on whatever flat surface I could find. It's not an ideal method by any means but it has worked so far. But recently I needed to use a small rolling table I'd built a few years ago for the purpose of storing home-grown seedlings. Where was it? Underneath one of my main flat areas for drying prints. Since many of the seedlings are up I need that table and can no longer use it to dry prints. The solution: a print-drying rack. Since even the most basic ones cost many hundreds of dollars I had to opt for one that is geared for schools and very young students. It's not exactly professional looking but it seems to work.

This also got me thinking about reorganizing the large table I use for inking and printing. In the end I've spent a few days reorganizing my printing area as well as putting together the print-drying rack and so there's been a delay in continuing this print. But now the reorganization is done and yesterday's printing of the first color on Shin Torinoko paper went much more smoothly than normal.

The background color in the proof above is pretty much the same color as that which I've printed on the good paper. Today I proofed some orange for the bills of the mergansers and then proofed the black block on top of it once I thought the orange ink was dry.

As usual there are also sorts of blotches and uneven ink. But I don't care much. I'm really just trying to use the proofs as a guide as to what to do next on the actual print on the Shin Torinoko paper. I'm pretty happy with the orange, though I had to make it redder than I'd planned in order to stand out. The next step will be to print it on the good paper. After that it's a brown/maroon for the neck of the Red-breasted Merganser in the foreground and then onto a darker green for the water at top. on the other side of the dam.

Getting a Sense of the Print

Red-breasted and Common Mergansers with Bufflehead at Flat Rock Dam. Early Proof of Multi-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

Yesterday I said that I wasn't sure whether or not I'd add color to this woodblock. But after proofing more of the black block today I felt that I had to at least experiment with color. So I flipped the block over, transferred the black block to it and did some minimal carving. I then proofed one color, a blue-green which is much bluer I think than I'll eventually use. A little bit later I printed the black block on top of it.

That's what you see above, with a cockeyed photo, on cheap copier paper. I wouldn't use it to try to enter a competition but that's not my purpose. That is to explore what the print might actually LOOK like. I know a lot of contemporary artists use the computer to see what something might look like, experimenting with colors, shapes, etc. But I prefer to work with the actual materials, to take a chance and live with the consequences.

This is always the most exciting part of printing. Until then I have something that has started to look like a print but that is also missing essential ingredients, like color. Only printing will show how the colors, and shapes, work together. I imagine that there is still a long way to go here. But now I can actually make, then test, some of my plans for the print.

I'm still not positive that I'll make this a color print. It may go wrong somewhere along the line and I'll try to salvage just the black block. But I think it's very unlikely that will happen. Most likely this will be a two-block, and 4-5 color woodcut.

Finished Chickadee Woodcut, After Cold and Gray CBC

Carolina Chickadee. Multi-block Reduction Woodcut (Full Version) by Ken Januski.

A fuller day than I expected on Friday prevented me finishing the Carolina Chickadee on Friday as I'd hoped. Saturday was the Wyncote Audubon Christmas Bird Count so I knew I'd have no time then. And I didn't. We started birding at the house at 7:00 A.M., walked about six miles along Manayunk Canal, at Andorra Nature Center and at Pastorius Park, and then did some final birding before it got dark at home around 4:30 P.M. I didn't want to risk the entire print by trying to work on it after such a long day.

One of the last changes I'd made before Friday was the addition of a small bit of wood putty to try to regain a very small section of wood that I wanted back. I've now learned that this rarely makes sense for me as long as I work at such a small scale. For larger pieces the wood repairs might be large enough that I could carve them like fresh wood. But in my recent forays on a small scale I've not been pleased with the results.

So early this morning I carved those areas a bit, proofed and then printed. Minor smudges ended up on more prints than I was happy with but I did finish printing the edition. It will be 24 minus six or more that I'll make Trial Proofs. Above is the full version, 7x9 inches on Rives Heavyweight paper. Below is just the image itself, 4x6 inches.

Carolina Chickadee. Multi-block Reduction Woodcut (Cropped Version) by Ken Januski.

As usual I often end a print thinking about all the mistakes I've made and lessons I've learned for future prints rather than just enjoying the one I've finished. Though there are some problems with this print, more technical, e.g. the wood putty, than anything else my guess is that by tomorrow I'll be quite happy with the print.

I made it in a hurry, more as a holiday greeting print than as a finished print. But once I got started on it my artistic preferences kicked in and I tried to make it a work of art, with all the time and effort that this often entails. It's a good thing that I remembered it was a holiday gift with a deadline. So I finally had to forget about artistic improvements I'd like to make.

It's always been intended as a somewhat rough, somewhat primitive print. Though it may have had its origins in a photo, no one will mistake it for a photo. And that's just the way I like it!

As for the Christmas Bird Count we really saw no special birds. The only raptors we saw were a couple of Red-tailed Hawks, and a lonely Black Vulture. Who could expect a full day without at least one Turkey Vulture? The only thrush we saw was an American Robin, in our own yard before we took off. We saw no Eastern Bluebirds at Andorra Natural Area where we often see them this time of year.

But we did see our first Pied-billed Grebe in a few weeks in the Schuylkill River just north of Flat Rock Dam and the Manayunk Canal. Flying in that same area, and landing only briefly, were four male Common Mergansers. These two species might have been the highlight of the day.

Today it's bright and sunny, quite a contrast to yesterday. We'd probably see far more birds today. But the count was scheduled for yesterday. If it had been scheduled for today then yesterday probably would have been the sunny day. Regardless we always enjoy the chance to be out in winter seeing and counting birds. More counts will soon be here as 2015 arrives so we're looking forward to seeing more birds on those counts.

What prints are not given away will be up for sale on my Etsy store in a day or so.

Printing (A Chickadee) Under Pressure

Carolina Chickadee. State 3 of Multi-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

Carolina Chickadee. State 4 Proof of Multi-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

I've never heard it before but it would be easy to theorize that the oldest joke in the history of printmaking is that when deadlines come you print under pressure. The reason it's a joke is that by definition pressure is one of the main ingredients of printmaking. In one way or another you apply physical pressure to get the ink onto the paper of the print.

Still it's the first thought that came to mind for this post about my attempts at a print that will also serve as a holiday greeting card. After I finished the very complicated Goldfinch on Thistle woodcut, and after giving up on getting anything usable from sketching our cats, I went back to the quickest way for me to do a print: base it on a photo I took. I don't like to do this. However it was a last resort.

So that's what we have here. For all their ubiquity I have less than five photos of Carolina Chickadees. Of course one appeared at my studio window feeder as I brought the above prints up from the basement a few minutes ago. It helps having them nearby. But they are one of the very quickest of feeder birds: here and then gone, before the bully birds chase them away.

In any case I decided that Chickadees were a typical holiday bird and my time was limited. At top is the actual print. I just finished printing the third color, and the last one on one side of the woodblock. So the print will look a lot like it.

On the other side of the block I've carved the black areas. I did a proof of that block on the lower photo. I still need to figure out how much more of the black to remove. There may be just a bit too much thick line there. But I'll have to do some proofing to know for sure.

I hope to get it done tomorrow, in time for holiday mail and for late holiday selling on Etsy.

The Curse of Facility

American Goldfinch Eating Thistle. Cropped Version of Final Edition of Two-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

I think I have discovered what distinguishes a painting that is simple and unpretentious from one that possesses lasting qualities. In short, I have often wondered why the extreme facility and boldness of touch in Ruben's work never disturbs me, but in paintings of men like Vanloo(and I include modern painters as well as his contemporaries) it merely seems an odious form of technique. Fundamentally, I am perfectly well aware that the facility in the work of a great master is not the chief quality, that it is only the means and not the end, and that the reverse is true of mediocre painters.

Eugene Delacroix in The Journal of Eugene Delacroix, Phaidon Books, translated by Hubert Wellington. Entry for Tuesday, October 9, 1849.

I don't care if a drummer falls off a stool as long as he keeps the beat...There is something human about imperfection.. and we could use a lot more of it.

My paraphrase of record producer Rick Hall as recently seen and heard in the film Muscle Shoals. Magnolia Pictures, directed by Greg "Freddy" Camalier.

I've never had to worry about facility. The only time I've come close to it, or come close to it today, I think is when I do vigorous drawings in charcoal, both abstract and representational. I always feel like maybe I'm skating by problems when I work that way and may be making more superficial art. On the other hand there are times when it's nice to feel that I have a natural skill at some things. But I've had friends with seemingly inborn facility. It's often given them more immediate artistic success but from my perspective at least, at a cost. Their work can sometimes seem empty.

I mention this mainly because I like to acknowledge all the nuggets of wisdom in The Journal of Eugene Delacroix. But it also holds true for this print and most of my prints, especially the multi-block ones. The first block is printed in four colors in the reduction method. So I carve, print a color, carve some more and print another color onto the earlier prints and hope that the registration works, i.e. the new color goes where I expect it to on the earlier color, not 1/8 of an inch off in this direction or that. By the time I've gotten four colors down I've held my breath four times.

And then comes the other side of the block, where I've carved the final black color. Even if all the other colors have lined up pretty well the last block can still bring serious problems. In this print there were a few minor registration problems on a  print or two but basically things turned out the way I planned.

I mention this because I think it shows that it's a bit hard to get carried away by facility when working with reduction and multi-block prints. There is just too, too much that can go wrong.

I always know this from the start. I use this complex process not to exhibit some sort of facility or technical ability. And it's a good thing because I might get laughed out of town if I did. I do it because it allows me to get the expressive range that I'd like, a multiplicity of shimmering colors and shapes. In this sense a lack of registration can sometimes help, at least in places.

In that sense too I think it echoes Rick Hall in the final moments of the wonderful film Muscle Shoals. I mainly listen to classical music now followed by jazz, and rarely rock or blues or soul. But I did grow up with them and love them and this film reminds me of some of the best of it. What I like about that quote though is the emphasis on imperfection.

The world will always  be imperfect, though I think technology always offers the false lure of perfection. We should all be thankful for imperfection.

American Goldfinch Eating Thistle. Full Version of Final Edition of Two-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

Above is another version of the print, this time showing the paper border. This print started off in an edition of 16 but now is down to either 12 or 13. It is printed with Daniel Smith water-soluble colors on Shin Torinoko paper. When the ink finally dries I'll scan it and if the photo is better replace these slightly off center ones with those. I'll also put some of them up for sale on my Etsy store, but only once the ink is dry enough to safely ship.

As I recall this year started for me with the print that is the header for my blog now, Mergansers and Grebes on the Schuylkill River, another multi-block reduction woodcut. More important than the medium though is the combination of realism and abstraction. I think I've finally reached a style I can be happy with for a while, though I'll also continue with much simpler woodcuts as in the Piping Plover, also from this year.

Nearing Completion on the Seemingly Abandoned Goldfinch

American Goldfinch on Thistle. Late State of Multi-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

No I didn't abandon ship on the multi-block woodcut of the American Goldfinch on Thistle, which it seems like I must have started months ago. Outside of the distraction of late visiting Osprey and the holidays the real reason for the delay is that I've been making too many incremental tests on proofing paper to really show anything.

Today I bit the bullet and printed what I believe will be the last color, outside of black, on the good Shin Torinoko paper that I'm printing on. The dark blue green is the newest color and I've changed it many, many times on proofs.

Below you see one of the last attempts at that color and it is much greener than the final color. I also tried a lighter blue and green and some variations on those. There is a vibrancy to the color above though that has finally dictated where the print would go.

As the original scene was in bright sunlight that's where I'd hoped to go. But artistically this higher contrast dark blue/green works much better.

American Goldfinch on Thistle. Late Proof of Multi-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

In the proof above I've printed the other side of this block, one carved to just print black (at least so far!). I intend the black to pull everything together and especially to set off the brilliant contrast between yellow and black in the American Goldfinch. So the real question now is how much black to print. I've already removed some of what shows in this proof. I want the black to pull things together but not to overwhelm them as in a cartoon.

I've also run out of earlier proofs to test on even though I started out with 20. So the final testing before printing will either be in my mind or on some of what I'd hoped to be final edition prints. Time will tell. But I do have fairly high hopes for this. It is starting to look good to me!

AND, how could I forget, all of my work on my Etsy stores are on sale for 10% off on Monday, Dec. 1, 2014 only. The discount applies only to the art itself and not to shipping. See For Sale link on the right side of this page to access stores.

Titian Probably Never Knew How He Was Going to Finish A Picture

American Goldfinch on Thistle. Proof of Multi-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

American Goldfinch on Thistle. Later Stage of Multi-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

Titian probably never knew how he was going to finish a picture, and Rembrandt must often have been in the same state. His extravagantly vigorous brushstrokes were less the result of planned execution than of feeling his way with repeated touches.

Eugene Delacroix, The Journal of Eugene Delacroix, translated by Hubert Wellington, published by Phaidon Press, entry for November 3, 1850.

I continue to reread The Journal of Eugene Delacroix and can't resist quoting much of what Delacroix has written. Sometimes it's directly relevant to the artwork I'm showing and sometimes not. Today I think it is pretty relevant, at least in the sense that I'm feeling my way with this print. I find this is the way that I work most often.

You can set up a skeletal framework to start a painting or print, but in the end you need to have a dialog with your medium, sometimes giving it its way and ending up in surprising places.  I know that there are artists who plan out everything, and supposedly Alfred Hitchcock was the epitome of this in film, but I think most successful artists stay open enough as they proceed to veer off in a slightly different direction if they see that the opportunity arises and probably will offer a better result.

In the case of Titian and Rembrandt they are of course feeling their way in more representational work than mine. And they are using brushes not chisels and wood. But there is a great similarity in the sense that I really don't at all know how this print will end. I don't know how I'll finish it.

At top the black block is printed on top of a proof with the three colors that I've printed so far: yellow, rose and olive/brown. Beneath it is the actual print with those three colors. As I move on to the final colors I'd like to have a better idea of what the black will look like. But I don't want it covering everything as it does in top print. So I'm going to need to feel my way along, removing more and more of the black woodblock and proofing it. The danger, and one I'm well aware of from past experience, is that I'll remove too much black. That's why I've removed so little up until now.

But it is time to start removing it. I'll be feeling my way with repeated carvings.

Osprey and Goldfinch Prints in Progress

Osprey with Fish at Valley Green. Proof of multi-block Linocut by Ken Januski.

Experience is absolutely necessary in order to learn all that may be done with one's own instrument of expression, and more especially to avoid what should not even be attempted. When a man is immature he plunges into all kinds of senseless experiments, and by attempting to force his art to yield more than it either can or should concede, he fails to reach even a small degree of superiority within the bounds of what is possible... Only fools and weaklings torture themselves by trying to achieve the impossible.

And yet we need to be very bold. Without daring, without extreme daring even, there is no beauty...

Eugene Delacroix, The Journal of Eugene Delacroix, translated by Hubert Wellington, published by Phaidon Press, entry for Sunday July 21, 1850.

So ... to put it briefly, I hope I'm being bold and not foolish and weak by experimenting as I am with the two prints shown here. Above is a linocut that I abandoned about four years ago. It was based on a field sketch I did of an Osprey seen at Valley Green, along the Wissahickon in Philadelphia on November 15, 2010.

I stumbled upon it by accident recently. As I recall I decided it just looked too clunky and primitive for my tastes. But now I find something appealing in it so I'm reviving it. Out of curiosity I printed the image on the back of the mounted linoleum and carved away the pressed wood backing where the Osprey would print. I then used a rolled blend, something I've never tried, onto the pressed wood surface, not the most inviting surface in the world.

Well as you can see it didn't really respond well to being inked. And yet it did give some color, which is really all that I wanted, to serve as a backdrop for the black linoleum print. This is a proof. Most likely I'll do some more carving on the linoleum, getting rid of a lot of gouge marks and probably just print in one color, black. But only time will tell.

American Goldfinch on Thistle. Proof of multi-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

I started the Osprey print today after printing the proof above for the Goldfinch woodblock. I'm trying to figure out how much of the yellow to keep. Since most of the first proof is yellow, whatever I carve away will stay yellow.

American Goldfinch on Thistle. Proof of multi-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

Most likely the last printing will be the black from the first side of the woodblock. As I continue adding colors I'll need to carve away much of the black so that it doesn't overprint as it does here. But I proof it continually at points like this just to get some idea of what it might look like, and what I might lose forever if I cut it away now. Most likely there won't be much black left when I finally print that block on top of everything else. But that stage is still quite a ways away. One thing I would like to get, and I think I have it to some degree in the proof without the black, is a fairly bright print, just like my recollection of the goldfinch on the thistle.

Flight

Gray Catbird with Walnuts Version I. Multi-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

Gray Catbird with Walnuts Version II. Multi-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

I really wasn't sure how I'd name the post with the final edition(s) of the Gray Catbird with Walnuts woodcut. But the excitement of seeing birds, especially hawks, in flight today at Houston Meadows provided the answer: Flight.

I'm sure that there are many people who first get interested in birds through an admiration, perhaps even envy, of their ability to fly. I've never been one of those for better or worse, perhaps because I just have never seen all that many hawks in flight. But when you do see them soaring, like the juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk shown below, it is quite a sight. The sense of elegance, excitement, power is quite striking.

So I determined that I'd call the post Flight. I suppose it's a good thing that I'm happy with the woodcuts. Otherwise I might have needed to try something like Dive. But I am happy with the results so the title stays.

Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk at Houston Meadows. Photo by Ken Januski.

As I said previously I printed on two types of paper, partially because I had a half sheet of Rives Heavyweight to use up. Once I started experimenting with the background color I decided it made sense to make the 12 prints on Shin Torinoko paper one color, yellow, and the 6 prints on Rives Heavyweight another, sort of gray olive. I've always preferred the yellow one but there's also something that I like about the more subdued olive gray print. Both images are 4x6 inches and the entire print is 7x9 inches.

They are now up for sale on my Etsy site(see link at right). I've also added some photos and an explanation of the process involved on my Facebook site(also in link at right).

Two Versions of Gray Catbird Woodcut

Gray Catbird with Walnuts. Two Versions State Four of Multi-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

I realized that my fear of a background that was too dull were coming true the other day so I decided to experiment with a third block for the background. I was already printing on two types of paper, Shin Torinoko and Rives Heavyweight so I decided to also try different background colors on each paper type.

Originally I tried the yellow on proofing paper and I loved it. It seemed to liven up the print without taking away any of its simplicity. But when I added a bit of black to get a greener yellow and in fact got a very toned down green gray I still liked it. They are almost like a summer catbird and an autumn catbird.

The real test will be when I print the first black block on top. The thin lines have broken numerous times so far as have the lines created with wood putty to replace them, also multiple times. So I feel like I'm Kurt Gibson trying to limp into home plate in the World Series many years ago. If I can only hold that black block together long enough to finish the print!!

It will be at least a day before I dare print on top of this since even today the underlying ink was a bit wet. So perhaps it's time for a drawing with a brush break tomorrow. Time will tell.

Carving Catbirds and Walnuts

Gray Catbird with Walnuts. Early Woodcut Proof by Ken Januski.

Just as I enjoyed returning to watercolor a few weeks ago I've also enjoyed returning to carving woodblocks over the last two days. I guess it keeps things fresh. In any case above is step two in the early stages of a multi-block woodcut. I'm sure it will be multi-block because I want to use a separate block to print the gray of the bird, the rust of his undertail coverts and the green of the walnuts.

I was also looking through some of my older woodcuts and realize that I do like some of the ones that have outlines around the subject, as in the Piping Plovers. I realize that most of my newer prints are moving away from what might be called a recognizable scene toward something more graphic, linear and perhaps abstract. That's fine. I've realized that by keeping the outlines fairly accurate I can feel that I've been true to the bird without getting bogged down in detail. Then I can be much freer in other ways, perhaps color or texture or composition.

Gray Catbird, House Sparrow, et. al. Field Sketches  by Ken Januski.

I happened upon a squawking Gray Catbird a couple of days ago along the Wisshickon. He was feeding as far as I could tell on some broken walnut husks. I loved his strong pose and open bill. I also liked the fact that the pose showed how small his wings are, something that always surprises me since they are fairly large birds. In any case this seemed like a prototypical pose and I tried to capture it immediately after seeing it in the sketch above.

Gray Catbird with Walnuts. Watercolor Sketch by Ken Januski

When I got home I decided to do a watercolor sketch based on the field sketch but also incorporating information from my photos of Gray Catbirds. The end result is the woodcut above. So far I'm quite pleased with how it's worked out. More than anything it has a good sense of the pose of the catbird as he squawked out his displeasure with my intrusion. The sketch above give some sense of how I expect the colors to develop. The smudge in the upper left by the way is a very blobby Northern Flicker where I just used too much water. I ignored him as I sketched the Gray Catbird.

Another Woodcut Finished

Crouching Green Heron. Two-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

It's taken a while but I've finally finished the multi-block Crouching Green Heron woodcut above. It is an edition of 10, printed with Daniel Smith water-based inks on Rives Heavyweight paper. The entire print is 7x10 inches and the image alone is 4x6 inches.

It really isn't all that much different from when I last showed it. But I wanted to do something more with the background, especially in the top half of print. I also toyed with the idea of cleaning up some of the chisel marks in front of the heron that picked up various bits of ink.

Then I had a bright idea, something I should know to be wary of. I decided to cut the backside of one of the blocks as a third block. I would cut out the heron and the two horizontal stripes and then print one color over all that was left and then perhaps another on the upper area. Below you see the wo results.

Crouching Green Heron. Abandoned Proof of Two-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

Crouching Green Heron. Abandoned Proof of Two-block Woodcut by Ken Januski.

As a test I showed one of them to Jerene without telling her that in fact I wasn't going to use this version. I wanted to see if her opinion was similar to mine. I DON'T LIKE IT!, she said. Well neither did I. I suppose with a lot of work it would be possible to get something usable out of it. But I much preferred the earlier version.

So I gave up on the idea of cleaning up the area in front of heron and opted to just concentrate on adding some vibrancy to the top half.  I was able to do that and give just a hint of detail as well. So as far as I'm concerned it worked out well, but not without a very scary detour!

It's not often I complete two woodcuts in a week and my guess is that it will be a long time before it happens again. I'll enjoy it while I can.

Hummer on Yew Two-block Woodcut

Juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbird on Yew. Two block woodcut by Ken Januski.
 

I was really taken by my memory sketch of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird perched on a bouncing Yew twig from the last post, the one that included him doing a BIG back stretch. So I decided to use some of the cutoffs from a grab bag of Shina Plywood from McClain's Printmaking Supplies to make a very small print.

Since I wanted to concentrate on the pose of the hummer and not much else a very small block seemed the right way to go. On the other hand I really don't want what you might call 'illusionism.' I see so, so much of this, much of it helped along, if you want to call it that, by Photoshop. What I prefer is something that is still recognizable but that will never be mistaken for a photo, even one with all sorts of PS filters and special effects applied.

So after I'd made a template of the field sketch of the hummer, modified it, copied it onto the woodblock, carved and proofed it I decided that I'd use the other side of the block to print some abstract shapes. This procedure is all very hit or miss. I printed the two greens over the last three days and then printed the black on top today. Unfortunately much of the dark green doesn't show up in the photo.

You might ask why I'd ruin a good drawing, or at least one I was happy with, by adding all these distracting abstract shapes. I can only say that it relates to my dislike of illusionism and also I think to a desire to be a bit more modern, a bit more of my time. I realize that this is a slippery slope. Hula hoops were of my time way back when but they're not much remembered now. So it's easy to be so much of your time that your work is not striking except for the briefest of times. On the other hand there is Beethoven, for instance, or many, many others, who created a new view of art, one that has held sway for hundreds of years afterwards.

I think art always tries to find a way to be fresh. And the reason it does so is that for some artists that's the only way to be expressive. Anything else, for these artists, may look like art to others but to them just seems clichéd and empty. I don't think everyone does or should work this way. And I can't say that it's always successful. But sometimes it really is the only fulfilling way to work.

I should add that I also have tried to stay true to the Ruby-throated Hummingbird in his portrayal here. I like being able to do that but also add some abstraction, or what some might call decoration, as I have done.

I think that this is done but there's a chance that I'll add one more color in the abstract areas. The print is about 7x7 inches and the image itself about 4x4. So far it is in an edition of nine. Printed with Daniel Smith water-based inks on Rives Heavyweight paper.

Two Block Woodcut Coming Along

Crouching Green Heron. Woodcut Proof by Ken Januski.

Many distractions along the way but the multi-block woodcut of the Green Heron seen in a crouching fishing position a week or two ago along the Manayunk Canal is nearing completion.

I printed three colors on the second block over the past week or so: an ochrish yellow, deep blue and deep maroon. Then today I recut the first block to get just the amount of black that I wanted, though I had to make a couple of proofs to decide exactly what I did want.

It doesn't really show here but that large yellow background was also printed in black. But the first proof showed that it wasn't going to work. So in the remaining prints I just wiped it clean before printing. As a result there are small bits of washed out black in all of the ten prints.

I'm still hoping to do something more with the background, perhaps just another similar color, so that it vibrates a la. Josef Albers.

 When I start a print, either woodblock or linocut, I'm rarely sure whether I want any gouge/chisel marks to show. They are an integral part of many prints.  After the fact I realize that I would have been better off to completely clear out the white area surrounding the green heron. The bits of ink and color that show through occasionally I think are more of a distraction than an element that adds anything. There may still be time to remedy that a bit when I add the next background color. But most likely I'll just have to live with it.

I began my linocuts about 4 years ago  I think it was leaving much of the carving showing. And I'm happy with those prints. But now I often find that I prefer not to have them in many cases as in the last green heron print.

Barring some catastrophe along the way this will be an edition of ten. The image is 4x6 inches and the paper itself 7x10 inches, printed with Daniel Smith water-soluble inks on Rives Heavyweight paper.

Would Stuart Davis Be Pleased?

Blackpoll Warblers and Swamp Dogwood. Five-color Woodcut Proof by Ken Januski.

Well I hope so! During my many years as an abstract artist the American artist Stuart Davis was at the top of my artistic pantheon for many years. There was something so vibrant and alive about his work, though he never really reached the heights of fame and appreciation that I think his work deserved.

I wasn't really thinking of him with this woodcut or the last one. But when I pulled this proof a short while ago, black on top of four other colors my first reaction was: Stuart Davis! Right now I'm very happy with this print. In the cold light of day however it may no longer look so good, nor so much like Stuart Davis. But my guess is that I'm going to remain happy with it.

At that point I'll need to decide whether to overprint the yellow block, the very first one, as I've thought about doing. Right now my inclination is not to, though I may just have to try it on a proof, just to see what it looks like. If I don't then I'll print the black on good paper and be done. All the other colors have already been printed on the Shin Torinoko paper.

In my long artistic journey as a bird/ wildlife/nature artist I've continually sought to be honest to birds and nature while still making art that doesn't look like its from 200 years ago. Right now I feel like this is close to accomplishing that. Then again, there is the cold light of day lingering around the corner.