Opera and Representational Art

American Goldfinch, Great Blue Heron and Killdeer at Manayunk Canal. Third Color in Probable Four Color Reduction Woodcut by Ken Januski

Opera!?! I'm sure the connection between opera and representational art will seem very hard to believe to most readers. Though my knowledge of, and even experience of opera, is very small I have spent some time listening to and reading about it over the last six months. Unfortunately I've seen and heard none in person.

One of the books I've been reading is The History of Opera by Carolyn Abbate and Roger Parker. In many ways it's ridiculous for me to be reading this because it's aimed at people familiar with opera, which I am not. Still it does complement the Listening to and Understanding Opera course by Robert Greenberg from The Teaching Company that I've been listening to for about six months.

One of the main themes is the constant pendulum swing in opera between freedom for the music, especially the singers and strict adherence to the text, to the story being told.

I got a kick out of reading about this conflict because it's the one I experience in art ever since I turned from abstract art to representational art, specifically wildlife art, and even more specifically bird art.

As I've said many times I'm quite bothered by the seemingly blind adherence to photographic 'fact' that seems to dominate so much bird and wildlife art. Where in the world is the art? Where is the artistic expression? I found this surprisingly parallel to what I read about opera. The only difference is that it seems that more often it is the strict literalists calling for reform, asking and demanding that the music be truthful to the story, not an afterthought. Often melody and song have been the leading factors in opera. The story trails behind. And then the pendulum swings back the other way. It seems to be a steady conflict. The only difference that I can see in my comparison with representational art, especially wildlife art is that the pendulum has rarely swung in the more expressive direction.

In my own work I cannot deny my familiarity with art, art history and all the great and powerful art that has been made over thousands of years. It's impossible to deny the expressive possibilities of art. At the same time I do want to keep some attachment to the story, or in bird or wildlife art, those so-called 'facts' of description.

The debate as to how true I should stay to the colors of the scene along the Manayunk Canal has been a big factor in deciding which colors to use in my current woodcut. Color is just as emotionally powerful as song and I think it's foolish to deny it. So I've finally decided on a dark purplish blue for the third color of the woodcut. I spent a lot of time proofing and thinking and finally came up with this color.

The final color will probably be black, both for the goldfinch's wings and for the water. But the dark purple blue almost functions as a black so instead I might let it function as black and just use a lighter gray blue for the Great Blue Heron and some other areas. It will continue to be a debate between song and story, or wildlife 'fact' and color and art.

Below is a photo of the full image of the print. Because the ink is taking longer to dry than I expected the print itself is taking longer than expected.

American Goldfinch, Great Blue Heron and Killdeer at Manayunk Canal. Third Color in Probable Four Color Reduction Woodcut by Ken Januski.

In Between

I confess that this is a somewhat self-serving post. I'm putting up this version of the Palm Warbler drawing so that I can see it online. I could also do so by just looking at it on the computer. But I prefer to put it on the blog, along with some explanation. Some artists look at their painting in a mirror. I used to sneak up on mine. I'd go away and come back in the room and see how it hit me just as I peaked in the door.

You might think this seems silly or unbelievable. But I think it's safe to say many artists don't really know what they're doing. They have to do it, sneak up on it, and then see if it gives them a clue as to how to proceed. Authors talk about their characters taking over the plot and determining where it will go. The same is true in art. So putting this online may give me a clue as to what to do next.

I have always been struck by the brilliant white of the limestone on Dike Road at Horicon Marsh, especially in conjunction with the background reeds. The new reeds are green and maroon with bits of yellow and orange. The old dead reeds are a pale ochre. But then as you look back into them you see the richest dark. It would make Velazquez, Goya and Manet jealous.

Add to this scene one elegant Palm Warbler and you can see, I hope, why I chose to draw it. But there are extreme color contrasts: the cool white of the rocks, the deep rich reds, oranges, greens and black of the reeds. And then the sublty colored dun-browns of the warbler. How you put them all together in one painting?

Well that was the challenge here and I haven't solved it. I thought adding some color to the limestone might help. But if it has it's surely not enough to do the trick. Past experience tells me the answer will be simplification. It often is in art. You go back and forth, round and round, and finally you simplify. We shall see.

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Monday morning - added the newest version at top. Still deciding on whether it needs more work.

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Wednesday afternoon. Yep it is done! I didn't really see the need for a separate post for this. But in case you were waiting, on pins and needles, to see if I was going to change it the answer is no.

This is a more ambitious drawing than many of mine. But it may seem like a less successful drawing. The warbler is secondary at best. But that is fine with me. Birds exist in a world, not in isolation. I'm not a big fan of bird portraits. I prefer them in their environment. And though I've never been a great fan of Robert Bateman I am impressed by his desire to show the environment in which his subjects live. (And of course I'm impressed by his devotion to saving the environment from the many thousands of people who are all to happy to destroy it and everything in it.To me birds aren't trophies to be put up on pedestals. They're real creatures in a real world. And this is a real scene, the only modification being the addition of the wild lettuce. It did show up in other photos I took of same scene so it was nearby.

My guess it that this may not be my most popular art. But I do think it is one of my best works of the last year.