Taking Artistic Liberties with Historical Markers

Baptismal Marker from 1723 along Wissahickon. Photo by Ken Januski.

When I quickly sketched the Gray Catbird who is the subject of my woodcut in progress I didn't really pay much attention to what he was standing on while he closely guarded his walnuts. I just tried to capture the pose of the bird. Today I happened to pass by the exact same area, with at least one walnut still in place but no Gray Catbird.

I was quite surprised to see what I eventually made the stump of a tree in the print was actually a very old historical marker, from 1723 no less!! Well my apologies to history and historical markers but I think that the tree trunk works better in the woodcut below. Still it is, at least to me, a thoughtful moment when I happen upon something that refers to events of 300 years ago. Of course the metamorphic rocks that litter the Wissahickon are just a bit older. How about 500 million years?! That is the claim of this study. It can be a humbling experience to see rocks that were formed that long ago.

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

Today I proofed the third color of the woodblock, not counting the black that will go on top. Anyone who is familiar with Gray Catbirds will know that their undertail coverts are a brilliant rusty brown, in stark contrast to the charcoal gray of most of the rest of their body. From the first I planned on incorporating that into the print. Later I decided that I might also use it in the tree trunk/ex-historical marker.

This is just a proof on earlier copier paper proofs. But it is getting closer. Once I decide on whether to change the color or shape of this color then I'll proceed to print the black on top of everything. Hopefully it will hold everything together. And I hope as well that it won't be too dull. I didn't remove the background thoroughly in the fairly recent crouching green heron print thinking that it might add to the print. When I discovered in the process that a plain background would be better it was too late. So almost from the first I've decided to keep this background plain, just the color of the paper. Time will tell whether that will work or leave the print looking flat and dull.

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

The morning after posting this I did a quick proof of the black block on top of the proofs from the colored blocks. So the final print will probably look somewhat like this. There is a lot of sloppiness in the proofs that will disappear to a large extent in the final print. For now I'm just trying to sort through the final decisions on color and shape. And of course the possible problem of the background just being too dull.

Chicken of  the Woods Tree Fungus. Photo by Ken Januski.

But dullness is not a problem in the photo above. I ran across this scene today along the Wissahickon as well. What a brilliant orange. I confess I know little about mushrooms and fungi. But a quick search for 'bright, orange tree fungi' when I got home convinced me that this is what is known as Chicken of the Woods mushroom, I assume because it tastes like chicken. Well as I said I know nothing about mushrooms so we're not having it for supper tonight. But you can't help but admire it for its visual beauty. On a cloudy day like today it was a burst of sunshine in the dark green foliage of the vegetation and the dark black of a fallen tree.

Deer, Heron, Wood Ducks Combination Woodcut and Linocut Finished

White-tailed Deer, Green Heron and Wood Ducks at Morris Arboretum. Combination Reduction Linocut and Woodcut by Ken Januski.

Well this is finally done. No more cutting, no more tweaking. It's been through a lot of changes along the way, some hardly recognizable from the final result. Though it's lost some of the detail that I'd prefer in deer, heron and wood ducks it still captures the scene well:  a Wood Duck, ducklings in the water staring in dismay at a nearby White-tailed Deer. The Green Heron also looks that way but seems somewhat less perturbed.

In order to get all of these characters in I either had to use very horizontal blocks to carve or add a lot of background in a more traditional shape. I opted for the landscape, not really knowing how it would turn out. As it stands I'm happy with the landscape and my decision.

This is printed in an edition of 15: Gamblin oil-based ink on Rives Lightweight paper. The image itself is 6x8 inches and the entire print is 9x11.

Almost there...................

White-tailed Deer, Green Heron, Wood Ducks. Reduction woodcut/linocut Proof by Ken Januski.

I hadn't planned to end this so soon, but once I added this green today, actually a yellow with the smallest amount of blue, I was tempted. From the moment I started this, way back when as a monocolor print, it has often read as a moonlit scene with strong reflections in the water.

I think part of the reason for  that is the strong contrast that often comes about in woodcuts and linocuts. It just seems to happen naturally. But all along I've been a bit suspicious of it because I knew I saw this scene, or at least the various segments of it, in broad daylight. The scene was bright not dark.

Today it finally looks bright again. Perhaps it's too bright. I'll have to see if I'm still happy with it tomorrow. Or instead feel like I need to tone it down a bit.

For anyone who's interested this has been the sequence in developing this print:
1.One color linocut, printed in both black and brown. These were intended as standalone prints and finished a few weeks ago.
2.A new print that will include the first linocut. First step is a yellowish red color on a woodblock. This is the first color printed.
3.A second color, somewhat ochreish, also on the woodblock, printed on top of the first woodblock color.
4.Back to the linocut. A brown, still evident on the deer, heron and ducks and in some parts of the background.
5.More carving of the linocut, for instance to carve out the deer, so it doesn't get overprinted in another color. Then printing in a dark, blue, almost black, for parts of heron, duck, log on which it stands and much of the background.
6.Back to the woodcut - this time printing a yellow green to cover over much of the background and show up in the reflection in the water and in small highlights elsewhere.

Since as I discovered too late, there was a small discrepancy in size between the nominally identical woodblock and linoblock there were some minor registration problems. But since I never worry about exact registration in my printing it hasn't had much of an effect. Still there are a couple of areas where I would be happier if the blocks had actually been the exact same size. That may require one or two final tweaks.

To a certain extent I think I handle my color prints as though they were paintings. I keep fussing with them until the colors and shapes look right, often at the expense of realistic detail. I read in the Roger Tory Peterson essay mentioned the other day about how it's common for young artists to want to get every single detail in. Eventually though this becomes of less importance. For me what is most important is the combination of shape, color, texture, light, pattern in a striking and pleasing way. I want the scene to also be readable as a realistic scene, but just readable nothing more. Detail should always be at the service of the entire painting.

Running Out of Room

Deer, Green Heron, Wood Ducks. Linocut on Rives Heavyweight Paper by Ken Januski.
 

I used to run out of room a lot when I was painting large 6'x8' foot abstract paintings. In fact the old ones that I have still eat up a lot of room. When I turned to printmaking though I didn't really anticipate this sort of problem. However I forgot about drying prints. Once they're printed they need to dry. With a edition of 20 or so this can take up some room, especially if they're laid flat rather than hung.

Because of that I haven't been able to print an edition of the deer linocut above and below. I still had all the prints from the Rusty Blackbird and Carolina Wren laying around. They were probably dry but I still had the vague notion of adding a few tidbits of green to the print, just as the sparse vegetation indicated in the actual scene along the Manayunk Canal in Philadelphia last winter.

Finally yesterday I bit the bullet and tried some experimenting. I didn't think I could successfully print the three small areas on either of the original. So I improvised a screen out of a manila folder and cut out the three small areas. Then I printed through that onto the otherwise finished prints. The paper was a bit too thick to work as well as I would have like but basically it got the job done. It is shown at the bottom of this post. It has been very difficult to photograph this print, I think because of all the darks. In any case this photo is pretty close but still not as rich, or as coloristically unified as the actual print.

Deer, Green Heron, Wood Ducks. Linocut on Japanese Paper by Ken Januski.
 

Once it was finally printed I went back to work on the Deer, Green Heron and Wood Ducks lino. The first version printed in an edition of 8 is at top.  It's on Rives Heavyweight paper.

As I was going through my printmaking paper in preparation for it I found some old, unnamed Japanese paper. I have no idea what is is. In any case I decided to try it out in a small edition of 4 using a different color ink. All prints on this page are 9x11 inches with the image itself being 6x8.

I still have the thought of printing this as a color print, most likely reduction but possibly multi-block. I'd like to do more to make the main subjects stand out. But that's for the future. Today I wanted to make sure I had one edition in just one color. Thanks to that old paper I have two.

Rusty Blackbird and Carolina Wren at Manayunk Canal. Combination Linocut/Reduction Linocut by Ken Januski.

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.

Rusty Blackbird Lino - Color 4

Rusty Blackbird and Carolina Wren. Reduction Lino by Ken Januski

I'll most likely jinx myself by saying this but so far this lino is going pretty much as I planned it, way back in January or February when I did the first watercolor of the scene. The newest color is the deep burgundy of the vertical Poke stalks. It's a bit darker than I intended but that may change with the addition of other colors. On the ink slab it was a purple that looked like it could just never work.

There are still all sorts of things that can go wrong with this print and that seems always the case with reduction linos, especially ones that use more than one block. But they also allow for some pretty rich colors and that's one of the things that I'm going for here.

I'm sure that the biggest problem will be when I print the black block. Most likely I'll try a proof tomorrow to get some idea as to just how it will look once the black is added.

Many printmakers talk about the surprise of the process. And that's exactly what I look forward to once I proof the black. What will it look like? Better than I ever could have envisioned? Or much more likely, telling me I have a lot of repairs ahead.

Back to That Troublesome Wren

Carolina Wren. Pencil sketch in Stillman and Birn Gamma sketchbook by Ken Januski.

Rusty Blackbird with Carolina Wren. Reduction linocut trial proof by Ken Januski.

It's hard for me to believe that I last touched the Rusty Blackbird and Carolina Wren reduction linocut more than two weeks ago. But that simple print of the Hummingbird Clearwing Moth turned out to be not so simple and so time just disappeared.

One thing I did know is that the horrible version of a Carolina Wren in the black proof from two weeks ago would have to go. I wasn't worried though because it was just a placeholder on the black linoleum block. I actually planned to cut out the shape and print it on a second linoleum block.

Though I was happy with the shape in the original sketch from early this year I decided it might be wise to do another pencil sketch based on it but with an additional look at my photos. That's it at top, done on Stillman and Birn Gamma paper. I do love this paper for the way it handles erasures and reworking in pencil.

This is 5"x7" paper. On the print though the wren is less that 1.5"x1.5". So I made a smaller copy on the computer, reversed it, and then used tracing paper to draw it on the second linoleum block. At that small size I couldn't control the chisels and gouges for cutting away the lino as well as I'd like. But it was good enough. Above you see the second block with two colors, the yellow of some bent weeds and the brown of the Carolina Wren.

The tall vertical weeds, actually Pokeweed, I hope to make a deep burgundy. After that some more browns and perhaps blue/blacks. Then finally the black lino printed on top of it all. At that point it will be time to evaluate the results, see what emergency has arisen, and I'm sure one will arise, and then decide where to go from there.

I always envisioned this as a dark but rich scene, whether in watercolor on relief print, due to the dark rich colors of the Rusty Blackbird. So far that seems to be working out.

Oh yes - Rusty Blackbirds don't really have eyes the size of quarters. It will become smaller once overprinted in black.

Humming Along

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth at Flower. Woodcut proof by Ken Januski

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth at Flower. Linocut/Woodcut proof by Ken Januski.
 

It's been the summer of hummers, 99% of them Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in the backyard. The other 1% have been Ruby-throats out in the wild and just once, this Hummingbird Clearwing Moth. Only today did I take the time to pull out my moth guide and figure out exactly what species this moth was. An online search earlier seemed to be a but murky since it seems like a number of things are called Hummingbird Moths. In any case this is a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth, and it was sipping nectar from deeply tubed flowers just as it was supposed to.

The top image above is stage two of the woodblock portion of this print. I first printed it in a greenish blue, then just now added a dark brown for part of the body and wings of the moth.

Below it is a proof with the black lino block printed on top of the first color attempted on the background woodblock. Though I liked it I decided that something a bit greener would be more appropriate. But I didn't want a blinding green either.

The top image is on good printmaking paper, in this case Rives Heavyweight. The total print is 7"x9" and the image itself 4"x6".

One thing I'm happy about here is that I did cleanup the flowers so that there is no color in there except the disk where I did want a hint of color. Tomorrow I'll try printing the black lino on top of this. If I like it I'm done. But I did notice that there's just a spot or two of yellow on the moth. It might be nice to try to add that. And then there is a slight lavender cast to the flowers........... Most likely I won't touch the flowers. But I'm a bit tempted to try to add a couple of yellow accents to the moth after I've printed the black. Time will tell. One last thing I'll need to do is decide on the hatched background in  the lino. I have the feeling that I might want to remove it but I won't know for sure until I proof with black ink.

It would be nice to include a hummingbird print. At least one has visited our backyard many times a day from late June on, staying primarily on the Monarda but also visiting the native Honeysuckle as well as Zinnias and other flowers. I actually used my old Lumix camera to take a short video of one, something I didn't even know I could do. But everyone has seen a million videos of hummingbirds. I'd instead like to spend my time getting good field sketches.

So far I've not been too successful on that front. They don't stay still long, unless they're perched. I fear that we'll have fewer sightings once the Monardas stop blooming, which will be any day. I guess I'd better get back outside....................

Linos in the Fire

Hummingbird Moth at Flower. Copy of pen sketch by Ken Januski.

Hummingbird Moth at Flower. Two Lino Proofs by Ken Januski.

After not doing any linos for a week or two I've now started two in the last 24 hours. Too many linos in the fire you might say. That wasn't the plan. But after I started the combination linocut/reduction linocut below of a Rusty Blackbird and Carolina Wren I realized that I didn't have enough paper to proof and print an edition. So today I decided to do something simpler while I waited or the paper to arrive.

Unfortunately I seem to have become allergic to doing anything simple in linocuts. At top is a copy of the sketch I did today of Hummingbird Moth at flower, most likely a member of the mint family. As you can see it's pretty simple. It's been reversed on the computer so I can use it as a template for the linocut.

But after I'd done the first black proofs I decided that it would be good to make the background a different color. And then of course I could use a third color, brown on the moth. So things quickly got complex. Above are two test proofs. The first shows the black lino printed on top of the blue woodcut. Below it I've printed the blue woodcut on top of an earlier black lino just to see what it would look like.

As you can see there is a lot of blue where there shouldn't be in the flowers and moth. I've cut away additional lino so that when I next print the flower should just be black and white. Hopefully this will go quickly. But you just never know.

Rusty Blackbird and Carolina Wren. Watercolor sketches by Ken Januski.

In early 2013 we saw Rusty Blackbirds a number of times, once in the same location as a Carolina Wren. I always thought it would make a good painting or print. Above you can see the first watercolor attempt many months ago in the lower portion of photo. Above it is a new mixed media experiment using a new sketch of the Rusty Blackbird and combined with watercolor and pastel.

Rusty Blackbird and Carolina Wren. Sketches by Ken Januski.

I decided I should do a new Rusty Blackbird sketch before I attempted this print. It's above along with another version of a possible lino, this time with a copy of the sketch pasted on and then watercolor and pastel.

Rusty Blackbird and Carolina Wren. Lino Proof by Ken Januski.
 

After a couple of days of experimenting I decided it was time to get started on the lino. Above is the black portion of the lino printed on copier paper. Much of the black will probably disappear from the final print. I'm at a standstill here because of the lack of printing paper. Once I get some I'll start a second lino block onto which I'll copy a version of this print as a guideline. Then I'll add a straw yellow, deep maroon, probably some browns and maybe a dark blue/black as a reduction print. When that's done I'll go over it with the black lino, hoping I can pull it all together.

P.S. Yes that Carolina Wren looks completely wrong in the lino proof. Though it was fine in the drawing I completely messed it up in cutting it on the lino. Since it will be brown however, I still have the chance to redraw it on the second block, if that makes sense. In other words I know it's wrong but I'm not currently worried about it.

Sapsuckers are Finished

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. Lino/Woodcut/Reduction Lino by Ken Januski.

I'm happy to say that the Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are done. There was a great temptation to get more complicated, especially in the background sky. But I decided to stay true to my original goal of a simple linocut after the complexity of the last one.

This one got more complicated than I intended once I added color, via a woodblock and block for reduction lino but I kept the woodblock to one color and the reduction lino to two. Well actually there is a slight lie in there. I started the reduction lino with an additional color, red for the head of one of the birds. But it really didn't work very well printing just that one small area of color.

In the end I tried something new: a stamp to add the red color. After I'd finished printing the black master lino block today I carved the end of a small maple dowel so that I could print a small roller of ink over it and place it manually on the otherwise finished print. All in all I think it worked out pretty well. And it reminded me that there is always more than one way to skin a cat.

This is printed in an edition of 10 on Hosho paper. The image is 4x6 inches and the entire print is 7x9. It is printed using Gamblin oil-based inks.

As I and Jerene have seen more woodpeckers over the years we've gotten to where we enjoy seeing their activities whether it's hanging upside down eating poison ivy berries, excavating a deep hole or feeding on trees. The complex and dirty plumage of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker makes them hard to see on trees. I debated showing that here but decided against it. I wanted viewers to see the birds right off. When you do the bold white stripe on the wing really stands out. Only then do you notice the dirty yellow on other parts of the bird, and sometimes the brilliant red.

A Sapsucker Start

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. Lino/Woodcut Proof by Ken Januski.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. Black Lino/Woodcut Proof by Ken Januski.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. Yellow Lino/Woodcut Proof by Ken Januski.

After the complexity and time involved in the last combination linocut/woodcut I decided to make the next print much simpler. My intention was to do a one-color, one block, print much like photo two above. I also wanted to concentrate on a linear linocut, a classic way of doing linos and woodblocks but one I'm largely unfamiliar with.

BUT the tiny bit of red as well as the dirty yellow, almost an off-white, on the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker did present the temptation of just a bit of color. I also found that if I left the tree largely black then it took away from the Sapsuckers. In carving that area away though I found the print just a bit lacking. So that convinced me to add color, again on a woodblock  as in the last print.

The top photo is a proof on copier paper of the black printed on top of the first color. I like it. Unfortunately the color I ended up mixing got a bit oranger than I intended. So the bottom photo above shows the new color on good Hosho paper. This is the real print only without the black overprinted. And it's without any other changes. I'm debating printing a dark brown for the tree, then overprinting in black.

Even if I do this will be a much simpler print than the last one.

I and Jerene have come to very much enjoy Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers when we see them. I'm not sure exactly why. About a month ago I did some Conte sketches that tried to capture their movements as they fed on a tree. That's the basis for this print.

Black-throated Green Warbler Lino/Woodcut/Reduction Lino

Black-throated Green Warbler. Linocut/Woodcut/Reduction Linocut by Ken Januski.

It always amazes me how long it takes from start to finish on a small color linocut. In this case it's been almost two weeks, and as with most art the end is the hardest. It's when a small mistake can seem to ruin all the previous work. At the same time the work starts to pull together and you can see the end in sight. That can make it exciting in a good way.

This is the final version of the combination linocut, reduction linocut and woodblock, three different blocks treated somewhat differently. It's a bit subdued for me and it will take awhile for me to decide if I like that.

The final edition is 20, printed by hand with Gamblin oil-based inks on Rives Heavyweight paper. The entire print is 7x9 inches and the image alone is 4x6. It is for sale at my Etsy store listed on the right side of this blog.

One thing I'm happy with is the use of line in the print. I wanted to use the final black block to pull the print together, as well as represent much of the warbler. But I didn't want it to look like an outline, almost like a cartoon. Some people use this well but I knew that I wouldn't. So this is a compromise and an experiment. It's the first time I've used a master block. I'm not sure I'll use it again but I think I will. It does offer some new possibilities.

Almost There, Maybe...........

Black-throated Green Warbler. Linocut/Woodcut/Reduction Linocut by Ken Januski

The combination linocut, reduction linocut and woodcut is moving slowly along. The woodcut portion is finished, unless I decide on a second woodblock to add some light highlights at the end. The first lino block, which is the reduction lino, is most likely done. Above you can see the result of printing the various colors on the reduction lino on top of the already printed woodblock.

Black-throated Green Warbler. Linocut/Woodcut/Reduction Linocut by Ken Januski

The last lino block, at least according to my initial plans, will print last in black. Since it is what will hold much of the final print together I can't resist printing it occasionally along the way, before the reduction lino with all its colors is finished. I do this to get a better idea of what the final print might look like and what changes I might still need to make.

I did that on the previous color of the reduction lino, a color barely visible now, except  in the head of the Black-throated Green. To see how the latest color, the slate gray, might look I've printed in on top of one of the test prints where I printed the black early. What this does is cover up some of the final black but leave enough to give me some idea as to how the final print might look.

For readers not familiar with lino and woodblocks I apologize. This probably seems needlessly complex. And you might well ask: Why Bother? The reason is COLOR. If you have much interest in color as I do, then you need to find some way to print multiple colors. You can only do one color per inking of a block, with some specialized exceptions. So that's it in a nutshell. I want color in my prints and I keep exploring ways to get it. None seem easy. But if a print does work out it is nice to know that I have more than one copy. And there also is a challenge, sometimes fun and sometimes not so much, in the complex interaction of myself and the printmaking process.

That process usually leads to imprecision and surprise. Since I'm not a big fan of precision, except when I'm trying to understand the structure of something, this generally is something I'm happy with. In some sense this type of printmaking demands improvisation. You, or at least I, can't plan it all out in advance. You make your plans and then start improvising!

Your Painting Looks Like Naugahyde

Black-throated Green Warbler. Second stage of Woodcut/Linocut by Ken Januski

I've always been pretty certain about my artwork. Any doubts I have I think are not as strong as those that many artists have. This doesn't necessarily mean I'm correct in my judgment. I may just be wrong or foolishly and blindly optimistic. Still most criticism doesn't bother me all that much.

It may confuse me as I mentioned in a recent post when I get seemingly contradictory opinions from different people at the same time. And then there are of course snide comments that are easily ignored. I've found that snide comments are usually meant for the critics peers more than for the artists criticized. They always reek of groupthink.

However when, many years ago, a woman blurted out in our painting class critique, that my paintings looked like Naugahyde it struck me. And she said it with passion. As though she was really offended that I would paint in such a way. I've always valued such passionate comments even if I disagree with them or don't really understand them. It's easy to tell that they are honest and an honest opinion is a rare thing in the world of art.

What she meant I think was that my paintings, 6'x8' heavily painted abstract acrylic paintings at that time, had resistant, unyielding surfaces, the kind that made your eyes bounce back from rather than go into  the painting. At the time I liked that. It seemed modern. I still admire many artists who work or worked in that manner. Stuart Davis, a great American painter in my mind, quickly comes to mind.

I happened to think of this as I was working on this print. The first color on the Shina plywood looked somewhat transparent and watery in some versions. As I printed the ink got thicker and it turned into a more unyielding surface, like that which so offended my fellow student.

One reason for using the plywood, outside of plain old curiosity, was that I thougth I might like its surface, especially in the background of a print. So I experimented with this and when I finally printed the first color of this print on good paper( Rives Heavyweight) I kept the ink thin. As I did this I remembered the old Naugahyde comment.

So today when I went to color number two, this time on the first lino block, I also sought a thinner less reflective surface. I don't think I've ever worked this way in my linos. Certainly the Green Heron lino had very thick heavy ink.

But this time I'm going to try to keep it thin and see what happens. This lino block will be reduction, which means that I'll remove some of the lino and then print different colors on the lino that remains. Finally I'll print black on the second lino, and hope that it all holds together and that I don't have to get out a fourth block to do some mending. At the moment I'm hopeful. And I finally understand that Naugahyde comment!

An Appreciative Review of Green Heron Lino

Green Heron with Twelve-spotted Skimmer. Reduction Linocut by Ken Januski

In my many years as an artist I've heard a lot of complaints from artists about lack of appreciation. To a large extent I have little sympathy. My very first experience with public audiences, as opposed to friends and relatives, took place at an art festival in San Francisco about 40 years ago. As I watched people walk by the 2-3 works I'd gotten in the show I noticed that most people didn't even look. Those that did usually spent less than 10 seconds looking.

When I got into my first juried show as a student at University of California at Berkeley the janitor yelled out in his memorable Portuguese accent that I'd better get my stuff out of the gallery if I didn't want it to "smell like horse****". Some disgruntled, or perhaps just avant-garde graduate students, decided to dump a load of horse manure in the gallery. They called it an Art Attack as I recall.

When I got into my first serious juried show at the University of Rochester about 30 years ago I went to the opening with a friend of mine who'd also gotten in the show. I think he might have ended up winning a prize. Me? Both of my 4x6 foot abstract paintings were hung upside down! When I complained about this I was told that they couldn't fix it until after the opening, when of course the audience would decrease drastically.

Between those experiences, a lot of knowledge of art history and the lives of artists, and perhaps a general skepticism I've come not to expect much in the way of appreciation. Even the best artists are often appreciated for the wrong reasons. So much as I'd like to sell more of my artwork and see more appreciation of it I fully believe that most artists are quite lucky to find even a few people who really appreciate their work.

At some point of course truly appreciative buyers help I think to build an impetus toward sales to a broader audience that may buy less for appreciation than for cachet. Of course if it pays the bills I think most artists can live with that, especially if they know that they have some true fans.

All of which leads to the thought that I almost never read anything in print that I think appreciates my  work, especially something that is more than just a quick comment from generous peers. As I've said I don't really expect this, or wake up each day hoping to find it. I think this is in the nature of art, regardless of whether it is painting, writing, music, or whatever.

But when it happens I'm surely not going to ignore it. So this is all an extremely long lead-in to a note of thanks to Martha Knox for a wonderful review and appreciation of my reduction lino, Green Heron with Twelve-spotted Skimmer, shown at top. You can read the post on her blog Words on Woodcuts. Thank you  Martha!

The link above takes you directly to the post about my work. But I'd recommend looking at other posts as well as exploring all of her collected links. As an only occasional printmaker I often work in the dark. It's always to see the work of other printmakers. Martha has also written appreciations of other print works in separate posts. Eventually I hope to find the time to read more of them.

Art criticism is the oddest thing. I was once asked if I had any  interest in writing it. I said no, definitely  not. The reason is that I'm a fairly critical person and it would make no sense, and I would take no enjoyment, in writing primarily negative articles. Writing an appreciation of an artist I admire is something else entirely though. It's fun to do, though not necessarily easy. I've only written a few such appeciations but  when I do I  enjoy it. I  think what's most enjoyable is that I get a chance to try to share my excitement with the work with others. Sounds corny  perhaps but it is true. And that is what Martha seems to do  in the posts I've read so  far about the work of others. I would heartily recommend taking a look at her blog, especially these appreciations.

Green Heron Lino Final Edition

With the holidays, bird counts, scouting for bird counts and waiting on the arrival of some white ink, my poor Green Heron reduction linocut keeps being shunted off to the side. Finally today I completed an edition of 12. The print is not horribly different than the last version but I did cover some of the purplish color with black.

That had always been my intention. When you're doing reduction linos you have to think in an odd way, realizing that some of the colors you see at one stage of the print have to be there at that time but will eventually be covered with another color.

Above you can see the final version, photographed in natural light so the colors are pretty true. Below is a picture of the final linoleum block itself. At this point only the raised areas will accept ink and print when I print them by hand. So this is what was left when I printed the final black colorl

I did run into an unexpected problem with this. When printing by hand you rub on the paper with a baren pressuring the ink onto the paper. Normally the ink will hold the paper and prevent it from slipping as you apply pressure, especially if you hold one corner down. However today there was just too little ink to hold the paper. For the first 10 or so proofs the paper would move when I applied pressure. That cause smudges and misalignment of colors.

Finally I figured out how to get it to work - the secret was great gentleness - and the print worked out as planned. It is 6x8 inches for the image alone, and 9x11 for the entire print. It is printed with Gamblin oil-based ink on Rives Lightweight printing paper.

That Ancient Green Heron Lino

 

It's hard to believe that it was less than a month ago that I posted the latest version of this, with color number three.  A lack of white ink, holidays, bird censuses and other things put this print on the back burner. It seems like far longer ago than a month.

In any case the white ink arrived yesterday and most of my holiday and bird count related activities are done. So today it was time to finally revisit this. This is on copier paper.Tomorrow I'll print it on the good paper that the earlier colors were printed on. Most likely the color will change a bit. But I'm quite torn on what color to use for the maroon/violet of the heron.

Additionally I'm going to next add what I hope will be the last color, black. So there are purplish areas here that I know will eventually be black. It's a bit hard to think this way at times. Still I'm almost always happy with the results.

But as usual I always wonder why I put myself through so much work!!!!

Late Summer Bird Sketches

It always seems that the heat and humidity of July limit the time I spend outside and consequently the time I spend field sketching. But a few cooler days over the last week or so have prompted me to get out a bit more often. Above at top left is a young Great Crested Flycatcher seen at Morris Arboretum about a week ago.
Below it is a Pectoral Sandpiper, seen last Sunday at Tinicum, along with many, many Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers. It was shocking to see so many, some of them right at our feet below the boardwalk that crosses the main impoundment. As I sketched this I deliberately left the large white area on breast. And yet when I looked at the photos I took and guide books it doesn't really show up. My guess is that it was just lighter, which is likely, and I overcompensated. I did want to accentuate the dark breast markings as well as the flight feathers toward the back. When I see such a flock of birds I'm always disappointed that I don't have a full day to just sit and sketch them. Unfortunately Tinicum is about 30 minutes away where as Morris, a very small wetland, is only five to ten minutes away. So I often end up at Morris where there's never such a plethora of shorebirds.
And Morris rarely disappoints. After all it is an arboretum. So there are always interesting trees and shrubs. The wetlands area is primarily native vegetation. Usually it's quite easy to get close looks at Great Blue and Green Herons, Belted Kingishers, Wood Ducks and numerous other local birds. We haven't seen many Eastern Phoebes since late spring. On the right page above is the first one we've seen this summer, at Morris yesterday. Green Herons have been quite visible the last week or so and the one above is also from Morris.

There was also a very vocal young Red-tailed Hawk and I was able to do a couple of sketches of him. Unfortunately he changed his position as I was about half-way through the larger drawing. That explains the darker areas on head. I tried to guess what it looked like and then tried to rectify my mistakes with more ballpoint pen marks. It's a basic maxim of field sketching that you should only put down what you see. But sometimes it's hard to follow that maxim; there's always a desire to make the sketch look more finished. Other birds keeping their poses for only a short time were a Cedar Waxwing, seen at top left and a female Belted Kingfisher below. One of the odder sights was the kingfisher attacking the hawk numerous times.

There is nothing particularly good about these sketches, though that of course depends upon your perspective. Compared to what I started with three years ago they're magnificent. Compared to some of the truly amazing artists of the Wildlife Art thread at birdforum they're still the work of a beginner. Irregardless I do enjoy them now and have for the last couple of years. I know that at least partially they've captured what I've seen. They always seem nutritious as I think most honest field sketches do.
I'm not so sure about the finished version of the reduction linocut of Twelve-spotted Skimmer and Solidary Sandpiper. I won't go into all the technical problems but I think it's evident that it's just not a very clean print. There's a bit of muddiness in execution. I'm surprised that this doesn't happen more often with the complex method of reduction linocut. In some ways this is my most unsuccessful, at least in my own eyes. Still I do love the composition and think the print is not a complete failure. But I also know I had plans for something much more successful. So this one doesn't seem quite as nutritious as those field sketches. Not all progress in any field is constantly smooth though. This may be the necessary next step in reduction linos for me. Perhaps the hext one will be much easier and much more successful. As always this is much informed by my field sketching, even if it looks like I've been very sloppy or don't really know the creatures portrayed.

Multiple Blocks, Online Stores

One of the methods I've never before used in my linocuts is that of multiple linoleum blocks. You print one or more colors on one block and then one or more colors on another block. As usual the biggest problem is registration, so that what you print on one block matches up with what will be printed from the other block.
I'm not sure if doing a reduction linocut as I've done on my other multi-colored linos is easier or more difficult. In them you keep carving into the same block. But each time you print a new color you have to make sure that you place the paper you've already printed earlier colors on onto the block so that it registers. This was not an easy job with my 9-color Blackburnian Warbler lino. What made it possible for me, without my head exploding, is that I've never been finicky. A slight lack of registration gives me a bit of dissonance that I think I prefer in my own art.
For some reason such dissonance seems more modern. I'm not sure if that's true or not. And it's quite a comment if it does. Still it does strike me as true. In any case in the lino at top I've tried to revive my old lino of the Twelve-spotted Skimmer and Solitary Sandpiper from late last year. This is a proof at top but I do like it. In particular I like how the striking black and white spots of the dragonfly show up strongly. I'm still deciding whether or not to add a second color to one of the blocks using reduction. If I do so it will be a brown that more accurately reflects the color of the sandpiper. But I may decide to just leave is as is. I don't want to lose the strong contrast that I have right now.

Though I've wanted to do more with this subject for quite a while I was prompted to do so now because I needed to keep my mitts off the lino above. It's nearly done. But when I'm not sure what to do next it's very tempting to just do something and see what happens. That's the odd thing about art. I don't believe you can really ever THINK something through. It's always a combination of thought and action. But too much action, especially with media like lino and watercolor, that punish you for overwork can also be very dangerous.
So to force myself to leave it alone and glance at it occasionally I've started on this new lino. Only time will tell how much more work will be done on it. Eventually I'll need to print both of these linos on good paper.
I think it was at least three years ago and probably a few more that I started an online store to sell my work. That link is listed on the upper right as 'For Sale.' But I've never been too happy with it. It's expensive, has teeny, tiny images in the various templates that it offers and has very bad analytics, so that it's hard to know who is coming to the store, where they come from, why they might put an item in their cart and then not checkout.
So about a year and a half ago when I took up printmaking again for the first time in many years I opened an online store on etsy that was mainly for prints. Since they were lower priced and etsy, at least from what I can tell, is also geared to lower prices this made sense. But as I've gotten more and more unhappy with my main online store I've added more work to etsy. I'm now at the point where I'm seriously thinking about just dropping the other store. Etsy has its own problems. Who knows how anyone can ever find anything there. There is just so much STUFF!! But it also has tools like Etsy Mini, the little grid of images of my own items that is at upper right of this blog. I like this and my guess is that it sends a number of viewers to my etsy store.
I don't think too many people who read this blog frequent my online store. But in case you do this will explain what happened if you no longer see it in a few weeks.