Spring Flight

Common Green Darners, Tree Swallow, Pied-billed Grebe and Canada Goose on Nest. Pencil and Crayon Sketch by Ken Januski.

One of the great thrills of spring is the exuberant flight, or at least it looks exuberant to me, of birds and insects. Tree Swallows are always among the most impressive and such a welcome change from the slow pace of winter. Yesterday they were joined by the first dragonflies of the year, Common Green Darners, as well as soaring Red-tailed Hawks. I couldn't find a place for the hawks here but I did manage to combine the Tree Swallows and Common Green Darner. Typical of this time as well, particularly in the wetlands of Morris Arboretum, are nesting Canada Geese. Much rarer and in fact yesterday was the first time we've seen them there were Pied-billed Grebes, in migration I'm sure.

I think because this is such an exciting time I'd like to use a medium that matches the excitement and exuberance. Over the years I've found that pencil and water soluble crayons, which are capable of also being used as a wash, work very well. As in the last post this is done with Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayons..

What is That Duck Looking At?

White-tailed Deer, Green Heron and Wood Duck at Morris Arboretum. Conte Sketch by Ken Januski.

About a week ago I was birding and sketching at the wetlands of Morris Arboretum, hoping to find some of the migrants that I've often found in previous Augusts. I had my scope with me to help with the sketching. At one point I saw a Wood Duck and then noticed a Green Heron next to her. But why was the neck of the duck stretched, gawking at something to the left? Then I noticed the Green Heron was looking that way too.


I couldn't see anything. Later however when I was over on that side of the pond I found a White-tailed Deer, something we see occasionally there but really not that often. I didn't see him until 15-30 minutes after seeing the gawking birds. But he was in a similar direction and various small islands would have blocked an earlier view of him. As soon as I put this all together I also put together an image for potential painting or print.

Above is a 9x12 Conte sketch in Stillman and Birn's Gamma sketchbook. I thought about various media for this study and did a few preliminary pencil sketches. I chose Conte, largely because I've found that it forces me to simplify, to get a better sense of the mass and gesture and not worry about detail. That's pretty much the method I used in the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Conte sketches that were the basis for a lino/woodcut a month or two ago.

So that's sort of my idea here. However I rarely draw or paint deer. This will be something new for me. But I'm in an experimental mood so I may just give this a try as a small linocut and or woodcut.