Back to Sketching

Scolid Wasp on Garlic Chives. Watercolor by Ken Januski

Wood Duck and Canada Geese in Wissahickon at Mt.Airy Bridge. Crayon and wash by Ken Januski.

Yellow-rumped Warbler in Persimmons. Watercolor and Pen by Ken Januski

OK. Enough of those photos! They do help with documentation but they always seem lacking in expressive power. As I said in another post the opportunity to try a bunch of Stillman and Birn sketchbooks for the demonstration on April 27 has gotten me to experiment with various subjects. In most cases I've looked at these subjects for awhile, knew that I'd like to do something with them, but just couldn't figure out how to go about it. For some reason this demo has spurred me on to try many of them.

At top is a 7x10 watercolor on Stillman and Birn Beta paper. I used to collect and draw insects that I found, rendering them with a technical pen and viewing them under a microscope. It was a big switch from the 6x8 foot abstract paintings I was doing at the same time. In any case I came to see how fascinating insects were and spent a lot of time identifying what I saw.  A year or so ago I took some photos of the wasp at top in our garden. It's a very familiar wasp.

But  my familiarity with insects has lapsed. I believe it's a scolid wasp. In any case I've always loved the combination of it and the garlic chive flowers in the photo. I've shied away from the whiter Stillman and Birn papers but I've seen some people, like Debbie Kasari at Drawing the Motmot use it to great advantage. So this seemed like a good paper for the brilliant whites of the garlic chive flowers.

At bottom is another such photo, and scene - Yellow-rumped Warbler, with just a blush of orange, perched in the Persimmon trees at the dunes of 'The Meadows' at Cape May in the fall. The combination of orange colors, grays of the persimmon trunks, and often brilliant blue skies of October is a scene not to be forgotten. This is done on 7x10 Stillman and Birn Epsilon paper, a paper meant for line, especially ink line. It also is brilliant white like the Beta paper. I decided to render it with a ballpoint pen, then use a light watercolor wash over it. It worked well but I think would have been better off without the blue background. This isn't a style in which I normally work. But I think anyone who likes to combine ink and light wash will find this paper very desirable. Though I don't normally work this way I'm sure I'll try it again. It is truly amazing to realize what an arsenal of tools I'm building up.

Finally amidst all of yesterday's photos I did try a new Stillman and Birn 5.5 x 8.5 inch Zeta sketchbook, doing a quick pencil sketch of a Wood Duck and two Canada Geese on a large rock in the Wissahickon. It's viewed from the Mt. Airy Bridge and yes that is my attempt to render it, in the splendid glory of Wissahickon Schist of which it's made, in the foreground.

I had hoped to actually use the Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayons on the spot but since time was limited. I added the color with the crayons and wash from various waterbrushes later in the day yesterday and this morning. Again I opened the sketchbook so that it was flat and used it as one whole sheet of paper. I've often seen this used very effectively and so I've wanted to experiment with it. The paper worked beautifully. But I think I just didn't make the best composition. On the other hand it's my first in the field use of this sketchbook. I see great possibilities in the future.

Photographic Taste of Spring

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Louisiana Waterthrush at Wissahickon

Yellow-rumped Warbler at Wissahickon

Northern Rough-winged Swallow at Wissahickon

Oregon Giant Snow Peas



Palm Warbler at Wissahickon



Perennial Arugula



Clintonia at Wissahickon

My friend Ellen at The Spicebush Blog reminded me in my last post that spring is still slow to arrive in some parts of the country. One of the best things about Philadelphia is its early spring. In any case even though I had no intention of showing or taking any more photos I couldn't resist trying to get photos of a singing Louisian Waterthrush today and I did want to show a couple of garden photos. So this is segment number two of Spring Photos - 2013. It's specifically meant for those still awaiting true spring.

It used to be that we would take birding trips, work very hard to hear and then if we were lucky see Louisiana Waterthrush. Then a few years ago I realized how easy it was to at least hear them along the Wissahickon, less than a mile from our house.

I saw and heard the first two last week. Today I heard two more and after an hour's singing finally got a look at one high in a Sycamore. It is surprising how high they will go when they are singing early in the year. Along with him today I finally saw some first of year Yellow-rumped Warblers along with some more Palm Warblers and a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Later  a 'kakaka' exploded in a tree less than six feet away from me. It was a Pileated Woodpecker just feet away. After hiding since December, or possibly just being gone from this area, I seem to see one or two everytime I go out now. Unfortunately the one photo I took is out of focus. Also a photo of a relatively new bird, the Northern Rough-winged Swallow.

The only new wildlflower was what I believe is Clintonia. There was quite a stand of them. But I'll need to wait until they bloom to know for sure. Finally some photos of our Oregon Giant Snow Peas, planted five weeks ago in the hopes that they'd germinate early and be ready by June so that I can replace them with beans or some other crop. And finally an Arugula from the garden. For the last few years our arugula has overwintered, as though it is a perennial. I'll still plant more but it's always nice to have some come through from the following year.

And after the events of Boston yesterday it seems good to remember all that is beautiful and rewarding in the world. Spring in the woods, for those who pay attention, does just that.

Spring Photos - 2013

Wake Robin at SCEE

Eastern Towhee at SCEE

White M Hairstreak at SCEE

Bloodroot, Mayapples, Virginia Bluebells at SCEE

Pine Warbler at SCEE

Trout Lilies at Morris Arboretum

Spring Beauties at SCEE

Eastern Bluebirds at SCEE

Though I've done more sketches and paintings over last few days it seems time for a break. The last two days have brought us perfect spring weather, sunny but highs in the low 60s, with migrants appearing and wildflowers popping all over. Above are some photos I've taken over last two days. The one missing photo, a picture of the snow peas 2-3 inches high in the garden, and of course some of the migrants that just didn't cooperate such as the flitty Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

I much prefer to show sketches and paintings to photos but every once in awhile it seems worthwhile to document all that is around in photos. Back to sketches soon.

It Ought to Be a Crime

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Crayon and wash by Ken Januski

Wood Thrush in Hercules Club. Crayon and wash by Ken Januski

Well yes, putting a zip line in the Wissahickon(see image at top right) ought to be a crime. You can read about it at Alliance for Preservation of the Wissahickon. But that's not what I'm writing about even though it's much on my mind. On a more positive note I'm thinking about how it ought to be a crime to have as much fun as you sometimes do when making art.

All in all it balances out though. For all the fun there are plenty of struggles, both technical and inspirational. But sometimes you just have fun. That's been pretty much the case for me ever since I started experimenting with Stillman and Birn sketchbooks about three weeks ago in preparation for my demonstraton at Merion Repro and Art on April 27. It's especially been enjoyable because I've been using Caran d'Ache Neocolor II water soluble crayons.

I know this may be getting to be a bit much. Just how much am I being paid to keep up these testimonials? Being a natural skeptic I understand where a reader might have doubts. But I am quite serious when I say how enjoyable it's been. Today's surprise, and yesterday's as well, was a Zeta sketchbook.  A very heavy duty paper, made especially for mixed media and with a plate finish.

It turns out that the plate finish is a pleasure to draw lines on. The pencil just sails along.The newest drawing of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker began with a detailed pencil drawing. My intent, as in many of these, is to make more of a painting than a drawing, but they generally start with a lengthy drawing. I feel freer to  take liberties with color and shape when I know I'm anchored by a solid drawing.

I was curious as to whether or not I could on both sides of a piece of the Zeta paper without what was on one side affecting the other side. So after paintng the Wood Thrush yesterday I painted the Sapsucker on the other side of the same paper. Almost no warping at all, and certainly no bleed of the color from one side to another. I don't normally work this way but I figured it was a good experiment. Now you know.

One problem I've always had with crayons is that they don't hold a point. I suppose they could be sharpened to a point in some way but I've never tried. But I don't really need to. Over the last few days I've discovered that I can touch a small wet waterbrush to the crayon itself and pick up some pigment. If the brush is small then I can make a small fine line in the same color as the crayon, almost like having a laser crayon sharpener.

I've also never had much luck with waterbrushes. Three weeks of experimentation has taught me a lot though. So I now have a handy toolkit for working on live color sketches: my Stillman and Birn sketchbooks,my Caran d'Ache crayons and some waterbrushes. If the rain ever ends here I'll soon give them a try in the field.

I believe that many people use such a setup for journaling, especially nature journaling. Long ago I realized that I wasn't a nature journalist. But I enjoy many who are. And I can see why many might find this sketching setup something they'd be happy with.

Speaking of work and fun in art, I wasn't having fun when I saw that one of my  Zeta sketchbooks was square. I've always thought it nearly impossible to work in that format. On the other hand I always like a challenge. In the end the square format turned out not to be a problem at all. Life is full of surprises.

Mink of an Eye

Wood Duck, Mink, Louisiana Waterthrush. Watercolor by Ken Januski

I apologize for the bad pun in the title of this post. I hadn't planned on it but was thinking about how what is portrayed here happened in the blink of an eye, my eye: I noticed a sleek black animal scurry along the Wissahickon in and out of the rocks at its edge. At the same time it scared up a first of year Louisana Waterthrush which was only about 6-12 feet away. It flew up and sang its song, the first time I've heard it in 2013. A bit further down the stream two Wood Ducks perched high in a sycamore, I'm sure having found a hole to nest in there.

And of course when I thought about blink of an eye, I immediately thought of the mink. This is the third time I've seen this type of mammal slinking along the edge of the Wissahickon. My investigations made me think it was a mink but I just wasn't sure that they were in Philadelphia. A little online questioning convinced me that they were and that this is what I had seen.

I always like seeing Wood Ducks in trees, or flying through trees. Though this is where they nest I see them at least 90 percent of the time on water. So it's nice to be surprised by them up high.

Though I like the idea of combining things seen into a paintng it often seems to daunting. How in the world do I show the Wood Duck high in the tree, the Mink and the Waterthrush without it seeming horribly contrived?

Well that is where the arrival today of a box of Stillman and Birn sketchbooks to try out for a demonstration later this month comes in. In this case it was the 8.5 x 11 inch hardbound Alpha sketchbook that caught me eye. I knew that many people are in the habit of opening up a double spread and just working across the page division. I've wanted to try that myself. It also gave me an idea as to how to show the Wood Ducks and the other two subjects all at the same time. A tall vertical format seemed perfect for that.

As usual this is more of an exploration than anything else. I've used far more water on the paper than is probably reasonable. But it held up just fine and allowed me to experiment with this somewhat complex composition. I'm very happy with this and assume that one of these days it will find its way into either a more developed painting or a print.

Free Paintings

Whimbrels and Lauging Gull at Nummy Island. Crayon and wash by Ken Januski



Swamp Sparrow in Papermill Run. Crayon and wash by Ken Januski.

No, I'm not giving away any free paintings. Instead I'm referring to the feeling I have when I've finished a Caran d'Ache Neocolor II water-soluble crayon sketch with wash on Stillman and Birn sketchbook pages. Used the way I'm using them they are actually more like small paintings than anything else. Best of all they allow more working, reworking, overworking than any other medium other than acrylic and/or oil. And I don't need to do it on canvas. I can use these small pieces of paper.

For someone who's not an artist this may make little sense. The main problem is that, especially with watetcolor, you can't do to much experimenting. It's extremely difficult to put a light color over a dark color if you decide that the dark color doesn't work. Continued working turns the painting to mud. There's no brightness left. And you need to use good quality watercolor paper if you're going to keep working and reworking what's there.

This combination of materials gets around that to a large extent because the Stillman and Birn papers are very hardy. And you can always go back into the painting with the crayons to bring back more brilliant color if things have gotten a bit muddy. The only thing that doesn't work is bringing back a brilliant white. For that you really need to resort to white gouache and even it may be a bit darker than I'd like. Still I've never seen a quicker or easier way for working through ideas for paintings. And as I've said before, if the sketch turns out well eough that you'd like to keep, frame or sell it, the quality of the paper allows you to do this without feeling guilty. I have done other sketches that I've always been reluctant to offer for sale because I wasn't sure how long the paper would hold up.

By the way the birds portrayed are numerous Whimbrel and one Laughing Gull from Nummy Island in New Jersey and a Swamp Sparrow, always elegant in gray and chestnut, in Papermill Run at Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia. I'm still wating to see my first Swamper of 2013.

First Pileated Woodpecker of 2013

First Pileated Woodpecker of 2013. Crayon and watercolor by Ken Januski.

Quite a few years ago we started going for walks on major holidays in the nearby (i.e. one mile away) Wissahickon Valley in Philadelphia. On one of those early walks, probably Christmas but possibly Thanksgiving, we saw a Pileated Woodpecker. Since then every cold weather holiday walk brings the hope of another.

They do nest in this area and 9 of them were found in Philadelphia in the Philadelphia Mid-winter Bird Census of early January. Over the years we've gotten better at finding them, or perhaps and most likely we just bird more. In any case they've become less scarce to us though they're still not an every day or even every month occcurence.

Still we'd seen them regularly at Andorra Natural Area towards the end of 2012. I thought we'd find one there early in 2013 and we could add it to our count of 2013 birds. But no. We didn't find one there or at any of the other nearby locations, including the Wissahickon Valley, where we often find them.

Over the years I've gotten in the habit of keeping a count of the birds I see out on walks so that I can submit them to ebird. At first I used my own abbreviations for species. Then I discovered the codes used by banders in Richard Crossley's recent birding field guide. I didn't bother to memorize them but they often include the first letters of the words of a birds name, for instance PIWA for Pine Warbler. Of course there are overlaps and so not all the abbreviations work like that.

In any case yesterday I was particulary on the lookout for one of the earliest warblers to arrive in Philadelphia, the Pine Warbler, or PIWA. I checked some pine trees in the Wissahickon near the Walnut Lane Golf Course. No such luck. I heard one candidate but decided it was a Dark-eyed Junco. And it was so cold and windy that few birds were making themselves visible.

Then I heard a nearby sound, a combination of squeal and cackle that I associate with Pileated Woodpeckers and Northern Flickers. I assumed it was a Northern Flicker. But then I saw all that black. It was the first Pileated Woodpecker of 2013!

I ended up doing one field sketch. Without a scope though  I needed to put down my binoculars each time I tried to put down some marks on paper. With a scope I can look and draw at the same time. I decided I was just missing too much of the detail of the facial markings. So I then took some photos. I wanted them so that I was clear about the facial markings and how they change as the woodpecker moves his head about.

Above is another Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayon drawing on Stillman and Birn Delta sketchbook paper (9x12 inches). Eventually I added a bit of white gouache. I also did this with two waterbrushes rather than just using my many watercolor brushes. I'm still having a hard time with them. They always seem to shut off the water supply just when I need it. But it seems like it's worth pursuing them just a bit more because they can be convenient when out in the field.

So why did I mention the banding codes? Because I went searching for a FOY PIWA and found a FOY PIWO. There's much argument about the use of these codes, partially because they're hard to decipher for some, not all abbreviations are what you think they are, and the true names of birds are much more pleasant and resonant. Still once you get used to using them for their convenience it's easy to be amused by finding a First Of Year PIleated WOodpecker when you were searching for a First Of Year PIne WArbler. .

Cloak, Creeper, Carolina, Crayon

Mourning Cloak, Brown Creeper, Carolina Wren. Crayon and watercolor by Ken Januski

One of the things I've come to most enjoy in nature based art is the combination of various things that you might see in nature all at the same time. Yesterday it was the first Mourning Cloak butterfly of the year, a Brown Creeper, probably on his way north for the summer, and a singing Carolina Wren, probably establishing territory, though with them sometimes you think they might just be singing for the fun of it.

I did very minimal sketches of each while I was out at the Wissahickon yesterday. And as I've said I like the Stillman and Birn sketchbooks for working through ideas. Today I know I wanted to use the Caran d'Ache Neocolor II water soluble crayons and that due to all the subjects I'd probably need to work larger. So I chose the Delta 9x12 sketchbook.

To repeat myself one more time I also like the luminosity of the Neocolors and thought they might work well here. I still think this could probably use some minor improvements. But I got what I wanted - a believable version of yesterday's walk in the woods. Hopefully one day it will end up as a more finished painting or print.

Avoiding Cliches

Piping Plovers at 'The Meadows'. Watercolor by Ken Januski

I have a lot of photos that I've taken of birds over the years. This may come as a surprise to some given how much I write about the problems of relying on photos in art. It's true. I think more bad art has come out because of the use of photos than vice versa, not that this view is based on any scientific studies.

I suppose it's similar to birders I meet who want to rely on some digital technology to confirm the bird that they see or hear. Yes you may get an ID that way, just as you may get some likeness of a bird if you rely solely on photos. But what's the point? You're missing all the enjoyment of learning something, of interacting with the world, of portraying the excitement of that interaction. Would you rather interact with the bird or the photo of the bird?

Still when I started I knew so little about the structure of birds that I found I was also trying to take photos of them when I saw them rather than just look at them or try to sketch them. Now over six years later I tend to look and sketch first and only take photos later. Even with photos as a secondary motive I've ended up with a fair amount of them.

And when I'm searching for an idea for a new painting or print I often flip through them. In doing so there are always a fair number that I reject out of hand: poorly seen bird, dull composition, impossible pose, and quite often, cliche, or fear of cliche.

That's always the case with Piping Plovers. They always seem impossibly cute, at least by human standards. I'm sure they don't look cute to the nearby American Oystercatchers. Still I know that they'll seem cute. I can't even tell if that's why I'm attracted to them. But I also know that no subject should be out of bounds for a true artist. A talented artist can always breathe new life into overdone subjects.

Still that fear of cliche stays with me. Everytime I look through my many Piping Plover photos something scares me off. And that is the one beauty of the surprise project of using a number of Stillman and Birn sketchbooks for examples for a demonstration on their use. For me it takes the pressure off. I can give subjects I normally shy away from a try. That's been true of almost all of the work I've done over the last week, with the exception of the Eastern Phoebe.

Today's Piping Plovers was another. I decided to concentrate on drawing the birds, something that turned out to be far more complicated than I expected, and then to just experiment with Caran d'Ache Neocolor II watersoluble crayons for color. I also  decided to stick with the smaller 7x10 Gamma sketchbook, one that really doesn't like too much water.

I thought I could get around the problem of too much water by just being spare with both crayon and water to turn the marks into washes. And that's exactly what I did. I just made faint crayon marks on the birds and then used a small waterbrush to move the color around into larger areas. With the sand I basically just made small dots or marks with the crayons then used the waterbrush to smear them and blend them into one another. This was an experiment but I think it turned out pretty well.

One additional thing is the luminosity of the Neocolors. This is something I really liked. Though I knew the background here might be too simple and too boring I hoped that the richness of the colors would be enough to offset that. I think, at least to these unbiased eyes, that it turned out that way.

Another Experiment

Northern Waterthrush at Magee Marsh. Watercolor by Ken Januski

As I've experimented with the Stillman and Birn Gamma sketchbooks over the last few days I've learned that it's best to keep to a few simple washes. Otherwise the paper buckles and you can't really even draw or paint a straight line after that. All well and good. But I can't resist going on to do more washes.

In this case I spent at least 30 minutes on a drawing of a Northern Waterthrush seen at Magee Marsh a few years ago. This is based on a photo I took. It may not seem it to many viewers but I'm a stickler for color and color orchestration. As best I can tell that's why I keep reworking these way beyond what the paper tells me I should do.

The paper does hold up though. So at the end, though I may not be able to draw straight lines due to the buckled paper, I can still put one color on top of another until I get something that looks right to me in terms of color and composition.

I think that this use of many layers of wash and color works a bit better on this, and to a certain extent on the Eastern Phoebe and Great Blue Heron, because I'm spending more time on the initial drawing, particularly in the birds themselves. This allows me to be somewhat detailed on them, and then be freer and looser on the background. So in the end there's at least to me a pleasant combination of detail and inexact suggestion.

This will never pass for a finished watercolor. Neither would the Eastern Phoebe, especially if you saw either in person. This is much less so of the work over the last week on the Delta paper. Still I find the paper and the paintings very worthwhile. Already I'm thinking of doing an acrylic painting of the Eastern Phoebe. Tomorrow I'll probably be thinking the same thing about this work.

I do look forward to the arrival of some new Stillman and Birn sketchbooks. I'd like to continue to experiment with more finished work on the heavier paper, especially that of the new Zeta sketchbooks. This has been an unplanned diversion. But one that I think is paying off, and fun to do as well.