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revivingKensArt (1 Viewer)

Woody said:
Best of luck with the show Ken.

Personally I reckon the extra flexibility and capacity for experiment and tweaking that you get with the acrylics is a good direction for you since you seem to be someone who likes to explore as you go.

Mike
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Thanks Mike, Colleen. I think you're exactly right about acrylics Mike including the part about experimenting and tweaking. That's one of the things that was so hard to learn about watercolor, that you can't endlessly tweak and experiment! So this is an interesting change back to a familiar medium.

I roughly finished frame yesterday and once I put it in the painting looked horrible. Now I have to decide whether it's the frame or the painting itself that looks do bad! Maybe it will look better this morning.......... I haven't looked at it yet.
 
Preparing work for the group show and weather that is just too nice to be inside have prevented me from doing any work for last two weeks. Field sketches of flitting fall warblers just aren't good enough to show.

But sparrows are starting to arrive and I just couldn't resist this watercolor from a photo I took last fall of a Swamp Sparrow. We saw this handsome sparrow a few days ago but my field sketch was pretty much of a failure.

And, some very surprising news from SWLA. My pre-selected works which disappeared into customs over four weeks ago have finally been released. More than that they'll be in the show! What a pleasant surprise that is! I'd completely given up hope of being in the show.
 

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Congratulations on the show, Ken! Great news. I like the Swamp Sparrow piece - still don't have that one on my life list; they are kind of considered mythical birds out here. We usually get a couple found each winter on my side of the mountains, but they seem to stay buried down in the weeds - at least when I'm around.
 
Thanks John. We don't find Swampers the most sociable birds but their chip is a a very juicy one. So once you know they're there you can generally find some. I've found that once they fly that they often stay visible, rather than completely disappearing like so many of this troublesome group!

I have to say I've thought of you recently. That's because it's the season of Black-throated Blues here. They're not exactly ubiquitous. But if you look you can generally find one or two, most often the handsome male. Still an amazing bird to see.
 
solitaryVSong said:
And, some very surprising news from SWLA. My pre-selected works which disappeared into customs over four weeks ago have finally been released. More than that they'll be in the show! What a pleasant surprise that is! I'd completely given up hope of being in the show.
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Tsk, tsk - and you thought we didn't know what we wre doing across in dear old Blighty, eh :-O;)
Great news Ken - and they so deserve to be there, too. Bet you don't get them back, though B :)
 
ed keeble said:
you cunning old dog- congratulations!
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No cunning on my part Ed, though the old dog might be correct;) I really had completely given up hope on them ever showing up. I have to give everyone here credit for giving me the ambition to even apply. What a thrill it would be to walk around and see my work shown with the likes of Tim, Nick,Ads and whoever else is in but hasn't mentioned it!

No criticism of dear old Blighty intended Tim (now that I've looked it up and know what it refers to!) I'd be lost in the bird art wilderness if it weren't for the artists of dear old Blighty and thereabouts who've given me confidence and inspiration. I'd love to be able to see show. Hope you're right about not having to worry about getting them back.;)

I chose that photo as the main inspiration user because it showcased the gray nape of the bird. It's both very striking and a good ID feature. There were other more normal poses but they didn't show the gray all that much. They're really not all that unusual but if you get a good look at them you have to admire their beauty. Time to get out and find some more...........
 
been absent for a while. Just looked back at all these lovely pieces. Love the Killdeer in colour and black and white. Congrats on the show Ken!
 
Thanks all. It really hasn't hit me that I'm in show. Of course if I were able to visit and walk around I'm sure that feeling would sure go away!

I found a rare, for Philadelphia bird, yesterday: a Red-headed Woodpecker. They bred here in 19th century but are only found as far as I can tell every few years now. In any case I tried a small watercolor based on my field sketches and photos this morning. It leaves a whole lot to be desired.

But it may be enough to convince me to try it again a little more carefully. This is a juvenile which lacks the striking red/maroon head.
 

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timwootton said:
Great stuff - congrats all round!!!
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Thanks Tim. Here's a slightly more successful version based on a photo I took yesterday. The bird has been around for two days now. Hopefully he'll stay a bit longer.

And here is the way Red-headeds SHOULD be painted. What incredible imagination Audubon had!
 

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Thanks Mike, Rahul. I am happy with that second watercolor, which is sitting right in front of me as we speak. I'm sure that's due largely to finding a bird that is so unusual here these days.

I've been out last two days looking for it but I think it's moved on. While out today though I couldn't resist a couple of photos of a shrub I'd ID'd before but whose name I'd forgotten. I did a field sketch of it and then took photos for reference in case I wanted to include the sketch in a future painting. But the colors seemed so striking I decided to take a brief detour into photography and show them. If there's anything that might convince me to show photos it would probably the the color of leaves in fall.

The plant by the way is called Bladdernut. I miss it every spring and summer but am always struck by it in fall. I keep thinking I'll get it into a Red-headed Woodpecker work in some way or another.
 

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Just couldn't resist combining the distant Red-headed Woodpecker with the very near Bladdernut. Did this with a Bic pen, then added watercolor wash. It turns out ink is not waterproof at all so it started running and also gave a blackish tone to color. Since gouache seems to be the medium of the day;) I added a little white gouache to return definition to the woodpecker and add a few highlights.
 

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