revivingKensArt (5 Viewers)

[JTMB]

Nice job on the sparrow, Ken! And it definitely looks like a Lincoln's to me. We are fortunate to see them fairly regularly in the fall and winter out here. To me, their unique buffy/clayish cast, couple with a more delicate look than Song Sparrows gives them away quickly. They also seem to be more shy and stay down in the brush more so than many other species.

 

[solitaryVSong]

Thanks all. Russ this Lincoln's is based on a photo taken just across the water from Point Pelee at Magee Marsh in Ohio. I almost never see Lincoln's here, maybe once every year or so. AS I looked at the photos I wondered why I hadn't done any field sketches. Then I remembered: too many wood warblers flitting around at the same time. I couldn't tell where to look next!

Still waiting to see my first Henslow's. It's amazing how many beautiful sparrows there are out there.

Speaking of which I'm includng a quick watercolor of some House Sparrows on a Winterberry. As I've tried to sketch them at the window feeder in my studio I realized that it wouldn't hurt to also work from some photos, where they stood still for longer than a second. So that's what this is.

Also a quick pen and watercolor of two Canada Geese surrounded by autumn foliage, a large fallen beech tree and water reflecting it all. I like working like this as I've said before. The ink runs horribly so once I touch the brush to the paper I'm much more likely to get the black of the ink rather than the color of the watercolor. But for some reason it seems to let me work through ideas very quickly. So this may eventually become a panting or print, as with the house sparrows.

 

[Gretchen]

Ken, I like the colors on these sparrows and am really enjoying the ink and water color sketches. The small geese (!) in a big setting feels just a bit Asian I guess and I love the colors and textures.

 

[solitaryVSong]

Ken, I like the colors on these sparrows and am really enjoying the ink and water color sketches. The small geese (!) in a big setting feels just a bit Asian I guess and I love the colors and textures.

Thanks Gretchen. It's always hard to know where all your influences come from but I'm sure some of mine are Chinese brush painting as well as Japanese woodcuts. I do like the idea of keeping the birds small in the landscape.

Which of course is not what I've done here: those House Sparrows in a Winterberry as a linocut. Still not done but I think I'm about 75% of the way there. This is just a proof on copier paper. Once I do an edition I hope the ink will look a bit richer.

 

[solitaryVSong]

The finished lino. Ink was a bit runnier than I wanted so it's not quite as sharp as I'd hoped for.

 

[colleenc]

intriguing Ken:t:

 

[RussB]

Nice work with the sparrow and CG watercolours, Ken. I particularly like the sparrows, sir. The plumage tones and jizz make the birds readily identifiable, and they've loads of life.
It may be one of the plumb basics of art, but leaving strategically placed areas of white paper or highlighted areas does indeed bring the bird to the fore. Those well-schooled will find this second nature, but the ignorant ones like me have to discover this!

Russ

 

[Woody]

Not commented in a while, sorry Ken. The little hand coloured osprey print is a real little treasure, one of your finest I think.
And the canada geese are intriguing too, definitely worth exploring on a bigger scale methinks.

Mike

 

[solitaryVSong]

It may be one of the plumb basics of art, but leaving strategically placed areas of white paper or highlighted areas does indeed bring the bird to the fore. Those well-schooled will find this second nature, but the ignorant ones like me have to discover this!

Russ

I have to relearn it every timem I try something Russ!

I think you're not alone in liking the osprey Mike. Soon after you mentioned it I sold one of the osprey prints. After a year of nearly non-existent sales it was nice to have this one small one before 2012 arrives. Or 2112 if you live in Woottonland

 

[lake van fan]

Keep up with the linos! I like the others too, especially the Canada Geese in autumn. But the linocuts...

Please more of these, cheers!

 

[solitaryVSong]

Thanks LVF. I'm taking a bit of a break from linos but am just about done with my new present of Robert Gilmoor's 'Cutting Away' so I'm sure that will inspire me to get back to work.

I also got a surprise box of oil pastels for Christmas so have experimented with them in this small version of a Belted Kingfisher. I find them awkward to use but still it's always worth experimenting.

We really should be having Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks visiting our winter bird feeders but they've been absent so far this winter. In anticipation of them I did these watercolor studies from photos from earlier years.

Finally I'm continuing to get back into acrylics. I used to spend a week on many of my asbstract paintings. Now I spend a few hours on these small acrylics. I think that's because I'm getting used to them again, especially with representatiional subjects. So I know I'm not pushing myself very hard with these. On the other hand maybe they're better off kept simple. In any case a small 6x8 inch acrylic of an immature Red-tailed Hawk that hung around Morris Arboretum all last year.

 

[ARTHUR BISHOP]

Some lovely work here Ken . Happy New Year.

 

[solitaryVSong]

Happy New Year Arthur! Couldn't resist a bit of tweaking on the Red-tail.

 

[colleenc]

love the redtail. has the quality of some of the "flash paintings" on that thread

 

[timwootton]

Cracking piece, Ken - love the angles here. All the best for 2012.

 

[Strandman]

Happy New Year Arthur! Couldn't resist a bit of tweaking on the Red-tail.

Happy New Year all round - I do love the delicate-but-mighty contrast of the wind lifting a scap on a large bird.

 

[Lykos]

great...love the sparrows and the kingfisher

 

[JTMB]

Nice work on the last group of sketches, Ken! I agree with your reaction to oil pastels, but they are fun to use on occasion and do help to keep a looser style. It always amazes me how different (some/most) 'east coast' Red-tails are different in coloration and pattern than our birds out here. I think that species has one of the biggest ranges of individual coloration and markings of any of the raptors.

 

[solitaryVSong]

Happy New Year all round - I do love the delicate-but-mighty contrast of the wind lifting a scap on a large bird.

Thanks all, and as Ed says a "Happy New Year all around.'

Along the same line as the Red-tail I did sketches the last couple of days of Song Sparrows based on some photos I took. My idea in all of them was just to understand them better. I particularly was interested in sparrows and trying to see if I could get down the different bills in various species. Sometimes I'm impressed at how big the bill of a Song Sparrow is.

In any case these both started off as pencil sketches. And then I couldn't resist adding watercolor. It might have made them worse but you only learn through trying

I'm confused by just the East Coast Red-tails John. Who knows what I'd do if I ran into the other varieties?!

 

[RussB]

Very impressed with the Song Sparrows, Ken. The intricate facial patterns are very well captured, sir! Malar stripes, superciliums, sub-moustachials, ocular stripes, ear cover patches! You forget where you are with 'em all sometimes!
The buntings and sparrows have these in abundance, and it's so easy not to see the wood for the trees, so to speak!

Regards

Russ