revivingKensArt (1 Viewer)

[ARTHUR BISHOP]

enjoying them all Ken

 

[solitaryVSong]

Thanks Arthur. I've finally gotten to the point where I think the underlying drawing is as good as it's going to be so I put down some washes then erased much of the drawing. I'm going to try to keep a lot of white paper on this one and keep washes light. Of course that rarely happens regardless of my best intentions.

Here's the first stage of actual watercolor.

 

[JTMB]

What a great opportunity to sketch extinct species...! Well done on the sketches, and the Short-billed Dowitchers.

 

[Lykos]

superb...the worm picture makes me smile:t:

 

[mark richards]

Great work....mark

 

[solitaryVSong]

Thanks everyone. I seem to be stuck on watercolors right now, not a bad thing since I do love what some people are able to do with watercolor. One of these days I'll get back to linos and acrylic.

The new 9x12 inch watercolor is a Bonaparte's Gull seen in Cape May, NJ about a month ago. I also did some minor work on the Dowitchers and Killdeer today. I've been looking at them on and off for a week trying to decide what I need to do to consider them finished.

I may still do a bit more on the gull but I suspect very little. Hummingbird is somewhat regular in backyard now so I hope I can eventually do something with him.

 

[colonelboris]

Lovely plover there. Plovely, even. I've been trying to fish a trip to the US from work in order to get a little birding done while playing with synchrotrons, but no dice, sadly...

 

[timwootton]

What's happened???!! - how did I miss ALL of this latest work? To quote Arthur 'loving it all' - but especially the dunlin works - these are very, very special. Please take this track a tad more often - it reveals vistas me like to see.

 

[colleenc]

love that longbill comp Ken

 

[solitaryVSong]

Thanks all. Tim, part of the flurry of work was due to being in a local art festival. The last one I was in was over 35 years ago but I decided to give it another try. I was happy to sell the Bonaparte's Gull there.

Between show preparation and near 100 degree weather I haven't had time or the inclination for much art. I have done a bit of sketching which I'm showing. Really just trying what to figure out what to do next: acrylic, watercolor, linos? Should decide soon.

I'm getting better at getting mental images of birds so some of these, like one of the Great Blue Herons, was actually sketched from memory hours after seeing the bird. The more elegant looking Great Blue posed for me but at quite a distance. Still it was a striking pose. We've had hummingbirds in the yard for last few weeks but they're here and gone in the blink of an eye. Hope to sketch more of them soon.

Other birds include a Gray Catbird, hidden behind leaves but staring out intently. Also singing Common Yellowthroats and Carolina Wrens. And one of the ubiquitous birds of summer: the Acadian Flycatcher. I'm still trying to get him down.

 

[ARTHUR BISHOP]

WAY TO GO kEN

 

[solitaryVSong]

WAY TO GO kEN

Thanks Arthur. Those very occasional sales are always a nice surprise!

This new acrylic is based on a photo of our first Least Tern of the year seen at Cape May the night before we had to leave. I chose this view both because I always find these stripes of light and dark, land and water very attractive and because I wanted to contrast the small size of the Least Tern with the larger Forsters terns, Mallards and Great Egret.

Still fiddling with the back section trying to sit back just enough. I think this may be nearly done but my experience with acrylic tells me never to count on that.

 

[solitaryVSong]

The final version in a quickly knocked together frame. I did debate another flying tern in background but decided it might seem to formulaic.

 

[JennyMK]

I get homesick looking at the last painting... A really good feeling!

 

[ed keeble]

that's nicely done

it's got that balance you always seem to achieve- works as both a painting (even if you don't know or care what the birds are) and works as a birder's painting (for those who you do care about moments like a small Least poised near bigger things)

 

[solitaryVSong]

Thanks Ed, Jenny. Ed I do often TRY to get that balance between a painters painting and a birders painting, though I think it sometimes just leaves most people puzzled. An odd hybrid that's neither art nor bird art.

In any case I'm always quite heartened when someone else sees what I'm trying to do.

Jenny happy to make you homesick, in a good way.

I've held off on linos for quite awhile but started again the other day. I finally realized that the best way for me to work on them is with a subject that I've already done in other media. In this case some of you may remember the original pastel of this Hermit Thrush with Sandhill Cranes in the background from Horicon Marsh in Wisconsin. I probably have a long way to go on this though the changes maybe somewhat subtle.

It's been too hot to bird here for a week. Today we finally got out. When an Eastern Bluebird landed very close to us I had to take some photos. That blue is just so striking. So here's a photo for anyone hungering for some rich blue birds.

 

[colonelboris]

The lino cut is very nice. I haven't done one of them since school...

 

[Bigshent]

You have been busy since I last checked Ken some great work M8

 

[Woody]

Love the lino.
I especially like the angular nature of the thrush and the echo of the wing shape in the leaf.

Mike

 

[solitaryVSong]

Thanks all. Though I liked the simplicity of the last version of the lino all the dark areas almost made it look like a night scene. So I've been busy remedying that and making it a bit visually busier than I'd really like. Getting near the end now. I'm still using cheap copier paper but will eventually turn to good paper and I hope a richer black.