Sunday, March 7, 2010

Don't Fiddle Now!



It may be a little too early for Fiddlehead Ferns. But it's never time to fiddle with your artwork. It's always been true for me, and I'd guess for most people, that finishing a painting or drawing is always the hardest part. Rather than face the problems head on, assuming that you can even see what they are, artists of all sorts tend to fiddle. Put a little dab there, a little dab here, oh I messed that up better just erase what I just did, oops now look what I've done I've really messed this up, etc., etc. The other problem is stopping too quickly, never pushing yourself to be a bit more ambitious.

In any case all of those thoughts came into play with this pastel. I've spent a fair amount of time on it this morning but fear doing anything more. I think it's improved and has that sense of a bright beautiful bird on a bright beautiful morning, up in the trees, just like he always is.

2 comments:

Ellen Snyder said...

Ken,

You fiddled nicely with this great-crested flycatcher! This is now one of my favorites of your art work. Of course I love the bird in real life and your depiction of the bird and surroundings -- the sky, the tree -- with such rich colors is terrific. Always a pleasure to see the first one that returns to our yard, and your pastel is just how I imagine seeing him up in the tree, looking elsewhere and calling.

Ken Januski said...

Thanks Ellen! We normally spend a week in early spring in Shenandoah National Park when the birds are just arriving and the trees are just leafing out. Just as with you it's a pleasure to see the first one of the spring, generally up in the trees outside our cabin. He's such a picture of spring for us. I'm happy the drawing portrays something like that. It's just what I wanted.