Friday, March 19, 2010

Wissahickon Wood Ducks - First of 2010



Yesterday I got out for a brief hour to see what new birds had arrived in Philadelphia. Wood Ducks! Both are incredibly handsome ducks, the male in an extremely showy way, the female in a much more understated way. I did a few quick fieldsketches, and you can see how rusty I am. I also took some photos and they are the basis of this watercolor. You might say I'm a bitty rusty here too. But I do like the watercolor. It has some sense of them.

There's nothing more exciting that fieldsketching so let's hope this is the beginning of a long and fruitful season.

2 comments:

Pam Johnson Brickell said...

Love the water, too! I can see the ducks bobbing and feel the wind blowing. Great job!

Ken Januski said...

Thanks Pam. I always shudder when faced with water. But I do think that the more you try it the more you get surprised when it sometimes has at least a vague resemblance to what you saw. I guess it's just a matter of learning the language of water!