Currently 15 x 19 in. Ink
I remember an assignment in college when we were asked to use bottled ink and whatever size pen point and or brush we wanted. It was to be a subject on a vast piece of paper, but the subject was to come across as small in relationship to its surroundings. I did at least three of these of which this is all I have left, back then I most likely give them away to friends or girls i was trying to impress. Any rate this piece was about 36 x 48 inches on fine illustration paper, not sure were our teacher got the paper…Lynn Havel was his name, a great teacher at BU-CO JU-CO, Eldorado Kansas…back to the assignment I had a small black shadow of a stork flying with no details, couldn’t go outside of the class to work on the piece nor bring in other outside resources (like Audubon..lol) Lucky for me I was a bird watcher for 3 years when I lived in Massachusetts. Came out pretty good I think, got a little lazy on the wings after a while tho…it amazes me how the colors after all these years are still the same, well maybe the paper is a little yellow. Proves the point about using quality materials, this piece is 42 years old.
I like showing stuff like this because people think if you do abstract work you mustn’t be able to do more realistic things…I do abstracts because that is what excites me, …now.
Art by Ken 
im a artist you have the best stork hands down on the whole internet!!!!
Wow! appreciate the comment…nice to hear, thanks again!
It’s lovely and has ‘aged’ well. 🙂
Thanks for the ‘Follow’!
It goes without saying, use quality materials and results, appearance, and aging holds the test of time!
Beautiful stork. Thank you for following and liking my blog. hope you enjoy my artworks 🙂
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Reblogged this on Art, animals, and the earth.
Beautiful, and yes, the detail!
Hi Ken. I think your piece is amazing. Drawing birds is a daunting task. I love birds of all kinds and have done some bird watching, but not with binoculars or anything, just where I live (a fish hatchery). We have all kinds of birds here! But I have found that drawing feathers is the toughest part for me. It looks like your drawing held up well for being that old! Great work!
Reblogged this on Patsy's Creative Corner and commented:
Great website!
Speechless..
Hi, Ken. Really enjoyed this drawing. Despite the detail, you managed to capture the sense of dynamism and grandeur befitting your bird in flight. Many lesser artists get so caught up in trying to in the details that their picture falls flat and feels more like a photograph, and a bad one at that. I also think that your composition worked because of the placement of your subject on your paper vis-a-vis its borders, making good use of negative space, and thus giving a sense of size to your subject even without other objects either in the foreground or the background. (Hope that all makes sense.)
I enjoyed reading your comments, you have a skill sizing up art and telling your impressions…what artist wouldn’t enjoy and learn from your insight, thank you for the comments.
The trick with this piece is going to be finding a matching white background that would be of the size it orginally started at.
Oh my! What an impressive drawing! Especially given that it is 42 years old, so you must have been very young! Love the background info as well! Thanks for visiting so I could find you!
that is so true – showing old work to ‘prove’ that one can nail realism, though we wean to work that captures the essence.
the stork/crane is beautiful!
z
I like the drawing and I like the comment about abstract work. My personal credo: If you can’t paint an apple to look like an apple, How can you paint your dreams to look like your dreams. paint first the apple, then abstract.
Mice work on your blog.
Thanks for following my blog! I like this painting- it reminds me of a Japanese print
so, is it a sandhill crane?
I believe it is…good observation!
Wow. That’s beautiful. I think it’s sad that some folks think artists do abstract because they have no skill. If anything I think you have to have tremendous skill in order to do abstract. Which is why I, with very little skill, do not even go near abstract. lol Anyway…I’m enjoying your work overall!
i think it can work either way, drawing/painting real isn’t a prerequisite to abstracts…but it helps. Fundamentals is the key…colors, mediums, textures, shapes, composition and a sense of worth. We all have something truly worthy of sharing…we just need to be brave/courageous enough to try. I believe this with all my heart that is why i was going to be a ART teacher. People that stay at a medium can become accomplished (with help) at it over time, as to weather its worthy of the Louvre in Paris, that is about art critics and the public…it will however still be art, regardless.
wow! It is really nice though! Always great to find your old work 🙂
Amazing detail work