cc2004 | Christmas King | 2004

Christmas King, 2004

Watercolor and India ink on rice paper, 35 cm x 70 cm (Kellett collection). The card read: I’m not sure where the concept came from and it may not be what you’d expect for a theme. It also has no Italian influence (where I painted it). Once again, if any influence is here, it would be Japanese, painting it with Sumi (black ink) on a rice paper scroll.

As Christmas ushers in the true King, I felt the king fisher would be a nice match - not only in name, but with its demeanor. These birds don't seek to present something they’re not, they are simply excellent anglers. On the contrary, we often make Christmas something it’s not.  This year, I had 150 printed and stayed with Shutterfly.

My comments - I loved this bird and the final painting. I love the effects of India (sumi) ink, and this helped me remember the pleasure of working with it.

the sketches...

Christmas King 01, 2004, pencil on paper. I'm not sure why, but I got the idea to include a bird in the 2004 card, and wanted to involve it with the ornament. This first drawing had the bird (an eagle or hawk) holding or tying the string. There are a couple interesting things to note.

First, you might notice this sketch (the first sketch) is much more detailed then the rest. This is typical of my projects. I dedicate the most time to the first idea, quickly sketch any variations and again draw with more detail once I have the final image.

Second, this is the first time I can remember when I stayed with the same theme from start to end. Normally, I don't like my first sketches and switch to a completely different idea. This year, the bird made it.

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Christmas King 02, 2004, pencil on paper

This is a very rough sketch but the intent was to explore birds other than a bird of prey. It was also useful to make different variations of how the wing would be displayed. You can see two upper wings, one back and the other more forward. I liked the swept back wing, but it made the bird appear to be diving.

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Christmas King 03, 2004

Pencil on paper

Here are a couple more, non-prey birds but now I've closed their wings.

I liked the bottom bird and he has a Christmas look. Neither bird however, seemed to grab much attention.

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Christmas King 04, 2004

Pencil on paper.

I liked this bird - he seemed to be more dramatic and able to catch the eye. This might have been the subconscious bridge to the king fisher. This bird has some of the same ragged features.

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Christmas King 05, 2004

Pencil on paper.

The first (and last) sketches of the king fisher. As you can see in the finished product, the bottom king is the one I used.

Interestingly, neither are beak-down nor facing the viewer. However, I liked them right away and thought it was cool to show they don’t have to face you to know you’re there. Although I used the bottom bird, I preferred the top bird - he seemed a little more dressed up for the season.

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Christmas King 06, 2004

Sumi on rice paper, 30 cm x 90 cm

I often don't sketch with other than pen/pencil, but for some reason I did for this project. I was strictly using Sumi (Japanese black ink).

This is an interesting point. Sumi originated in China around 200-300 A.D. and is vegetable carbon based. India (or Indian) ink is the American label for black ink and is originally derived from non-electric lamp carbon.

Both can be found in liquid or solid form, but Sumi is traditionally solid while India ink is normally liquid. The biggest difference is India ink contains shellac and Sumi doesn't. I will most likely continue sketching certain projects with ink/color since it's the best way to see actual appearance.

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Christmas King 07, 2004

Sumi on rice paper, 35 cm x 45 cm

Initially, I wanted to place the bird in a dramatic pose and here I was entertaining the idea of birds in-flight.

They are both beak down since the original idea had the bird placing or holding the ornament on the tree. I liked the lower bird and for a moment planned on using it.

You might’ve notice these sketches are slightly out of sequence. I.e., the final was the fifth sketch in pencil. The painted sketches weren't necessarily after the drawings, but I wanted to group the painted work together. So, these first few were painted before I pencil sketched the king fisher.

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Christmas King 08, 2004

Sumi on rice paper

This is somewhat of a cross between the two birds in Sketch 07 but as it progressed I began to really dislike it and started making careless strokes - evident on the bird's right wing.

With the remaining ink, I quickly sketched a tree ornament to see how it’d look.

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Christmas King 09, 2004
Sumi on rice paper

Although the previous sketch was aborted, I still liked the bird and the idea of affixing the ornament while still in flight, so I made this sketch along the same lines.

Since I thought I might use this bird, you can see I spent a little more time on it and added more detail. I still think this could make a good painting and some color would really bring it to life.

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Christmas King 10, 2004

Sumi and watercolor on rice paper

Enter the king fisher. Looking at it now, I guess I did follow my standard act - drew and sketched several of the same things, but made a switch to a completely different bird and pose. I did, however, stay with the fowl, so I guess it’s more of an intra-shift.

This was the first run and I really liked him but I painted on a piece of rice paper that had been folded and I couldn’t get the creases out. If you look closely you can see them running through his eye to belly and across his neck.

UPDATE (~ Oct/Nov 2015): despite the creases, this king fisher was published! He made it into Strokes of Genius 8: Expressive Texture, The Best of Drawing.  A 144 page collection of 139 works of art.  I was quite pleased.

This is the cover of the book and it's available here.

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Christmas King 11, 2004

Sumi and watercolor on rice paper

I repainted on a different piece of paper and was please with this bird. I calmed down the feathers a little bit and lowered his cranium to try and get a sleeker appearance.  Sadly, I painted him on the bottom of a scroll with zero room to add the branch and ornament so I painted him one more time - which was not a sketch but the actual card.

Go to the Cards or the Galleries

-mm-