Monday, April 28, 2014

A New Spring--Hope for the Future of Whooping Cranes

Here is the finished painting, "A New Spring", representing the hope that the eastern reintroduced whooping cranes will pair and reproduce their own young.  (See previous post for progression of painting.)  Once this population is self-sustaining, that is, increasing its numbers by raising chicks in the wild, we will have more assurance that wild Whooping Cranes will be safe from extinction.
The painting has become one of the four images representing the Whooping Crane reintroduction story on the banners decorating the entrance and exit to the Whooping Crane exhibit at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park.
Photo credit:  Courtesy of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park

In my last post I mentioned that the image in this painting was inspired by my observations of Whooping Crane parents caring for their chick during its first six days at the International Crane Foundation in 2005. That was the first time a pair of Whooping Cranes had raised a chick in public view. While I was there, I called my videographer friend, Jeff Huxman, and asked if he knew this was happening!  He came right away and took some video images of the chick.  I thought you would enjoy seeing a little bit of what it was like to enjoy these intimate moments with the Whooping Crane Family.



Next:  The four finished images

To see all my posts on the Smithsonian National Zoo project visit:  Whooping Crane art
More about my involvement with the Whooping Crane reintroduction at:  Whooping Crane Migration from my companion blog, Vickie Henderson Art
More of my Whooping Crane art:  Whooping Crane Watercolor Gallery
Organizations that help Whooping Cranes:
Operation Migration
International Crane Foundation
Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Whooping Crane Art Tells the Migration Story

"A New Spring", below, depicts a Whooping Crane parent taking care of its chick. The world's Whooping Crane population reached a low of only 15 birds in 1941 and it took many years to discover the nesting grounds of the original wild population of Whooping Cranes.  The eastern reintroduction of Whooping Cranes is helping to insure the survival of this magnificent species.    
The Eastern Whooping Crane Partnership, made up of Federal, state and private organizations in the United States and Canada, began the project in 2001.  The goal of the reintroduction is to establish a self-sustaining wild migrating population in the eastern United States.
The images above show the progression of this painting, with the first image, showing the masking fluid applied to preserve the white paper, and washes of color that were poured and allowed to dry between pourings to achieve the background colors.
After applying the washes, I drew in more grass.
I always add some detail to my main subjects early in the painting to give my eyes a sense of how the finished colors will look and how the observer's eye will be drawn to the main subject.  In particular, I watch for the contrast in values, patterns of darks and lights.  Do they make the subject stand out?  Do they help the eye move through the painting?
The image above was sketched from a photo I took of a Whooping Crane parent caring for its chick at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, WI, in 2005.  I was fortunate enough to receive a call on the evening before this Whooping Crane chick hatched.  I drove to Wisconsin and spent the next six days observing the Whooping Crane parents taking care of their first chick.  You can see the images and read this story by clicking this link:  Whooping Crane Family.
Next:  The finished painting

To see all my posts on this Smithsonian National Zoo project visit:  Whooping Crane art
More about my involvement with the Whooping Crane reintroduction at:  Whooping Crane Migration from my companion blog, Vickie Henderson Art
More of my Whooping Crane art:  Whooping Crane Watercolor Gallery
Organizations that help Whooping Cranes:
Operation Migration
International Crane Foundation
Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Whooping Crane Art for the Smithsonian National Zoo

Big projects demand a lot of time and everything else is abandoned, I'm afraid.  This is why it has taken me so long to post another blog post!  I am currently working on a book project that is consuming most of my time. I will tell you more about that soon.  In the meantime, I want to show you a project I completed for the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in 2013.  It was such an honor to be invited to create art for this project and work with their team of experts!
The park has a new Whooping Crane exhibit.  The exhibit enables visitors to see one of the most endangered crane species in the world and one that only lives in North America.  The watercolor above is one of four images that depict the story of the Whooping Crane's return to the eastern United States.
Photo:  Courtesy of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park

Costume-reared juvenile Whooping Cranes, imprinted on ultralight aircraft and costumed pilots, learn their migration route by flying behind ultralight aircraft during their first fall migration.  In the spring, they return on their own without human assistance.  In this way, a separate migrating population of Whooping Cranes has been established in the east to help insure that no natural or human-made disaster can cause the loss of this species to the world.  The hope is that the re-introduced Whooping Cranes will raise young and increase the eastern population.

I have not seen the exhibit in person, but, look forward to making that happen sometime this year. In the meantime, I'll show you how I approached the paintings for this project.  
Above you see the layout of the painting in my sketchbook.  White pages are hard to photograph, so I apologize for the poor quality of some of these images.  The dimensions of the final banners called for a full sheet of watercolor paper with its width reduced to correspond with the banner's proportions.  This made for a tall slender painting 30" x 15" which I taped to a backboard.
I decided to pour the backgrounds for these paintings to take advantange of the translucence and uniformity that can be achieved with this method, as well as, the special qualities of layered colors. Pouring required that I cover any areas I wanted to remain white with a masking fluid or resist, a rubbery solution that resists the water and pigment.  Above and below, I have painted mask on the cranes and the ultralight air craft.
Once the resist dried, I prepared three pigment solutions in laundry detergent cups that I had saved for this purpose.  I placed a small amount of pigment in each cup, added the amount of water desired, and mixed with a brush until the pigment was disolved.
When I pour the paint onto wet paper, I am creating a thin layer of color without the aid of a brush.  The tilt of the board and the water move the pigment.  Mostly, the movement happens without touching the paper, though sometimes the aid of a brush is needed to move pigment that has collected around the edge of the masking fluid. Pigment can also be moved by spraying water in the area desired.  Additional water will dilute the pigment and make the value of the color lighter.  
I first wet the paper and wait until the paper surface looses its shine.  Pigment is then poured on the paper and the flow of pigment controlled with the board's tilt.  Both the amount of water added to the pigment and length of time the pigment remains on the paper influence the color's value or how dark or light it becomes. Excess paint is poured off the paper when the desired value is reached, remembering that the paint will dry lighter than it appears when wet.
The pouring above included yellow and rose on wet paper.  The paper is still wet in the image. You can see that the colors flowed vertically in the direction of the board's tilt. When more than one color is applied in the same pouring, the colors blend when they meet to create a third color in some areas. More of the rose hue is visible in the image below.  

In the image above, I used burnt sienna to define the tree tops.  These billowy shapes are sometimes interpreted as clouds.  The ultralights can not navigate above clouds, but the entire migration and recovery effort is a magical story, so if the viewer sees clouds, that's okay too!
In the next pouring I used blue to create an atmospheric haze over the tree tops. Water is sprayed over the paper first and lightly spread with a brush.  The thin blue mixture is then poured over the paper and encouraged to move with the angle of the board to avoid puddling.  I accomplished this while holding the board over the sink to insure that the pigment continues to move.  Excess pigment was caught in a paper towel in the sink.  And yes, with this size painting, this was a bit awkward.  I did wish for a large utility sink!
A closer look at the colors.  You can see some of the variation of greens, blues and purple that have been created by the layered colors.  I let the paper dry completely and removed the mask with an eraser.  
The easiest part for me is adding the detail to the juvenile cranes.  The contrast of the white and black on their wings never fails to pop and brighten all the colors around them.

Links and resources:
More about layering
The Smithsonian National Zoo
To see more of my Whooping Crane art visit these links:  Whooping Cranes in WatercolorWhooping Crane Activity Book, and Whooping Cranes on gourd art.

Ocean Trail at Rancho Palos Verdes Preserve, California--2015

Ocean Trail at Rancho Palos Verdes Preserve, California--2015

Joshua Tree National Forest, California, with son Chad and daughter Thuan--2015

Joshua Tree National Forest, California, with son Chad and daughter Thuan--2015
Photo credit: Thuan Tram

Bird banding with Mark Armstrong at Seven Islands State Birding Park - 2014

Bird banding with Mark Armstrong at Seven Islands State Birding Park - 2014
Photo courtesy of Jody Stone

Birds Close-up

Birds Close-up
Photo courtesy of Karen Wilkenson

Enjoying Gray Jays in Churchill, Manitoba

Enjoying Gray Jays in Churchill, Manitoba
Photo courtesy of Blue Sky Expeditions

A dog sled experience with Blue Sky Expeditions, Churchill, MB--2014

A dog sled experience with Blue Sky Expeditions, Churchill, MB--2014
Photo courtesy of Blue Sky Expeditions

Churchill, Manitoba--2014

Churchill, Manitoba--2014
Photo courtesy of Blue Sky

2014 Hummingbird Festival

2014 Hummingbird Festival
Photo courtesy of Jody Stone

Smithsonian National Zoo with one of my Whooping Crane art banners and son, John--2014

Smithsonian National Zoo with one of my Whooping Crane art banners and son, John--2014

Muir Woods on the Dipsea Trail at Stinson Beach, California--2014

Muir Woods on the Dipsea Trail at Stinson Beach, California--2014
Photo courtesy of Wendy Pitts Reeves

Checking out the gulls at Stinson Beach--2014

Checking out the gulls at Stinson Beach--2014
Photo courtesy of Wendy Pitts Reeves

Discovery Hike in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska--2012

Discovery Hike in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska--2012
Photo courtesy of Ruth Carter
Related Posts with Thumbnails