An Owl - Forest

An owl perched in forest — the nocturnal bird framed by the dark geometry of tree trunks — makes a subject ideally suited to Sekino's woodblock vocabulary. The owl's circular face and forward-facing eyes give it an almost human quality that Sekino's portraiture instincts respond to naturally, and the forest setting allows the kind of atmospheric dark ground that sets off the bird's pale plumage. The composition balances the owl's stillness against the forest's implied depth.