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This is my approved under drawing for my first history painting/ illustration for the Midland Trail and State of West Virginia. The scene is of the boom town of Cedar Grove, WV in the time frame of 1785-1795. The illustration celebrates the contributions Cedar Grove had on establishing trade on the Kanawha River. The town was a hub for trappers and families trying to move further west using dugout boats (which were constructed on site from local timber) and larger flatboats moving salt and other commodities.
Astonishing sketch Bruce! I look forward to the final painting. I do not have the courage to use oils for a deadline.
ReplyDeleteWere the dogs modeled after your dog?
That's gonna be a great piece...how did you research this?
ReplyDelete...and most importantly, where are the bikes and/or trains??
ReplyDeleteFabulous! I admire illustrators who have a talent for recreating historic events —from Charles Knight to Greg Manchess. It's an area of image-making pretty-well insulated from competition from photographers. For now.
ReplyDeleteI got a 20 page document from them and some leads, borrowed a sweet book from Chris, took about 200 photos of me posed in all of the gestures you see here and then imported those pics into photoshop over my thumbnail. I went to a bunch of online sites that document people doing revolutionary war reenactments for the clothing and drew clothing on the pics of me. I started this in March so its been pretty tedious with them approving every single thing.
ReplyDeleteOh and don't mention bikes or trains! don't need any more additions!
I didn't get a chance to see this at lunch yesterday, guess I was late. Anyway-incredible Bruce! I also really admire that ability to recreate the past. So much attention to detail.
ReplyDeleteGreat piece! How big will it be?
Bruce, I worked for 6 years at Huffy Bicycles. I can say from experience that Bicycles are better left out. They are too spindly to add anything to the image, and they are an absoute bitch to draw.
ReplyDeleteYou can ask Loren about trains.
Thanks for the comments. I seem to need a little Gatorade for this project already! This image is 30" x 40" which is huge.
ReplyDeleteChuck, I agree about Huffy, but could be talked into putting a sweet Trek Madone 5.5 in!
Bruce - what are you painting on - canvas? That is a big'un. I've been gessoing hollow-core door sections for big stuff lately...nice hard surface to burnish the drawing onto (too lazy to re-draw it) and lightweight.
ReplyDeleteIt is incredible, Bruce. I would go nuts on this one, no doubt.
ReplyDelete