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Denny’s artwork and painting of former Pittsburgh Steeler, Andy Russell’s new book makes the latest issue of the Steeler Digest. In the article, Andy discusses his newest book titled “Beyond The Goalpost,” a tribute to his history-making relationship with the Steelers and their fans throughout his career. What an honor to share his legacy through his art!
Visit the Steeler Digest website. |
August 17th, 2010
July 30th, 2010
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Sheldon Hanson of Cody, Wyoming, The Sentinel of Southfork, is of one of Denny’s best friends and hunting buddy. Sheldon lives in the famous valley where the Southfork of the Shoshone River flows. The river flows north to join the Northfork and forms the main branch of the Shoshone River that flows through Cody. This beautiful valley was used as a pathway by many famous mountain men including John Colter and Jeremiah Johnson to conduct their fur trade business. The valley was the main route north to Montana from the Jackson Hole area.
All that know Sheldon think that this great man stands guard over this beautiful Southfork Valley as if it were his own for each and everyone to enjoy! Denny had Sheldon pose in an old, full length, buffalo skin robe. He was wearing a full coyote skin cap while holding his favorite flintlock rifle. Denny has painted Sheldon on two other occasions. Please look for the paintings titled the “Mountain Man Of Castle Rock” and “Over The Great Divide” here within this website. This painting is traditional oils on Museum-grade Ampersand, Gessobord Masonite. This piece will be included in the “Fall Harvest Show” at the Plainsmen Galley in Clearwater, FL. For more information call 1-888-779-2240. Signed/numbered prints available. Edition of 150. Original is available. $2500.00 Inquire today about purchasing the original. Call 307-899-2052 or email info@karchnerwesternart.com Measures: 11″ x 14″ |
July 30th, 2010
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This is my third painting of my good friend, Sheldon Hanson. It is traditional oils on Ampersand Gessobord. The overall size is 11″ x 14″. I painted in the background awhile back to make sure that it was dry. This is day one of my work in progress. Here I painted in the base coat for his coyote skin cap.
I had Sheldon pose in an old, full length, buffalo skin robe. He was wearing a full coyote skin cap while holding his favorite flintlock rifle.
Here is day two. I have added more detail to Sheldon’s coyote skin cap. I will add some more detail after that paint dries. I have roughed in his face and beard. There is still quite a bit of detail to be added here once the base coat sets up over night.
This is day three. I added a little more base coat to Sheldon’s beard. After it dries, I will start to paint in the actual hairs. I roughed in the collar on his buffalo skin coat and his leather fringed shirt. The dark red piece of cloth with the brass ring is what holds the eagle feather that is lying on his left shoulder.
On day four, I added a little more hair to Sheldon’s beard. I still have some more to paint once it dries. I roughed in his flintlock rifle and his hand. Once the paint sets up, I can finish detailing both. I also roughed in part of his coyote skin cap that is lying on his left shoulder.
Here is the final. If you look, you will see the final details that I added to his face if you compare it to version four.
Thanks for riding along. Stay tuned, there are many more of my work-in-progresses to come. Denny |
July 22nd, 2010
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This is bronze artist extraordinaire, Don Hershberger. Don is 55 years old when I painted him in 2008. He lives in nearby, Clark, Wyoming. Don has lived the lived of a cowboy here in Wyoming for many, many years but he has always found the time to create. His bronze work consists of cowboys, horses, Native Americans and wild animals from the area. One other interesting fact about Don is that he is a cowboy preacher.
Here is day one. I posed Don on his ranch in Clark. He is holding his favorite lasso, leaning against his classic buck rail fence. The piece is traditional oils on Ampersand, Gessobord Masonite. The overall size is 18″ x 24″.
Here is a close-up of his face.
Here is day two’s work. The hand and shirt are still pretty rough. These are two items that I have to let set up over night then work all the detail on top the next day.
I spent most of the day detailing Don’s shirt and hand and I am still not quite done. There is still quite a bit of detailing to do once the paint dries more, stitches, highlights and so on.
Day four. I have roughed in his right leg, chaps and his boot.
I have had many people ask why I paint the subject first. I do find it is much easier for me to do it this way. Is this normal? I bet it is probably not. Most artists probably work the other way around and leave a hole for the subject. I am not normal and I don’t do things the way most do. I did try this before and I ended up putting marks in that background and had to redo a lot of it. I paint pretty fast, so almost all of my oil paint is still pretty wet as I work. I am very inpatient and won’t wait for paint to dry before continuing on. My main concern is the subject. I am a portrait artist, not much of a landscape artist. I want the subject just right and perfect first and foremost before doing that background. By putting in the background last also helps me to get the right contrast and detail I want in that background. I might go lighter, darker, more contrast then my reference photograph. Having the subject done first, helps me to make the right call. Here I roughed in his left leg and chaps. I then detailed his chaps on his right leg and his boot. The background is next.
I have got the background started. It is still pretty rough, same with the wood rail. I should be able to smooth all that out with a dry brush the next day and finish all the detail in the wood. One thing that I forgot to mention was that we photographed Don just after the sun went behind the famous Bear Tooth Mountains behind us. It just gave the sky a slight pink hue and the mountains in the background such a great blue color. If everything goes well, I should have the background and the buck rail fence roughed in next.
I have the background all roughed in. Now you can see why his foot was at an odd angle. Each section of the buck rail fence has its own brace. That is what Don’s foot is resting on. I detailed Don’s chaps on his left leg. There is still quite a bit of detail on the wood. It will also take a while to smooth all the edges on Don. No matter how careful you are, you still get a little paint on him where the background bumps up to him. For me, it is still easier painting the subject first. Lasso and detailing are next.
Here is the final. The lasso actually took me two days to complete. I had to rough in the texture, let it set up over night and I finished detailing it the second day. I added more detail to the buck rail and several other places as well.
Here are some close ups.
Thanks for riding along. Stay tuned, there are many more of my works in progress to come. Denny |
June 14th, 2010
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L.C. Greenwood was part of the four Super Bowl teams from the 1970’s. He was also one of the original Steel Curtain members. L. C. was a 10th-round draft choice out of Arkansas AM&N in 1969 and became a starter in 1971 when he led the team in QB sacks with 8-1/2, the first of four times he accomplished this feat. He was second on the Steelers career sack list with 73-1/2. He was exceptionally quick and at 6′ 6-1/2″ was very difficult to block and with DT Joe Greene and LB Jam Ham formed an impregnable left side of the Steel Curtain. L. C. was a great big game player in Supper Bowl IX against Minnesota where he knocked down three of Fran Tarkenton’s passes. In Super Bowl X, he sacked Roger Staubach three times. Greenwood was named to the 1970’s NFL Team of Decade and was voted to more all NFL teams in the 1970’s than any other DE. L. C. was named to the Pro Bowl 6 times, a member of the 75th Silver Anniversary Super Bow Team, spent 13 years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and was nominated to the Pro Football Hall of Fame 16 times.
L.C. was often seen sitting along the Steeler bench with the infamous towel over his head. But the thing that really made L.C. as a stand out other than his shear tenacity on the field was his Steeler gold shoes! You could pick him out anywhere on the playing field. By the NFL rules, a player cannot wear anything other than the team issued shoes. L.C. told me, back in the day, Nike paid the fines so he could wear those famous shoes. This is a commission piece that I did for Art Rooney, Jr., owner of the Steelers. Here is a photograph at the luncheon that Mr. Rooney had for L.C. and I. It was at the famous Piccolina’s Italian Restaurant in Pittsburgh. Mr. Rooney unveiled my new portraits of L.C. and Donnie Shell.
The painting was made into a collector card which is a limited edition of 1000.
The painting is traditional oils on Museum-grade Ampersand, Gessobord Masonite. The overall size is 16″ x 20″. This piece is SOLD. |
June 14th, 2010
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Donnie Shell was part of the four Super Bowl teams from the 1970’s. He was also one of the original Steel Curtain members. Shell was one of the greatest undrafted free agents in NFL history. He came to the Steelers in 1974 after a stellar career at South Carolina State as a linebacker and safety. In his first three seasons, he was one of the best special teams players in the NFL. In 1977, he became a full-time starter and led the team in interceptions four times. Donnie was the first strong safety in NFL history to intercept 50 passes and still holds the NFL record for career interceptions with 51. During his 14 seasons, he made the Pro Bowl five consecutive times and was a standout on four Super Bowl winning teams. As a team captain, he was a great leader with his hard-hitting physical style of play. Donnie was nominated to the Pro Football Hall of Fame nine times.
This is a commission piece that I did for Art Rooney, Jr., owner of the Steelers. The painting was made into a collector card, which is a limited edition of 1000. The painting is traditional oils on Museum-grade Masonite. The overall size is 16″ x 20″. This piece is SOLD.
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May 8th, 2010
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This is Hall of Famer, Ernie Stauter. He played for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1950 to 1963. After retiring as a player, Stautner joined the Dallas Cowboys as an Assistant Coach. He helped coach the team to two Super Bowl titles in 1971 and 1977. Stautner is credited with developing some of the greatest defensive lineman in Cowboy’s history, including Randy White and Ed “Too Tall” Jones. Stautner also served as an Assistant with the Steelers, Washington Redskins and Denver Broncos.
This is a photograph of Ernie and Pittsburgh Steeler Owner, Dan Rooney the day his #70 jersey was retired. He is the only Steeler to have that honor.
Here is day one. This is an 11″ x 14″ portrait done in pencil. Here is the piece as it laid on my drawing desk. This shows my heavy-weight illustration board taped off. You can see the reference photo that I worked from along with my German Faber-Castell 4B, 6B and 8B drawing pencils, kneaded eraser and blending stick.
Here is a close-up of the first day’s work.
This is day two.
Day three.
Day four.
Day five. Here I am removing the drafting tape from the final. This gives the piece a very clean edge.
Here is the final. The dark background took hours of drawing to achieve. I used a soft stick of charcoal. I draw it in then rub the charcoal with a soft tissue. It takes several layers to get the area dark enough until I am satisfied with the results.
This is the Rooney Collector Card that I created from my original pencil drawing. All the card elements are created on my MAC computer using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. The cards are printed in California in a limited edition run of only 1000.
Thanks for looking! Stay tuned, there are many more of my works in progress to come. Denny |
April 8th, 2010
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This is my latest painting. It is Pittsburgh Steeler, Donnie Shell. He was part of the four Super Bowl teams from the 1970’s. He was also one of the original Steel Curtain members. This is a commission piece that I am doing for Art Rooney, Jr., owner of the Steelers. The painting will be made into a collector card which will be a limited edition of 1000.
The painting is traditional oils on Museum-grade Masonite. The overall size is 16″ x 20″. This is day one of my work in progress.
Here is day two of my painting of Steeler, Donnie Shell. I finished detailing his face and started laying down the base coat for his jersey. The front of the jersey, #31 and arm stripes coming next.
Here is day three of my painting of Steeler, Donnie Shell. I reworked his face slightly and started to detail his jersey.
Getting close now. Still a lot of detailing on the arms and the pants.
Here is the fifth version. I spent several hours detailing his left arm and hand. I added more detail to his pants and jersey. One other thing that I did, which is hard to see here, I painted in all the stitches around the #31.
Here is the completed painting of Donnie Shell, background added and signed.
The whole purpose of me painting these players for Art Rooney, Jr., is to have the image placed into a limited edition collector card. The edition number is 1000. They are 4.5″ x 6.25″ in size printed on heavy stock. The back side will have a post card type mailer look, along with all of Shell’s stats. I also create all the card graphics using Photoshop. Here is the front of the Shell card.
Thanks for looking! Stay tuned, there are many more of my works in progress to come. Denny |
February 26th, 2010
Awhile back I have the extreme privilege of meeting a fellow artist, Charles Ott. He creates some of the tightest pen and inks I have ever seen. Charles is from Pittsburgh. His subjects are the famous structures and landscapes of the “Burgh.” Charles just approached me about featuring my artwork on his website “Steel City Artist Illustrations.” Please check it out and while your there, do yourself a favor and check his work. You won’t be sorry!
A “big thanks” Charles!
Denny
January 27th, 2010
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This is my good friend, Gordon Bond of Land Of Lakes, Florida. Shiloh Jasper Green as he calls himself, is a member of S.A.S.S aka the Single Action Shooting Society that is a national group who are quick draw artists and shooting competitors.
Here is day one. This is a 16″ x 20″ portrait with the background roughed in. I am painting with traditional oils. This painting is on museum-grade Masonite made by Ampersand. It has a white, textured clay surface and covered with white gesso.
Here is day two. I had managed to get Gordon’s face all roughed in.
Here is a close up of Gordon’s face after smoothing his facial tones with a dry brush. My wife Leigh took the reference photograph that I used to paint from. If you closely at Gordon’s right eye, you will clearly see the beautiful orange sunset, trees and sky reflected there.
Day three. I have roughed in the base coat for Gordon’s bandana and metal star concho.
Here is day four. You can see that I have painted in my basecoat for the shirt and vest.
Day five. I laid down what are the heavy shadow areas of the shirt and vest. I also roughed in the pouch of Gordon’s Levi Garrett chewing tobacco sticking out of his vest pocket.
On day six I have finished all the details on the shirt and vest. I have painted in Gordon’s S.A.S.S. badge that all members wear. Each member has one that is exclusive. Also, each member has their own number. If you look on one of the close-ups below, you can see clearly that Gordon’s member number is 16357. Also you will notice that in the reflection, you will see the blue sky reflecting on the top of the metal and the bright yellow of the fall grass at his feet reflecting on the bottom part of his badge.
On day seven I finished up the portrait by painting in the chrome link chain that has Gordon’s watch on one end in his pocket and the metal, enameled S.A.S.S. logo on the other end. If you look, you will see the end of a special stick in his vest pocket. This is used to remove the spent primers of his Navy Colt Revolver that he uses for his competition shoots.
Final photo. Here are three close-ups.
Gordon was so pleased with my effort that he asked to have his picture taken with the piece. You can see, even in real life, his face has so much character… I had to add nothing. I want to thank Gordon once again for posing for me and becoming one of my good friends. As he signs all his emails to me, Pards for life!!
Thanks for looking! Stay tuned, there are many more of my works in progress to come. Denny |
