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This is version one of my “work-in-progress” of Troy’s oil painting. This piece is being done on a specially prepared 1/8″ Masonite board. It is called “Claybord” manufactured by the Ampersand company. The board has a base layer of white clay, over-layed with a coating of Gesso. The surface is rather smooth. It has just enough tooth to help pull the paint from the brush. It is considerably more of a smoother surface than most canvas surfaces. The two biggest advantages are that the Masonite is a lot more stable and durable than a canvas and the smooth surface lets me get a more desirable “realistic” finished piece.
The oil painting is quite a bit bigger than the pencil study. Troy’s image is just shy of being life-size. The Claybord is 18″ x 24″ overall and I paint edge-to-edge. After drawing all my lines on the board, I started painting Troy’s helmet and face. As you can see, having the face guard over his face gives an added challenge to make sure all the spaces between the bars look like they all look like they go with his face. It sounds simple but you are dealing with many different colors and shading in such small areas.The trick is to get his likeness to show through these small areas. One other thing that I am dealing with is, the bars from the face guard are casting shadows in several places on his flesh and chin strap. I have been told that he looks just like a “modern day warrior.” One reason other than he truly is, is the shadows from the bars almost give the appearance of war paint.
Here is version two. As you can see, I have roughed in the face guard bars. His face guard is so classic, like many of other Steeler face guards. They wear all the battle marks and polished wear. These are the kind of things that really bring a piece alive and say so much much about the person and how he plays the game, “In your face!!”
This is version three. I have done something different with Troy’s piece because of his hair. On an oil painting, I almost always paint in the background last. Because his hair is so fine and dark, I switched it up and painted in the faded background first. Most of my pencil study backgrounds are almost always done on the very first step after drawing my lines in.
This is version 4. On my pencil study, I draw all the dark shadows between the hair over a lightly rubbed surface. Here, I lay down a solid dark area.
On version 5, I use a soft, bristled, blunt-ended brush. I stand the brush straight up and pretty much dab and blend all at the same time. Because of both things are wet, they tend to blend together to form a nice transition between background and hair. This is why I painted the background first. I have roughed in many of the “fly-away hairs” and I will be adding more after the hair and background dry some. Now, onto the areas below.
Here is version 6. As you can see I have roughed in the black areas of Troy’s jersey. When I say “rough,” this is extremely rough. I will smooth the whole thing out after the paint sets up slightly. I will add a lot more contrast. The shadow areas will be much darker. After this dries completely, I will do the tedious work of painting the hundreds of holes in the front panel of his jersey. Meantime, I will work the shoulder pad area. Nothing like a great “Steeler Gold” to make this whole piece “pop!”
Version 7 as promised. Be it that many areas are still rough, it is starting to come together nicely. I will be detailing Troy’s jersey in version 8. There will another version or two after that.
This is version 8. All that I got this evening is nothing but holes! My eyes are going buggy. I seem to get the effect I wanted. It is tough job getting the holes to look like they are in a perfect pattern even though there are many folds to paint around. Tomorrow should be the final. Stay tuned.
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Archive for August, 2009
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This is the first installment of the “work-in-progress” for Troy Polamalu’s pencil study. This will aid in the process of working into the oil painting that is coming next. The pencil study helps to work out any hard to see details and techniques to get the right textures, shading, shadows and so on. The overall image size is 10″ x 16″ where as the oil will be 18″ x 24″ overall. I started by hand-rubbing in the cloudy background. It is achieved by applying powdered charcoal using a Kleenex tissue on my index finger.
You can see the charcoal I am using on the piece of paper in the photograph below. Most of the actual drawing is done with German-made “Faber-Castell” drawing pencils. I use a very soft lead. The pencils are 6B and 8B grade. A normal “school pencil” is usually a 2B. This is how I am able to achieve the darkest of darks. It is very hard to keep a good point on the pencils and they do require frequent sharpening. Thank God for electric sharpeners!
The first “work-in-progress” picture of Troy was done in 5-6 hours. In the second picture, I am 9-10 hours into the piece. I finished the last session by laying down a dark base for Troy’s hair. You can see me actually laying this area in on the last photo. I will be detailing the hair next.
This is my next session. What I call the “hair session” that is. I have roughly drew in the darkest areas of Troy’s hair with a 8B pencil. I pretty much drew right over the charcoal base that I laid down in version 2. It’s funny, I used to hate drawing hair, now it is one of my favorite things to do. I have more people ask me how I do the hair. The secret is to draw “between the hair” and not the hair, except on the ends.
On this next step, I rubbed the shaded areas with a paper rub stick and smoothed out all the sharp edges on the shadows. A rub stick or paper “Blending Tortillon” as they are called, has somewhat of a point on the end. After I smooth all the pencil lead around, it coats the end pretty well. This is what I use to draw many of the wispy strands of hair. I also use a sharpened 4B pencil to finish off the remaining hair.
I will go in and smooth the hair a little more when I blend the hair into the background.
It is really hard to judge how long it takes to draw certain things in a piece. Case in point, rendering Troy’s hair, it took a lot less time to do than I figured. I really thought I would breeze through the shoulder pad area. It took almost six hours to just rough in this area. The stitching took a little longer than I thought. Things like the stitching will really get people’s attention. I have been asked many times how I am able to make something look so real. Right out of my mouth comes, “I draw what I see,” just that simple.
Just one little thing that I noticed is that it looks like the jersey is literally stuck to the shoulder pad. The big crease around the bottom of the hard pad would not usually form to that shape that tight. There are also some “tell-tale” wrinkles that look like that they were created by using a spray adhesive. Maybe I am just blowing smoke. Less chance of someone getting their hands on the jersey? Anyway, I like how the shoulder area is coming around.
I am leaving the hundreds of mesh holes on the front of the jersey until last. The hardest challenge is last. I should have one more version before the final.
The Signing
The Final Piece
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This “pencil” was drawn using a photograph for reference taken by photographer, Eugene Pirou in Paris, France in 1896.
This piece was published in the Buffalo Bill Historical Centers, “Points West” Fall 2004 Magazine. The title of the article is “Building the West”, written by Karchners’ good friend George Mongon, Deputy Director of the BBHC. Pencil on heavy-weight illustration board. Edition of 250. Original is unavailable. Measures: 7.8″ x 10″ |
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This is a “pencil” of the cocky, flamboyant and brave, golden-haired George Armstrong Custer. A general at 23, he was one of the Union’s most celebrated cavalrymen. By 1865, the time of this reference photo by Civil War Photographer Matthew Brady, he had seen action in most engagements in the eastern theater. A subordinate described Custer as “the idol, as well as the idol of his men, the foremost cavalry officer of his time.”
With a showdown battle in Pennsylvania anticipated, the colorful 23 year-old George Armstrong Custer was jumped past most of his peers and made a brigadier general by George G. Meade. After Gettysburg, Custer fought other battles. Aside from his Civil War service, he is best known for his defeat and death at the Little Bighorn River on June 25, 1876. This is a postwar portrait, since Custer did not display the insignia of a major general until after April 15, 1865. Pencil on heavy-weight illustration board. Edition of 250. Original is unavailable. Measures: 14″ x 18″ |
