Pruett Carter's Preliminaries

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.illustration-house.com/bios/carter_bio.html">Pruett Carter </a>(1891-1955) was an American illustrator who lived in Los Angeles and freelanced for the women's magazines in New York. In the days before email, faxes and FedEx, he often had to ship sketches back and forth to the art directors by special air couriers. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0tlNAB13KGUYGoHQ7i1l_vsCu9fPZrQLbHTYh9DG22gpc4A0U6_myWq24V1DqLxt-bXPMZzywFrJUwDWpgB8_HA5q9D9x1zI-lULuQi9Erqb8KReZodTbBZ1l_Ea1eFeOjQmMRC4UyLUI/s1600/Pruett+Carter+Summer+Lands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0tlNAB13KGUYGoHQ7i1l_vsCu9fPZrQLbHTYh9DG22gpc4A0U6_myWq24V1DqLxt-bXPMZzywFrJUwDWpgB8_HA5q9D9x1zI-lULuQi9Erqb8KReZodTbBZ1l_Ea1eFeOjQmMRC4UyLUI/s1600/Pruett+Carter+Summer+Lands.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's a finished illustration, a double page magazine illustration for a story called "Summer Land."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>In Carter's day, sometimes the art director would suggest a rough layout. Back then, most art directors could draw well. Carter himself was an art director for a while.<br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-BZ4gIdjc_Oe7gV43jFhq71T2-gua2Rzq2wqllEhF11-ggMgVIQ5XAQljgVv_WwNpv-N2tzVZk6VjZAI1VvEmdstt8acwcfnXvSAUvgCesJdWmTsi-vvpfTJxwdISSwpElmPsVxkUmirj/s1600/Carter+rough.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-BZ4gIdjc_Oe7gV43jFhq71T2-gua2Rzq2wqllEhF11-ggMgVIQ5XAQljgVv_WwNpv-N2tzVZk6VjZAI1VvEmdstt8acwcfnXvSAUvgCesJdWmTsi-vvpfTJxwdISSwpElmPsVxkUmirj/s1600/Carter+rough.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But Carter himself planned this composition. After reading the manuscript he did several thumbnail roughs. This one includes a box for the copy and the title block, and a strong triangular shape awareness for the girl. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIWs-iDJJKMjJ7U7qruyMyJyK61UUb8Nm0dt3Gs2B6kkxoyV2idmt1gx7OvLxf69CCtvlhR0E2aZA7Topavd3J25G_SwXFfUFx0c67aii6sU5dhod1Y_qBS-VDRjxmX9BX35DOIvLkfpN/s1600/Carter+layout.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIWs-iDJJKMjJ7U7qruyMyJyK61UUb8Nm0dt3Gs2B6kkxoyV2idmt1gx7OvLxf69CCtvlhR0E2aZA7Topavd3J25G_SwXFfUFx0c67aii6sU5dhod1Y_qBS-VDRjxmX9BX35DOIvLkfpN/s1600/Carter+layout.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In his early days, Carter drew and painted from live models, but he later shot photo reference. This is the pencil underlay for the color sketch, made with the benefit of models. The original is 17 x 22 inches.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVRIOap5qFzAd0SfJR9UefiL5s5BUFI4sYy2TgiTVMRR_YX9OVn_Bec_iuZBUnRJTFWul8zT0r43ndQcOq3Gk9hahN4I7OBkaZIvRgwIJ23rRqCI7unY9nYSL8OGYl_A4PMgF1uOefs7ws/s1600/Carter+comp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVRIOap5qFzAd0SfJR9UefiL5s5BUFI4sYy2TgiTVMRR_YX9OVn_Bec_iuZBUnRJTFWul8zT0r43ndQcOq3Gk9hahN4I7OBkaZIvRgwIJ23rRqCI7unY9nYSL8OGYl_A4PMgF1uOefs7ws/s1600/Carter+comp.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>He had an unusual method for color comps (above). He would transfer the drawing to transparent acetate sheets (like animation cels) and then paint the color in oil on the acetate, trying out different color combinations on overlaid layers. "The spots which look like dirt on the girl's legs and jacket and the boy's trousers are actually shadows created by air bubbles between the layers of acetate."<br /><br />Ernest Watson writes that the acetate comp method "allows the greatest possible flexibility. If dissatisfied with any part, the painting can be wiped off and a new trial made. Usually, however, another sheet of acetate is laid down right on top of the first painting. This adheres to the wet painting and affords a fresh surface upon which the new trial for that particular area is to be made. The new transparent sheet may cover the entire picture or, as is usual, it may be a small piece designed only to cover the area to be corrected. There might be as many as fifteen or sixteen such overlays on a completed painting, a patch here, a fragment there....The advantage of this method of painting on overlays is obvious. The original drawing is not lost in the painting process; it is always under the acetate to be used as a guide."<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvNU-b413Y4frH5eVYi067EMNExkLpVtkGOScQGjbyXjMTQyJkZb_9gUL2uIDoiKD6nxOWXT9f-_Q3_zCfqv01xzBbC_wyXqWEbhAATwehJLL8jQlpiTUzOcpCdi_YeMl41Uy6_ERNJScD/s1600/Pruett+Carter+Illustration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvNU-b413Y4frH5eVYi067EMNExkLpVtkGOScQGjbyXjMTQyJkZb_9gUL2uIDoiKD6nxOWXT9f-_Q3_zCfqv01xzBbC_wyXqWEbhAATwehJLL8jQlpiTUzOcpCdi_YeMl41Uy6_ERNJScD/s1600/Pruett+Carter+Illustration.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">Illustration by Pruett Carter<br />-----</td></tr></tbody></table>Note for researchers: There's a chapter about Pruett Carter in Fred Taraba's excellent book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0982004141/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0982004141&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=PAT5GZVWXMF32LXO">Masters of American Illustration: 41 Illustrators and How They Worked</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0982004141" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />However, there is no Wikipedia page for Pruett Carter. Would someone like to create one?  He had an interesting career, but <a href="http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=91862782">he had a sad end.</a> The material in this post is adapted from <i>American Artist,</i> March, 1950. These old American Artist magazines aren't online or digitized anywhere to my knowledge, so if you like I'll keep bringing you nuggets like this.<br /><br />

Pruett Carter's Preliminaries

Pruett Carter (1891-1955) was an American illustrator who lived in Los Angeles and freelanced for the women's magazines in New York. In ...

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Steps for "Strategy Session"

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqhXnC0BCXeeMVApMrM3JWaPquEPYJtA281iaPHoVhyphenhyphenEJnv8SxY4Y7QUa2ZyJ7x6tv-jSUtL_kH8v-37EUPLxI6Dz84NdfCeoH7tk5kZYmku7uNI5Q0cTSRIi9eZg7sOVHdabZdZ3QEYf2/s1600/StrategySession.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqhXnC0BCXeeMVApMrM3JWaPquEPYJtA281iaPHoVhyphenhyphenEJnv8SxY4Y7QUa2ZyJ7x6tv-jSUtL_kH8v-37EUPLxI6Dz84NdfCeoH7tk5kZYmku7uNI5Q0cTSRIi9eZg7sOVHdabZdZ3QEYf2/s1600/StrategySession.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="text-align: center;">Here's a small spot illustration called "Strategy Session" that I did for the back cover of a </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0441240909/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0441240909&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=255ZLJU4FMSKSGH3">science fiction paperback</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0441240909" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><span style="text-align: center;"> in the late 1980s, showing a group of interplanetary military types planning their next move.</span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd9vHkxiZAx3UCK5W3NxMcq-UaZ-mjqfyDm3QAim_AzNHGdxp7aeOpNbsOnPYWWIFJyFWTI5Npok6gfxDuwTmMeGAa7cGO692UBtsKV9uHd79p5h4hE3HONVueCXn8Y1Ovvv7DjoYMQWN_/s1600/StratSessDrawings.concept.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd9vHkxiZAx3UCK5W3NxMcq-UaZ-mjqfyDm3QAim_AzNHGdxp7aeOpNbsOnPYWWIFJyFWTI5Npok6gfxDuwTmMeGAa7cGO692UBtsKV9uHd79p5h4hE3HONVueCXn8Y1Ovvv7DjoYMQWN_/s1600/StratSessDrawings.concept.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />Here's the first concept sketch from imagination, drawn with a pen and markers. I did four or five of these sketches, and the art director and I chose this one with a red dot.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsVARn3FRwOP-jVXCn6NDapuiFmx6G88CWxGyiLLeTciKlygRPn3Utl0449nlxTL7d1aq9H7wCMB250MS3rrwt_2c0B49TJqQt9BnM0ZKRov9Ew2ncESj3vE3xDsKx1ZQ2_KaMrMjQTdyI/s1600/StrategyStudyHammerhead.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsVARn3FRwOP-jVXCn6NDapuiFmx6G88CWxGyiLLeTciKlygRPn3Utl0449nlxTL7d1aq9H7wCMB250MS3rrwt_2c0B49TJqQt9BnM0ZKRov9Ew2ncESj3vE3xDsKx1ZQ2_KaMrMjQTdyI/s1600/StrategyStudyHammerhead.sm.jpg" width="350" /></a><br />The next step was to work out each of the creatures. I did this charcoal study of "Hammerhead" while wearing an old costume and looking in the mirror. Yeah, that's me posing. That's pretty much how I look when I try to pull an all-nighter.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4aDTBrTmVVfmA24AU1YFEL-lMV9IBEQoDrp0L4uzdmWoY-IdoeyoVfkuff4KKIy8vhiC2AGEr4mYC9EXrIuOEyQF3kaV3t7UVYH1okDoHMPQZR53rZQAvNz869ByZCJjWimaIKkOWh2J0/s1600/Strategy+Session+Model.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4aDTBrTmVVfmA24AU1YFEL-lMV9IBEQoDrp0L4uzdmWoY-IdoeyoVfkuff4KKIy8vhiC2AGEr4mYC9EXrIuOEyQF3kaV3t7UVYH1okDoHMPQZR53rZQAvNz869ByZCJjWimaIKkOWh2J0/s1600/Strategy+Session+Model.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Here's another study on tone paper. I put on the costume, took the pose, and used two mirrors so that I could see myself in side view. The little planar study helped me focus on the big simple forms of the head.<br /><br />I like doing studies instead of taking photo reference not because I want to be low-tech and classical, but because this method is more practical. It's faster than taking a photo—or at least it was faster when you had to get photos processed overnight. But more importantly, it gets me thinking about artistic choices right away, and I'm not swayed by incidental details.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUnMCe8vpVYVAh6D2azAgmiIShbqspOviEvVm7nMVrRHBnhN4JOw0paam3HfmGCMl66Uj-BwFShQP4irzXFKn9fUCCmahO2obkkNteRX7GSmyOoNHr37_NCVFzcD4dFODC0w1gG6mglScL/s1600/StratSessDrawings.line.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUnMCe8vpVYVAh6D2azAgmiIShbqspOviEvVm7nMVrRHBnhN4JOw0paam3HfmGCMl66Uj-BwFShQP4irzXFKn9fUCCmahO2obkkNteRX7GSmyOoNHr37_NCVFzcD4dFODC0w1gG6mglScL/s1600/StratSessDrawings.line.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />Once I had all the studies, I worked them into a line drawing, which I transferred down to the panel in preparation for the oil painting, which is about 6 x 12 inches.<br />------<br />The painting appeared on the back cover of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0441240909/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0441240909&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20&linkId=255ZLJU4FMSKSGH3">The Fleet #4: Sworn Allies by David Drake</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0441240909" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />

Steps for "Strategy Session"

Here's a small spot illustration called "Strategy Session" that I did for the back cover of a  science fiction paperback  in t...

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Sketches for "Digging Leviathan"

Here are some initial concept sketches for the cover of a 1984 science fiction novel called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Digging_Leviathan">Digging Leviathan</a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Blaylock">James Blaylock</a>.  <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI8JrJVuaCon5ncsaUqM64bYDTzm8iYmZe9-ceBLUDNg1tDpEMr3QrM-DKTLAYDrTqoHjBuGVuNJLNGLAo-BXRPdPlgnBASycKyQA7yIzIjeC73tdbn3kfkzKrofe_jkoZ1G0_XP7rWhNl/s1600/Digging_Leviathan.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI8JrJVuaCon5ncsaUqM64bYDTzm8iYmZe9-ceBLUDNg1tDpEMr3QrM-DKTLAYDrTqoHjBuGVuNJLNGLAo-BXRPdPlgnBASycKyQA7yIzIjeC73tdbn3kfkzKrofe_jkoZ1G0_XP7rWhNl/s1600/Digging_Leviathan.sm.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_MZunsuahTuB6WJz9vG9TKszQLtk-zlnRds9gkagussthyDqSK3wx-zgBRSJI3N7UE80ycCHaBQKB8BQABIQ2tfma4L5s1sq6IyWJnbgzZ15r8tKZdiu1RiAg68vvONJfhtlwpbVdgXs/s1600-h/Digging_leviathan.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_MZunsuahTuB6WJz9vG9TKszQLtk-zlnRds9gkagussthyDqSK3wx-zgBRSJI3N7UE80ycCHaBQKB8BQABIQ2tfma4L5s1sq6IyWJnbgzZ15r8tKZdiu1RiAg68vvONJfhtlwpbVdgXs/s400/Digging_leviathan.jpg" /></a>The sketches are drawn in pen and marker. I was trying to stay loose, letting ideas happen with each iteration, like a musician's multiple takes in a recording studio.<br /><br />In the story, the hero makes a machine that can dig under modern-day Los Angeles in search of Pellucidar.<br /><br />Blaylock is widely regarded as one of the originators of the steampunk movement. I loved the way he introduced fantastical elements into the banal reality of the modern world.<br />-----<br />See an unused color sketch for this cover at the previous post, "<a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/12/digging-machine.html">Digging Machine</a>"

Sketches for "Digging Leviathan"

Here are some initial concept sketches for the cover of a 1984 science fiction novel called  Digging Leviathan by James Blaylock .   The sk...

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Richard III by E. A. Abbey

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQCbwpPgrfxOptsfU_qkh4twrazREoqh35SIGkFqK-20s_mTcxUeLQY1thPWYkzhU3J72p5W-l155drIvW3g-pQ7Ys1kcGlI4XPTSD39Xn-FiP8yCGRXNKcytLVQYQv1aiB7SXPjf9DedV/s1600/Richard+III+bones+Leicester.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQCbwpPgrfxOptsfU_qkh4twrazREoqh35SIGkFqK-20s_mTcxUeLQY1thPWYkzhU3J72p5W-l155drIvW3g-pQ7Ys1kcGlI4XPTSD39Xn-FiP8yCGRXNKcytLVQYQv1aiB7SXPjf9DedV/s400/Richard+III+bones+Leicester.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2013/feb/04/richard-iii-leicester-car-park-video">The Guardian</a> announced yesterday that the bones found underneath a parking lot in Leicester, do indeed belong to Richard III, England's last Plantagenet king, who was killed in 1485 in the battle of Bosworth. The clues included DNA tests, the variety of injuries, and the distinctive deformed spine.<br /><br />Richard III was the subject of a Shakespeare play, a famous scene of which was painted by Edwin Austin Abbey (1852-1911).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcK-IGe2zPCc4EjWJyZb6RViOu72nUyoHXiqOC6M-QpKw6faU9DT-gyBFKwbmw1mbvwg8LtrUsoB242Rr4W4BZLHueHkOYI0bQs24cq2Mo0znMvXcx2_pjYLJP9gXLv6gmaY8YuwN7DgmU/s1600/Edwin_Austin_Abbey_richard_duke_of_gloucester_and_the_lady_anne_1896.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcK-IGe2zPCc4EjWJyZb6RViOu72nUyoHXiqOC6M-QpKw6faU9DT-gyBFKwbmw1mbvwg8LtrUsoB242Rr4W4BZLHueHkOYI0bQs24cq2Mo0znMvXcx2_pjYLJP9gXLv6gmaY8YuwN7DgmU/s400/Edwin_Austin_Abbey_richard_duke_of_gloucester_and_the_lady_anne_1896.jpeg" width="400" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div>The painting is in the collection of the Yale Art Gallery, which says the painting "shows the villainous, humpbacked Richard proposing to Lady Anne, Henry VI's widowed daughter-in-law, as she walks in the late king's funeral procession. Swathed in a sheer black veil and wearing a gown stiff with heraldic embroidery, she is accompanied by Richard's two young nephews and black-cloaked, halberd-bearing honor guards, their halberds reversed as a sign of mourning."<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh198VhB0LUwo7jeDhAVoFKcBltTSzldnup_tUVR0zA5NV3-9WF2VCc16530aeMEJOsZOs9tpQXHssLvHtXTaq4g18fnE8_dCk1-0miurn7gRp54m4i6r29wilr8dwF22MzCJwuzDmjc-m9/s1600/Richard+III+Abbey+Study1.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh198VhB0LUwo7jeDhAVoFKcBltTSzldnup_tUVR0zA5NV3-9WF2VCc16530aeMEJOsZOs9tpQXHssLvHtXTaq4g18fnE8_dCk1-0miurn7gRp54m4i6r29wilr8dwF22MzCJwuzDmjc-m9/s400/Richard+III+Abbey+Study1.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div>Abbey's preliminary studies show how the composition took shape. This early oil study concentrates on the protagonists, with Lady Anne leaning away from Richard's dastardly gesture as he offers the ring. </div><div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_k9thCAZVCPs1O7BCGv6YAKN4x6SxdQOfMPDVEdZKuWe1nuhbVXb1QMiDkB6L6NfksEzDd12UCW1zZA9ZkPipw11zFN5fLTRbc6CTgIjNuYoqEHFkEX9m9gGN_9O93837cHeO8ZjF-7cG/s1600/Richard+III+Abbey+Study2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_k9thCAZVCPs1O7BCGv6YAKN4x6SxdQOfMPDVEdZKuWe1nuhbVXb1QMiDkB6L6NfksEzDd12UCW1zZA9ZkPipw11zFN5fLTRbc6CTgIjNuYoqEHFkEX9m9gGN_9O93837cHeO8ZjF-7cG/s400/Richard+III+Abbey+Study2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div>Another oil sketch resolves the finery of their costumes, and the dark processional figures begin to emerge from the background. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsGiB9DCefT7sxy3wbvKMPdm1WvpxBB13iMgn7qfkNuWAhIRUACQ_2QgCOZWV1xiivoiAwfp4YQGseJ9UohZzchngjeXkwpNLraHQQ9plTsVNIc9Q1v6pkg4l1ragq6vvX1DZ9CVMM1hBI/s1600/Richard+III+Abbey+Study3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsGiB9DCefT7sxy3wbvKMPdm1WvpxBB13iMgn7qfkNuWAhIRUACQ_2QgCOZWV1xiivoiAwfp4YQGseJ9UohZzchngjeXkwpNLraHQQ9plTsVNIc9Q1v6pkg4l1ragq6vvX1DZ9CVMM1hBI/s400/Richard+III+Abbey+Study3.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Here's a later sketch, which Abbey would have done from his imagination, while doing studies of models taking the poses. Abbey's friend John Singer Sargent sent over a model that he thought would be perfect for the Lady Anne.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIRCyC8ACRILlzCZRRIhpIcSuuMm9lmkUlzBOh3voWZt6dvF6FZ4ka8yv2NcTTe0jWkdKMnGg6PqgOKmjGIJ_1JxljO_Lx2IqaYZ0SK0_kT0FrEDdaed7RHr7PVAYNXrGTQo9Se26zoOkm/s1600/Edwin_Austin_Abby.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIRCyC8ACRILlzCZRRIhpIcSuuMm9lmkUlzBOh3voWZt6dvF6FZ4ka8yv2NcTTe0jWkdKMnGg6PqgOKmjGIJ_1JxljO_Lx2IqaYZ0SK0_kT0FrEDdaed7RHr7PVAYNXrGTQo9Se26zoOkm/s1600/Edwin_Austin_Abby.jpeg" /></a><br />Between research, sketches, and gathering props and costumes, not to mention the final painting, Abbey took months to complete the work. At one point he had painted all the halberds facing upward until he realized that they should facing downward in mourning. He completely repainted the Lady Anne's costume when he realized he got the heraldry wrong the first time out.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5XeplTg4tz7DgmMhxTLjqX-0qDY3SoKwDbw56DX7uMm5k6Ns7rbS9EKgP_adfNmGvb83pkspLIACG3UWZXOy-n-Xw9f0RbCmmLIK95ODaMpBD1mjpeq77i8MKQtES55QcFliJt9YAi3Q9/s1600/Edwin_Austin_Abbey_richard_duke_of_gloucester_and_the_lady_anne_1896.det.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5XeplTg4tz7DgmMhxTLjqX-0qDY3SoKwDbw56DX7uMm5k6Ns7rbS9EKgP_adfNmGvb83pkspLIACG3UWZXOy-n-Xw9f0RbCmmLIK95ODaMpBD1mjpeq77i8MKQtES55QcFliJt9YAi3Q9/s400/Edwin_Austin_Abbey_richard_duke_of_gloucester_and_the_lady_anne_1896.det.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br />The Yale museum describes the scene further: "Shortly before the moment depicted, Anne has heaped curses on Richard for having brutally stabbed to death both her father-in-law and her husband, Edward, Prince of Wales. Undaunted, the fawning Richard praises her extravagantly, asserting that he killed them in order to get near her, and offers to let her kill him, or to kill himself with the unsheathed sword that he holds up. But instead of plunging it into his breast, as she asks, he offers her a wedding ring. She will later succumb to his flattery and declarations of remorse, and accept his proposal." </div><div><br /></div><div>Abbey shows her after her earlier rage has transformed to numbness and vulnerability. </div><div><br /></div><div>The painting was the sensation of the 1896 Royal Academy exhibition. <i>Punch </i>dubbed it "The picture of the year." The <i>Art Journal </i>said it was "one of the artistic surprises of the century." </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://exhibitions.shakespeare.yale.edu/exhibitions/yuag-edwin-austin-abbey/">Yale Art Gallery: "Richard Duke of Gloucester and the Lady Anne"</a><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Austin_Abbey">E. A. Abbey on Wikipedia</a><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2013/feb/04/richard-iii-leicester-car-park-video">Guardian article and video</a><br />The only books on Abbey are:<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1117906582/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1117906582&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20">Edwin Austin Abbey by E.V. Lucas</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1117906582" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div></div><div><div><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1884919006/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1884919006&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20">Unfaded Pageant: Edwin Austin Abbey's Shakespearean Subjects</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1884919006" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div></div><div><div><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006CA47G/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0006CA47G&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20">Edwin Austin Abbey (1852-1911) Exhibition catalog</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0006CA47G" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />A book of Abbey's drawings is currently in development at <a href="http://fleskpublications.com/flesksite/index.php?route=product/category&path=18_65">Flesk Publications</a></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div>

Richard III by E. A. Abbey

The Guardian  announced yesterday that the bones found underneath a parking lot in Leicester, do indeed belong to Richard III, England's...

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Dagnan-Bouveret's preliminary studies

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's the compositional study for the finished painting called "Breton Women at a Pardon" (French: Les Bretonnes au Pardon) painted in 1887 oil on canvas by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal_Dagnan-Bouveret">Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret</a> (1852–1929).</div><div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtxuw5R-SdC4gNL62eEbQQS3MIOOT42IUaJVjZeuMPSzTu49tDziCx3RODCFOyZp3GG94xRTewQBppet7_7L02LG7Z_vdWzLmfdieVtblzDZzLHAuF6zJRQ0qKMWUH-VO7z705CL8EOe8/s1600/Study+for+Breton+Women+at+a+Pardon.+1887.+Oil+on+panel.+40x45cm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtxuw5R-SdC4gNL62eEbQQS3MIOOT42IUaJVjZeuMPSzTu49tDziCx3RODCFOyZp3GG94xRTewQBppet7_7L02LG7Z_vdWzLmfdieVtblzDZzLHAuF6zJRQ0qKMWUH-VO7z705CL8EOe8/s640/Study+for+Breton+Women+at+a+Pardon.+1887.+Oil+on+panel.+40x45cm.jpg" width="358" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>The painting shows seven women in regional French costume waiting for a religious ceremony to begin. The compositional study helped work out the <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2007/10/shape-welding.html">shapewelding</a> of the women at right, whose white shapes are linked together into an interesting larger unit. He also tightened the <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2007/10/clustering.html">clustering</a> of the tree and the far figures in the distance, opening up negative space in the far hill.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifF6ROkXXt9epyc6f_u3P9MdQ9cN5fePS5mF1XBzXA_Dqv143007_kYRMCuxG6W0mCXS8mPmyOZk0TNA-7XENwUw_i3vbKFhEXE2orJ0jfPdpA3sE4RDFK34VGSqwNeYJdjxi4r1pmDz8/s1600/Dagnan-Bouveret-xx-Woman-in-Breton-Costume-Seated-in-a-Meadow-1887.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifF6ROkXXt9epyc6f_u3P9MdQ9cN5fePS5mF1XBzXA_Dqv143007_kYRMCuxG6W0mCXS8mPmyOZk0TNA-7XENwUw_i3vbKFhEXE2orJ0jfPdpA3sE4RDFK34VGSqwNeYJdjxi4r1pmDz8/s1600/Dagnan-Bouveret-xx-Woman-in-Breton-Costume-Seated-in-a-Meadow-1887.jpeg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy0pr9xeHmw4GeCssZT7qiHMnbUbWQwYiVpKHOLMJY41WRDuA-kExWahDmRm__foH87TC_FuBUxSTBP8WL8aZ46wZSmyo7pBUGpGLBC5t3QJrSTqs1m1elMnN1ZA9GLYTmEOYPvEktZgc/s1600/Dagnan_at_his_easel_while_Walter_Poses_Pascal_Dagnan-Bouveret.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy0pr9xeHmw4GeCssZT7qiHMnbUbWQwYiVpKHOLMJY41WRDuA-kExWahDmRm__foH87TC_FuBUxSTBP8WL8aZ46wZSmyo7pBUGpGLBC5t3QJrSTqs1m1elMnN1ZA9GLYTmEOYPvEktZgc/s320/Dagnan_at_his_easel_while_Walter_Poses_Pascal_Dagnan-Bouveret.jpeg" width="231" /></a></div><div>But before he even got to the compositional sketch stage, Dagnan-Bouveret did a considerable amount of preliminary studies for this painting. In a previous post <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/03/using-photo-reference.html">we looked at some of the photo reference</a> that he used. He also painted studies of the model from life. At right is a photo of the artist in <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/05/easel-on-rails.html">his greenhouse studio</a>, with his wife posing in costume, as he appears to be working on a related painting called <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/31.132.34">The Pardon in Brittany, which is at the Met.</a></div><div>-----</div><div>Previously on GJ:</div><div><a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/05/easel-on-rails.html">Dagnan's easel on rails</a></div><div><a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/03/using-photo-reference.html">Using photo reference</a></div><div><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breton_Women_at_a_Pardon">Wikipedia on "Breton Women at a Pardon"</a></div><div></div></div>

Dagnan-Bouveret's preliminary studies

Here's the compositional study for the finished painting called "Breton Women at a Pardon" (French: Les Bretonnes au Pardon) p...

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Falter's tracing pad

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Philip_Falter">John Falter</a> (1910-1982) painted over 200 scenes of the American experience, which appeared as covers on the Saturday Evening Post.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ-LUC3k23xxNqUYkDLP8qxeVaJvFRzU0A1ijwvjY4gUF_racbPXhaZgn5c25KcE3UqAV9X6ntG6XzmtuoeP9izDDuz4wNYxOTKnj2bt4sE7aNjXhm6rVjIStLK1Wj_yen-bpc1Us6SkQ/s1600/john-falter-snowy-ambush-january-24-1959.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ-LUC3k23xxNqUYkDLP8qxeVaJvFRzU0A1ijwvjY4gUF_racbPXhaZgn5c25KcE3UqAV9X6ntG6XzmtuoeP9izDDuz4wNYxOTKnj2bt4sE7aNjXhm6rVjIStLK1Wj_yen-bpc1Us6SkQ/s400/john-falter-snowy-ambush-january-24-1959.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>In "Snowy Ambush" from 1959, a dad returns home from work to find his kids waiting for him, half-hidden in trenches of snow. <br /><br />It's natural to assume that Falter found this idea readymade somewhere, but he had to construct it first in his imagination using a tracing pad.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTDAik-_PZVcGyS6c7hRuTBu1H5dYbDv0Zs10JMgkQX20axmShCEZ6bmEubTQM_qvYWT9QZaiDS3hNRFT8O0LGTOomFr4ybZKMEP2cga7s40uagfbrV6kfcWXLoyAt3K7sBjjIo2lrrLA/s1600/Falter-16.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTDAik-_PZVcGyS6c7hRuTBu1H5dYbDv0Zs10JMgkQX20axmShCEZ6bmEubTQM_qvYWT9QZaiDS3hNRFT8O0LGTOomFr4ybZKMEP2cga7s40uagfbrV6kfcWXLoyAt3K7sBjjIo2lrrLA/s400/Falter-16.jpeg" width="340" /></a><br />Here is how another idea looked at sketch stage. A group of planners hold up a drawing for a highway cutting through a hill. Surveyors drive in stakes in the background. The old farmhouse is in the way.<br /><br />The figures are drawn very simply, with very little detail. Falter is not hiring models yet.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2pW_ubcIYdqa985Js5A77SU8BCydO88S4Os65LsInXGfSSt_sCDZP6W_xMpddPR7kYWip_sAHJgXyWnbwGrz0yvaOH7z8LkssoE6-AzGOX2dpV5KCogHFnyXIjn7ApbOCJOsJnDXFLJc/s1600/Falter-17.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2pW_ubcIYdqa985Js5A77SU8BCydO88S4Os65LsInXGfSSt_sCDZP6W_xMpddPR7kYWip_sAHJgXyWnbwGrz0yvaOH7z8LkssoE6-AzGOX2dpV5KCogHFnyXIjn7ApbOCJOsJnDXFLJc/s400/Falter-17.jpeg" width="330" /></a><br />He places another page of tracing paper over the first sketch. Falter changes his mind and explores another concept. He's still working from his imagination. The old house changes to a one-room school. The planners hold up a drawing of a new district school.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeqmaxG1eIWOZZ7gpP0cZV2Fk7tv6jYHHPAXFFCrl3RpyBaoiF4sTjP4ID1Zhrlm_WiU0PuvxHFt3oPsEQzBCih0ItTj0ZXaUM_647u0ukazskSkUgT2tGPtmvLXQyF3b_mLJVkL38lEc/s1600/July-18-1959sep.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeqmaxG1eIWOZZ7gpP0cZV2Fk7tv6jYHHPAXFFCrl3RpyBaoiF4sTjP4ID1Zhrlm_WiU0PuvxHFt3oPsEQzBCih0ItTj0ZXaUM_647u0ukazskSkUgT2tGPtmvLXQyF3b_mLJVkL38lEc/s400/July-18-1959sep.jpeg" width="310" /></a><br />For the final cover, he returns to his original concept of the new highway threatening the house.<br /><br />The final painting is not as successful as "Snowy Ambush." Perhaps the problem is that the characters aren't developed, so it's hard to tell how Falter feels about the situation. Also, he accurately shows the engineers using a blueprint, but blueprints don't read quickly enough to make immediate sense on a cover.<br /><br />All these problems need to be solved at the tracing pad stage. It's worth spending tireless effort on the early sketch stages, because no amount of rendering will fix a problem that lurks on the tracing pad.<br />-----<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz0mK8i5-IkMFA0whH9YMs0jb9KD7zqdzBX9QxG0u-GCX_qDUgWH6aRXJusxUlKgWDNuyb6tmCxhpauQqh8ejbrjOEHQKUurlpTzkJh0p5LTRF4HTudKK-ZHS8RQ6iH74mjcOcVEwFoAQ/s1600/John+Falter+in+his+studio.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz0mK8i5-IkMFA0whH9YMs0jb9KD7zqdzBX9QxG0u-GCX_qDUgWH6aRXJusxUlKgWDNuyb6tmCxhpauQqh8ejbrjOEHQKUurlpTzkJh0p5LTRF4HTudKK-ZHS8RQ6iH74mjcOcVEwFoAQ/s400/John+Falter+in+his+studio.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Falter's widow donated his studies to the <a href="http://www.nebraskahistory.org/museum/collect/falter.htm">collection of the Nebraska State Historical Society </a>, along with many objects and furnishings from his studio.<br /><br />Addendum: I posed the question:<br />"I was wondering how Rockwell would have approached this whole situation. I imagine he would have focused on the plight of the property owner whose place has been condemned by eminent domain. That could have been done with poignant humor and sympathy." <div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOHzimCm3LE-ttn0Ouwj7u1ETLQ0EY50co_ZvzZ1NtD9LdUF9dK4q-Wv8Lz-Pa0UydEodMWNejoOH0V46kE0WXMxEBNTUsJHshLMkfwpUHJwOpfroMiKmIagXfIZtcGbzmShasTxsMVrg/s1600/Rockwell.crane.and.kids.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOHzimCm3LE-ttn0Ouwj7u1ETLQ0EY50co_ZvzZ1NtD9LdUF9dK4q-Wv8Lz-Pa0UydEodMWNejoOH0V46kE0WXMxEBNTUsJHshLMkfwpUHJwOpfroMiKmIagXfIZtcGbzmShasTxsMVrg/s400/Rockwell.crane.and.kids.jpeg" width="390" /></a></div><div>....and Matthew Mattin suggested this example, which I had forgotten about. Thanks, Matthew!<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Philip_Falter">Wikipedia on John Philip Falter</a></div>

Falter's tracing pad

John Falter (1910-1982) painted over 200 scenes of the American experience, which appeared as covers on the Saturday Evening Post. In ...

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Preliminary Steps

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Here are details of two preliminary sketches for the painting "</span><a href="http://jamesgurney.com/site/images/dinotopia-world-beneath" style="text-align: left;">Garden of Hope</a><span style="text-align: left;">" from </span><a href="http://jamesgurney.com/site/267/dinotopia-the-world-beneath" style="text-align: left;">Dinotopia: The World Beneath.</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOmqSVBn0pJ_PN4GO1EvsBZGejzHviez8TInAaiyVnCpKxj7UmvoHzTAf9HyqenlrCF2DxL-LlaxTDgcocO87VgR7tKgwF_SuX66fp51SGmrc2Vl9C4hi3MWKLypVqQWbiOppl1TCOmsc/s1600/Garden+of+Hope_Studies.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOmqSVBn0pJ_PN4GO1EvsBZGejzHviez8TInAaiyVnCpKxj7UmvoHzTAf9HyqenlrCF2DxL-LlaxTDgcocO87VgR7tKgwF_SuX66fp51SGmrc2Vl9C4hi3MWKLypVqQWbiOppl1TCOmsc/s400/Garden+of+Hope_Studies.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />On the left is the "charcoal comprehensive." This half-size drawing, which I drew after completing all the thumbnail sketches and photo reference, allowed me the chance to figure out the basic arrangement of light and dark tones, and how the figures overlapped. It was so easy to erase and change things in charcoal that I felt free to add or subtract elements until I was really sure I had the composition I wanted.<br /><br />On the right is a very quick color sketch over a photocopy of the charcoal comprehensive. It was painted loosely and quickly with big bristle brushes, forgoing all detail.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJOXiWCQ9FGIiMH-deGexqmXFd1mBwVYVfNiLzcXYFVIMeCGW4VinmHI7wzQwaHJoV5gKk3jJgvGGoTKZhYfpbSFljT3l4Iu33wi-mJnRj1EcrLxg1201VkAYjhYCO_tbs4w-xyGdOfTQ/s1600/Garden+of+Hope.detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJOXiWCQ9FGIiMH-deGexqmXFd1mBwVYVfNiLzcXYFVIMeCGW4VinmHI7wzQwaHJoV5gKk3jJgvGGoTKZhYfpbSFljT3l4Iu33wi-mJnRj1EcrLxg1201VkAYjhYCO_tbs4w-xyGdOfTQ/s400/Garden+of+Hope.detail.jpg" width="301" /></a><br />With those studies behind me, I felt a lot more sure of myself when it came to painting the final image. There are always so many issues to figure out with any painting, that I find it helps to solve them systematically in advance.<br />--------<br />Added later -- for John and Frank, here's one of the early color sketches, before getting models and doing the charcoal drawing. This sketch followed many horizontal compositions that just weren't working.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidJLDMUeN9aUwUAF-rCcb1TnhsH9ivRI0-qLnfeGpjsdv_b3Fv45GJ46GRCJ5Pnd7gkvptFTtmYX3fAoTCo43DpuhMFAdwDNnKiVHas8UQkItmoM1PgbBZwIMOjFkx4Pnhby1RN7XYAjo/s1600/Garden+of+Hope+First+Prelim.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidJLDMUeN9aUwUAF-rCcb1TnhsH9ivRI0-qLnfeGpjsdv_b3Fv45GJ46GRCJ5Pnd7gkvptFTtmYX3fAoTCo43DpuhMFAdwDNnKiVHas8UQkItmoM1PgbBZwIMOjFkx4Pnhby1RN7XYAjo/s400/Garden+of+Hope+First+Prelim.sm.jpg" width="270" /></a>

Preliminary Steps

Here are details of two preliminary sketches for the painting " Garden of Hope " from Dinotopia: The World Beneath. On the left is...

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Waterloo by Kopinski

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6JBIA3MwS5R16N1z7VQ7-zEV5qL56PsK5VhyY_dc_aCH8xJcEZFBvgPARwRdTFnYuI8Efc8987wH18bw8eDkOkIc6z3AvbY8Ny9Y5yRgF_ha0XgCHXvYi_ixaBD2opOGnNsJriMIJMWM/s1600/Karl.Kopinski.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Artist <a href="http://www.karlkopinski.com/">Karl Kopinski</a> has just completed a painting of one of the most challenging subjects imaginable: historically accurate equestrian battle subjects. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6JBIA3MwS5R16N1z7VQ7-zEV5qL56PsK5VhyY_dc_aCH8xJcEZFBvgPARwRdTFnYuI8Efc8987wH18bw8eDkOkIc6z3AvbY8Ny9Y5yRgF_ha0XgCHXvYi_ixaBD2opOGnNsJriMIJMWM/s1600/Karl.Kopinski.sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6JBIA3MwS5R16N1z7VQ7-zEV5qL56PsK5VhyY_dc_aCH8xJcEZFBvgPARwRdTFnYuI8Efc8987wH18bw8eDkOkIc6z3AvbY8Ny9Y5yRgF_ha0XgCHXvYi_ixaBD2opOGnNsJriMIJMWM/s400/Karl.Kopinski.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />This paintings depicts the First Lifeguards counter attacking the 4th cuirassiers at the battle of Waterloo 1815. The painting went through innumerable pencil and color sketch stages.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitu0Twk5urF0Gb2dnmMeqDSKV-wBpTH4qtMZeMJOhc1Fv5QgB8zDR0SQMZ8OLei272NUZ8gw19c9BTItEh7oCXSdqBocyBJCHtroLWT1PvhxouHWHRghHCeQaCf3JchrCc5gYje4C75y0/s1600/Kopinski+Linedwg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitu0Twk5urF0Gb2dnmMeqDSKV-wBpTH4qtMZeMJOhc1Fv5QgB8zDR0SQMZ8OLei272NUZ8gw19c9BTItEh7oCXSdqBocyBJCHtroLWT1PvhxouHWHRghHCeQaCf3JchrCc5gYje4C75y0/s400/Kopinski+Linedwg.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br />He says: “I first started the painting over 3 years ago, but due to my workload I could only manage to work on it sporadically, which became quite frustrating, although it did allow me to do quite a lot of preparatory work for most of the figures. I spent a lot of time looking at the great French military painters, Meissonier, Detaille and deNeuville."<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYiy1CG3rcKHVJGE0RqW8CVS0Qvbf5ZuAAY4_OGE1dKq2boVqr4CHlEjILcg_ZLP-QjCIu-8EdE8bPZ5fwZT7iy4L0VDe_wuGeWVcOE1_VrQ5BnzJSAxJas7Cn4bGtoYc9cNzKXI3KjU/s1600/Kopinski.color.sketch.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYiy1CG3rcKHVJGE0RqW8CVS0Qvbf5ZuAAY4_OGE1dKq2boVqr4CHlEjILcg_ZLP-QjCIu-8EdE8bPZ5fwZT7iy4L0VDe_wuGeWVcOE1_VrQ5BnzJSAxJas7Cn4bGtoYc9cNzKXI3KjU/s320/Kopinski.color.sketch.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />“I also had to do an awful lot of research into uniform details, I managed to get a lot of help including a friend of mine who is a Saville Row tailor and also an expert on Napoleonic tailoring, I also managed to borrow a helmet and cuirass from a similar period along with a very well made reproduction uniform of the period.”<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.karlkopinski.com/">Karl Kopinski's website</a><br />Books: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/LArmee-Francaise-Illustrated-History-1790-1885/dp/0963255800?ie=UTF8&tag=gurnjour-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">L'Armee Francaise: An Illustrated History of the French Army, 1790-1885</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0963255800" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ernest-Meissonier-Retrospective-beaux-arts-mars-27/dp/2711827399?ie=UTF8&tag=gurnjour-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Ernest Meissonier: Retrospective : Musee des beaux-arts de Lyon, 25 mars-27 juin 1993 (French Edition)</a><br /><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=2711827399" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ernst-Meissonier-Art-French-Bourgeoisie/dp/0521632404?ie=UTF8&tag=gurnjour-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Ernst Meissonier and Art for the French Bourgeoisie: Master in his Genre</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0521632404" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /><br /><br />   <br /><br />

Waterloo by Kopinski

Artist Karl Kopinski has just completed a painting of one of the most challenging subjects imaginable: historically accurate equestrian bat...

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