Copies from the Masters, Part 1

From what I’ve read about 19th Century art training, students used to spend a good deal of time making copies of the old masters. I don’t know how many art schools these days are encouraging the practice, but I think it’s a great idea. It forces you to appreciate in a much deeper way what your heroes were actually doing.

I made these copies from reproductions of some of my favorite academic painters, Hudson River School artists, and golden age illustrators. They’re all in oil, mostly about 6 or 8 inches across. I’ve never had the nerve to set up and do a copy in a museum, but I salute those who have.

Juice: Shishkin and Cather

This is the first of a little feature called “Juice,” where I pair up an artist with a quote. Each has inspired me in some way or stimulated a new pathway of thinking. Please post a comment and share your thoughts.

“Artistic growth is, more than anything else, a refining of the sense of truthfulness.”

Quote by Willa Cather
Art by Ivan Shishkin

Don't Wake the Rooster

If you’re going to sketch an animal, it had better be either sleeping or hypnotized.

I went to the chicken house yesterday at the Dutchess County Fair looking for a sleeping rooster. I’ll need some practice painting feathers if I’m going to make those feathered dinosaurs look right.

The chicken house has long rows of cages stacked on top of each other. The air smells like guano, and most of the birds are preening and fussing or crowing like maniacs. But there’s this one gorgeous Buff Japanese Cock blissfully asleep. I get right to work.

Out of the corner of my eye I see a kid come in the door holding a giant inflatable blue dolphin that he won at the midway. He’s whacking all the cages one by one, saying “Look at ‘em jump!”

“Please don’t,” I beg helplessly as the kid gets closer. My little rooster rouses and hops up in alarm. The kid moves on, snorting with laughter.

Fortunately a 4-H kid comes up to me and says “Don’t worry, mister, I can hypnotize him.” He opens the cage and says, “He belongs to my sister, and here’s what she does.” With that he cradles the rooster, rubs him under the chin for a while, and puts him back. The little rooster stands stock-still in a philosopical daze for another seven or eight minutes, long enough for me to work up a little watercolor study.

Fire Engine, Part 5 of 5

Finally, I set up a little diorama of the dinosaur with its modular cab, and placed some figures along the ground. What I'm looking for is the quality of light and shadow.


For the final painting in oil I changed a lot of the details, but having seen an actual model it was easier for me to imagine the real scene.

To thank my friend Ernesto Bradford for his contribution to the design of the fire equipment, I asked him to pose for the fire chief. He sent a roll of photos of himself in various poses and lightings. If you study the photo and the painting together you'll notice a lot of little adjustments to develop the character of Igneus Vinco, which means "conqueror of fire."


Dinotopian Fire Engine
Fire Engine, Part 1
Fire Engine, Part 2
Fire Engine, Part 3
Fire Engine, Part 4
Fire Engine, Part 5

Fire Engine, Part 4 of 5

To make a painting look three dimensional, I have to start with something real in front of me. That way I can light it with a real light and see where the shadows go. I had sculpted a little brachiosaur head and saddle years ago from Sculpey and leather. On top of that I added hoses and attachments from modeling clay and used an action figure for the firefighter.

Based on that model, I worked up the painting (about six inches tall) of the head gear.

For the modular cab, I used a piece of old mat board and hot glue. The warm light from the right suggests a fire is happening nearby.
Here's the painting of the cab with riders. I put lots of hand grips around the cab because of the amount of swinging that would happen on the way to the fire.

An here I am, my own cheapest model, posing with a Russian hat. Since there was no one around in the studio, I shot the reference using a self-timer.

Check again tomorrow for the full dinosaur and the fire chief.


Dinotopian Fire Engine
Fire Engine, Part 1
Fire Engine, Part 2
Fire Engine, Part 3
Fire Engine, Part 4
Fire Engine, Part 5

Fire Engine, Part 3 of 5

Ernesto Bradford of the E-1 Company designs fire engines for a living. He's a talented artist as well as an engineer. He can draw anything. His designs look cool, but they also work because of his knowledge of materials and physics.

In this ballpoint pen sketch, he has worked out the idea of the brachiosaur pumping the water. The weight of the water line is supported on the dinosaur armor.

The helmet of the dinosaur has a swivel mount for the water cannon, and a breathing filter, so the dinosaur doesn't choke from smoke.

And a modular cab is designed to fit on the back of the dinosaur, just like blog reader K.Tigress was thinking.

Now, how do you go from these drawings to an oil painting that looks three dimensional? Check back tomorrow!

All of these designs are copyright 2006 Ernesto Bradford.


Dinotopian Fire Engine
Fire Engine, Part 1
Fire Engine, Part 2
Fire Engine, Part 3
Fire Engine, Part 4
Fire Engine, Part 5

Fire Engine, Part 2 of 5

Thanks to those of you who posted comments on the last entry.

Ljay, Cat, and Colin, you’re right that there would be serious pressure losses caused by the hose reel. And K. Tigress, I love the mammoth idea, and your thought of putting the firefighters on seats mounted on the back of the brachiosaur. Donna’s point is right on the mark, too: the “little guy” is supposed to be a self-contained walking machine or 'strutter,' carrying a steam-powered pumper—all very complicated and prone to failure.

My consultant Ernesto Bradford was also concerned with the hose pressure losses. He wondered how the whole thing could be accomplished more simply. Here are some of the things he pointed out.

1. The extended ladder was unsecured, and would toss the fire fighter off the top whenever the dinosaur moved its head.
2. The volume of water inside the hose at that extension would weigh several hundred pounds. When it was spraying, it would be impossible to control.
3. The dinosaur needs a breathing apparatus so he doesn’t suffocate from smoke, and he needs some heat protection on the front of his neck.
4. The pump is unnecessarily complex, and doesn’t take advantage of the strength of the dinosaur. Why not have the dinosaur use its front legs to pump the water?

Ernesto then offered to sketch up some ideas. I’ll show you his drawings in tomorrow’s post.


Dinotopian Fire Engine
Fire Engine, Part 1
Fire Engine, Part 2
Fire Engine, Part 3
Fire Engine, Part 4
Fire Engine, Part 5

Fire Engine, Part 1 of 5 Postings

What would a Dinotopian fire engine look like?

While I was working on Journey to Chandara my friend Ernesto Bradford asked me that question. Ernesto Bradford happens to be the senior product specialist for E-1, the top firm that designs and builds modern fire engines. Here he is beside the brand new "Quest" model, which he helped create.

I told Ernesto that I had done a little marker sketch a while ago. I dug it out of an old file folder and showed it to him. He looked at it very carefully and rubbed his chin. “Very nice,” he said politely, “but it would never work.”Please post a comment and list the reasons why you think my design wouldn’t work. Have all your comments in by Tuesday morning and then I’ll tell you what Ernesto said.


Dinotopian Fire Engine
Fire Engine, Part 1
Fire Engine, Part 2
Fire Engine, Part 3
Fire Engine, Part 4
Fire Engine, Part 5

Face Book

I collect faces the way a stamp collector collects stamps.

We just returned from a college orientation session. There were meetings and lectures and panel discussions, but I was never bored because I had my “face book.” That’s what I call my little pocket sketchbook, which is only 4 x 6 inches, small enough to be fairly inconspicuous. Above are two sample pages, with a 25 cent coin for scale.

At that size, all you can capture is the basic shape of the hair, the shape of the head, and the placement of dashes or dots for the features. But that’s all you need. In fact those simple elements are the foundation of what makes each person a unique and distinctive character. Can you tell which is the police captain and which is the chemical engineering professor?

Residency

Here’s a pen-and-ink drawing of the Cabin at Platte Clove that I made while sitting on the weeds along the trail. Since the cabin dates from the 1860s, I was trying to channel Arthur Denison. The experience of living and working in the wilderness definitely influenced my vision of Dinotopia in Journey to Chandara.

If there are professional artists or writers among you who are interested in learning more about the summer artist residency program at the cabin, check out http://catskillcenter.org/programs/arts/arts.html.

Each artist or writer gets to stay a week for free, supported by the generosity of the members of the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development.