Early Phases of the Project
The Men
Not long after agreeing to the commission, I had the opportunity to travel to Macon, MS and spend the night in the Pearson’s hunting and fishing lodge I had painted many years before. I enjoyed a wonderful evening with John and Brian Pearson, retired Lt. Colonel John Chancellor’s son and retired Lt. Colonel Gene Smith, a former POW. Gene explained how the prisoners used a tap code to communicate and shared more details about his time in the Hanoi Hilton. As we talked about the flyover, I asked Gene to tell me in a few words what that fly over meant to him and the other prisoners. He said, “it is very simple – they knew we were here.” If I had to pick one word, I would use Hope.
After sending the first full-size color study to the Pearson’s, I drove to West Tennessee and had a great day visiting with retired Lt. Colonel John Chancellor and his wife in their home. We looked through photo albums of his time as a fighter pilot. We were so caught up in the stories I forgot to have our photo taken together so here are a few photos of John during the Vietnam war.
These men are true patriots, and I am blessed to have the pleasure of knowing them now.
Progress on the Commission
Throughout the project, I have been reviewing many different reference photos from the time of the war because only parts of the prison remain standing today. Here are some samples.
Reference Images
When many people are involved in a commission it takes some time for everyone to review and comment. We all agreed on two things. The painting needed to be larger than originally envisioned and we needed to make some alterations in the composition. I am thankful for a wonderful app called “Procreate” (no joke) which I think may be one of the artist’s best friends. Using this tool, I could do a number of different compositional sketches fairly quickly. I share these with the team, and we chose one as the final composition.
Having agreed on composition, it was then time to start the real work. Here is where we are at this writing:
· Full-size pencil sketch created on newsprint.
· Using graphite and transfer paper, I traced the sketch directly onto the canvas.
· Next I have completed an initial layer blocking in the major shapes and values. Here is the painting at the end of that stage.
Next
The next stages will be to bring the painting to an almost finished look and then give my clients the opportunity to review and suggest refinements. From this point, we will move to the final original and setup a site to sell prints.
Remember ALL proceeds will be for the benefit of veterans.
Stay tuned and spread the word please.