The Debden Kidd

[Chicoartist]

Taking a cue from Col's beautiful (and fun to read) Sea Harrier thread, and in honor of our new 'home' here, I'd like to start a thread on my current project, The Debden Kidd. This piece will be a 20" x 48" oil on linen mounted to panel.

So, let's get going with my first "look" at the composition:

This little pre-viz comp combines photocopies of the three separate Descriptive Geometry [DG] projections of the aircraft and 150' wide runway. The background details and morning sky will be finalized later, though I do have a pretty good idea of how the sky/clouds will look. Right now I'm just concerned with how the main elements of the painting, the two Mustangs, look in general. There is much work to do on the airplanes yet. These DG projections are simply a "frame" I'll use to "build" a properly shaped and detailed aircraft by freehand sketching.

Notice the panoramic "big screen" effect of the composition with the 2.40 to 1 aspect ratio of the canvas. I did this on purpose to see how it would look. Your eye is 3 feet off the ground as you squat down next to the runway to view the aircraft roaring past you on their takeoff roll. The perspective view of the scene is optimized for a viewer's position centered on the 48" wide canvas and 5 feet away, or roughly 125% of the longest dimension of the painting. This is called the "preferred distance", and is intended to place your eye at the same relative spot (vis-à-vis your distance from the images on the canvas) as a viewer seeing the scene for real, if it existed. The perspectives of the aircraft and runway/horizon are plotted from this single 'preferred' point in space.

Like the human eye viewing a real scene, the point in space from which the elements of the scaled-down painting are plotted can only be in one place at a time. It goes without saying that the apparent 'correct' perspective view of each object, and indeed the scene as a whole, is directly tied to this viewing distance as well. The artist must be aware of these facts and plan his layout accordingly. Looking at your monitor, you are most likely viewing this "canvas" at a much greater distance, proportionally, than the preferred 125% of its longest dimension. In this case (off center, and/or at a different distance), a bit of perspective "distortion" will affect the scene until it is viewed full size on the canvas from the preferred distance OR one's eye is located centered on and approximately at the preferred distance from your monitor.

Wade

[Chicoartist]

Here's the first update - brings us almost up to date to where I am today:

Study for The Debden Kidd

4.75 x 12. Oil on Linen mounted on panel

I couldn't wait to see this in color (I have a LOT of work to do before I get out my paints 'for real' ... ), so I simply transferred the rough outline seen in the first post to a canvas panel and all aircraft markings and remaining shapes, etc, were hand-sketched directly on the panel before painting.

This loose oil sketch serves as a "first draft" look at the colors and basic tones of the future composition. I like it so far, but I'm going to change the airborne P-51s to make them all heading the other direction. I'll also have a few closer (larger on the canvas) as well. Finally, I'm not too happy with the wingman - he's too much "in profile" (which tends to visually "stop" his movement), so I'll move him forward a bit. That will give me room to put another plane (parked, not on the runway) near the right-hand edge of the canvas . . .

I'll have to be careful, though, because that "third" airplane must compliment and not distract the eye from the center of interest (the main P-51, with the wingman a close second). I want to "lead" the viewer's eye towards the center of interest first, then lead them around the composition from there. My compositional armature will be roughly a backwards "S", with the eye entering from the bottom, flowing through the main two aircraft, then to the second and third areas of interest. That's my plan, anyway.

Next will be the half-scale mock up I'm using to final-position all the elements of the painting - to aid in that compositional armature I mentioned above. The main P-51 will be a whopping 27" long from nose to tail. I have a rough outline blown up to actual size, and it's friggin' HUGE!

Wade

[Col.]

I'm going to change the airborne P-51s to make them all heading the other direction. I'll also have a few closer (larger on the canvas) as well.

Just a suggestion Wade, if the aircraft are forming up prior to heading for Germany would they be using an assending spiral? Since the sun is rising in the East your main subjects are taking off into the South, (and most likely into the prevailing wind) those at lower level may be on the North leg of the circuit while those at altitude will most likely be heading South already to avoid burning off too much fuel.

Finally, I'm not too happy with the wingman - he's too much "in profile" (which tends to visually "stop" his movement), so I'll move him forward a bit. That will give me room to put another plane (parked, not on the runway) near the right-hand edge of the canvas . . .

I see what you mean there with the wingman, do you intend to have No.3s engine running or is it a sick bird undergoing maintainance? Either way, I'm sure it'll be a stunner as usual :D

The main P-51 will be a whopping 27" long from nose to tail. I have a rough outline blown up to actual size, and it's friggin' HUGE!

Ha ha, best stock up on the paint there man

[Chicoartist]

Just a suggestion Wade, if the aircraft are forming up prior to heading for Germany would they be using an assending spiral? Since the sun is rising in the East your main subjects are taking off into the South . . .

Howdy - thanks for you comments. Most welcome!

Well, as a former flight instructor, I can assure you that if the rising sun is to my right, I am going to see "N" at the top of my DG.

. . . (and most likely into the prevailing wind) those at lower level may be on the North leg of the circuit while those at altitude will most likely be heading South already to avoid burning off too much fuel.

Well, that's assuming that all 8th AF fighter groups used a universal method to "get going". There were 'SOP' methods, but they varied from group to group. My next step, the half-scale mock up, has the airborne ships in much different positions - more spread out - and heading the other way (North, BTW) to add movement to the left. That being said, I am using artistic license (and make absolutely no apologies for doing so) in that I'm not as worried about exactly where the airborne planes should be. I'm making them work for me in the composition. The only limiting factor is, "is this formation possible?". The answer is yes, IMHO.

I see what you mean there with the wingman, do you intend to have No.3s engine running or is it a sick bird undergoing maintainance? Either way, I'm sure it'll be a stunner as usual

The 1/2-scale mock up will explain a lot more, of course, but I think I'm going to have him running his engine. At least three visible big prop blades (we will be viewing him from his rear - approximately his 6:30 position) will be too much of a distraction - the contrasting "interest" there will distract the eye unneccessarily. The goal is to make everything work towards the whole in art - good art, anyway. He'll be on the parallel peri-track. It could be a crew chief running up the engine, or a pilot in the plane ... there's no telling. I may add a bit of "interest" and have the "throw-over" cockpit enclosures open. Again, the main thought is: "is it possible for a P-51 to be in the background running up his engine?" Yes.

The main P-51 will be a whopping 27" long from nose to tail. I have a rough outline blown up to actual size, and it's friggin' HUGE!

Ha ha, best stock up on the paint there man

Thx! Again, comments most welcome - and appreciated. I actually made some compositional changes to this one early on as a result of helpful criticism from fellow artists. Bring it on - now's the time! As a well known artist once told me, "Solicit criticism ... use what you can and discard the rest." This has served me very well over the years. Nothing like "fresh" eyes looking at your work.

Wade

[Col.]

Howdy - thanks for you comments. Most welcome!

Well, as a former flight instructor, I can assure you that if the rising sun is to my right, I am going to see "N" at the top of my DG.

Oops, another tick in my "stupid remarks requiring more thought before airing in public" box. That'll teach me to be trying to do two things at once

Like the sound of what you have planned for the third Mustang though, look forward to seeing this progress.

[Chicoartist]

That'll teach me to be trying to do two things at once B)

LOL! At first I thought you had indeed made a mental typo (which you just explained you did), then I wondered ... <_<

Myself, with three kids I'm always "in a hurry", so my first posts of the day are always under pressure because we're late for school, etc. I try not to go back and read those posts for fear of embarrassment.

Back to the topic, I've spent literally all week (I work half days on my art at present) getting my tax information correct - hope to finish that this morning - so then it'll be back to the 1/2 scale mock up. I'm all finished putting the planes, horizon, runways and cloud outlines in. All I have left to do it draw in the background details - thankfully won't be much of that with those planes taking up so much room - and the plane's shadow outlines.

I'll have a picture next week of the mockup.

Wade

[Koen L]

Very cool! I'll stick with my profiles for now as that stuff seems way too hard!

[Chicoartist]

Hi guys,

Whew! My son was sick most of the week, so that put a severe monkey wrench in my already limited art schedule. Finally got this done! Now the enjoyable part starts ...

Here's the final detailed outline. It's ready for the pencil study, our next step, which will be done on design vellum. Notice the differences between this and the color oil sketch above. The wingman has been moved forward, there are five airplanes airborne, and there is more detail in the background, including the Mustang to our far right. Further refinements, if needed, will come with the pencil study, but I don't anticipate much more will be done compositionally - that was supposed to be fussed over and pretty much "frozen" at this stage.

For artists like myself who create "representational" scenes from our imaginations, the several layers or "stages" of the creative process enable us to visualize the scene over a period of time, tweaking things as we go. The goal is to pretty much be on autopilot by the time we prepare the final canvas for paint. For this particular picture I enhanced the contrast quite a bit to make it easier for you to see at this small scale. I also "colored in" the airborne airplanes, and rather sloppily I must say . . . they won't be "black" in the final work!

Wade

[Col.]

Looks good Wade, and that's just a pencil study so it bodes well for the finished article! I've not got much done this last week either but that's just lazyness on my part. You are, however, an inspiration as always.

Sorry to hear about your son, hope he's ok.

[Pete Wenman]

Wade hi

That's a teriffic compostion, not to mention an excellant sketch.

I alternate between being inspired to dig out my paintbrushes and have another go at painting on canvas,

and feeling I may as well check all my stuff away as I'll never be any good.

Pete

Edited February 18, 2006 by Pete Wenman

[Chicoartist]

. . . as I'll never be any good. :D

Pete

Pete (and Col. - and all other aviation artists) ... come see us over at ehangar.com. We now have an "Aviation Artist's Section" which contains a section specifically dedicated to critiques. I put one my early works there ... too embarrased to put it here, too!

Keep at it, Pete. If the one you just did is better than the one before that - you're on the right track. Never stop studying your craft ... art books, magazines, etc. Nobody will ever live long enough to know it all.

Wade

[Chicoartist]

Latest update ... rather than reinvent the wheel, the following text is from my site:

Here's the final pencil study for 'The Debden Kidd'. The main benefit of this exercise is my further familiarization with the hoped-for final scene and its various subtle nuances. The process of actually laying down tones in pencil like this is a sort of built-in layer of once again examining the scene and making decisions; but this time with the added goal of comparing tones and values - all before the first blob of paint is squeezed out of the tube.

This is not intended to be a brushstroke by brushstroke guide for the upcoming oil study and final canvas. This is borne out by the lack of detail overall. Areas that I thought I needed to examine further received more attention at this stage. Parts like the sky, the groundwork, and the five airborne airplanes, all where I had a pretty good idea of where I was going, I indicated with only minimum detail, sometimes completing these elements quite rapidly. Though the overall finish is 'loose', these pieces do look quite attractive when properly framed. In fact, some collectors specialize in acquiring preliminary studies. Those that remain unsold make excellent displays at shows, very effectively displaying the various steps each artist takes when creating representational artwork.

Study for The Debden Kidd

Pencil on vellum

10 x 24

[pozsgay]

Great pencil work! Congrats!

[Chicoartist]

Finished all but the airplanes (three on the ground and five in the air) a couple of days ago on this, the 1/2 scale oil study (10" x 24"). I'm giving the canvas a few days to dry before I commence work on the planes lest I smear paint unnecessarily!

Correction: The farthest airborne airplane is done ... it's that tiny dot just ahead of and above the wingman's vertical tail.

The tendency is to take this oil sketch too far, i.e., spend too long on details, but on the background I really tried to "move on" once I had the basic colors and values I wanted. Gotta save 'something' for the final canvas!

I've included the final pencil study in this post for a side-by-side comparison:

Wade

Edited March 18, 2006 by Chicoartist

[Pete Wenman]

Wade hi

Great looking sky, you really get the feel of

early morning here in the UK.

One question, what is the bright orange object at the right. It looks a little at odds with the rest of the scene, but this probably due to the fact I can't "place" it in my mind.

I can't believe that 10x24 is only half size. Even that is far bigger than anything I've attempted.

Looking forward to seeing this progress

Pete

[Chicoartist]

Thanks ... no better endorsement than somebody who lives there!

I actually just now reposted the color image since you saw it. The sky was a bit contrasty in my hurried PhotoShop editing after taking the picture in my bathroom (my photo studio!), so I went back in and lightened the sky area a little to get closer to my original art. While it's very easy to "correct" and make any image "look better" in PhotoShop, I always try to keep my art images as close to the original as possible (warts and all) to avoid the inevitable comment later: "Hey, that's not the painting I paid for!!" This oil study has already been claimed by a collector and I don't want any "surprises" when he opens up the crate later.

The orange object is a house's roof. It's a bit more saturated here than on the original, which is more subdued in tone. When this oil sketch is finished and dry I'll scan it in properly and spend more time tweaking all the little nuances to get everything (including the house) as close as possible to the original. For now, though, this'll do.

Thanks again, Pete.

Wade

[Chicoartist]

Here's a quick hand-held shot (Canon 20D with IS lens, for those curious) of the progress as of today.

Using my pencil study as a guide, I laid in the basic values of the main P-51. Lights and darks are now established. Fill in and details, then pin-prick highlights will be added in layers.

This finished painting will then be used as a guide for the larger 20 x 48 canvas.

I will be publishing this as a giclee ... I'll probably limit the edition to 100 copies. More details when I finish this study.

Wade

[mudrat]

Wade,

With all due respect, there is no motion in those a/c, save the propeller ARC (s).

Your a/c appear to just be standing on their main mounts to me. If you, the viewer, are tracking the a/c,

then I would expect to see motion in the foreground and the closer part of the runway (not started yet).

With details of the foreground completely visable and coherant, it looks as if your intentions are to

keep the foreground motionless. Or am I speaking out of sequence (too soon) ?

Regards,

Stephen

[Pete Wenman]

Stephen hi

I can't comment on what Wade will do, but agree with the concept

Ronald Wong's "Warthogs ove East Anglia" gives a terrific sense of speed in this way. Prop' driven aircraft don't normally need a sense of speed, but I think with thses two it is because they are not yet in the air.

Wade any chance you can post a close up of "Salem" I would love to see the texture of the paint on the BMF.

Pete

[Chicoartist]

. . . there is no motion in those a/c, save the propeller ARC (s). Your a/c appear to just be standing on their main mounts to me. If you, the viewer, are tracking the a/c, then I would expect to see motion in the foreground and the closer part of the runway (not started yet.

Good comments, most welcome.

There is the element of 'standing still'. I don't disagree with that. This is a 'dangerous' composition -- but my vision is of a person squatting next to the runway (DG plots from 3' high) as these two roar by. The first comp I had displayed the planes separated ... which only enhanced the "standing still" effect. I had to bring the wingman up. See my site (or this thread - forgot how much I had posted here) for the full genesis of this work.

Even after the wingman's movement further forward, I still liked the arrangment, and, looking at the pencil study (which is basically a black and white version of the final art) I do get a sense of speed. 'course, I see the final art in my head ... things I'm doing on this work and the final canvas to help "push" everything to the left are: cloud arrangements, airborne airplanes flying the same direction, minimal (fast/motion) prop discs, spinning/blurred main wheels. and 'soft' foreground. I hate "blurred" effects in art, and have only seen one where it actually works - Bill Phillips' Sundowners Phantom. Past that I don't like it. My opinion only.

You have an excellent point regarding the foreground ... that especially is to be kept soft and a "little" wee bit blurred. It's hard to tell, but you won't be able to count flower stems in the foreground strip of grass - that's always been my intention, but with your feedback I'll be especially careful to keep those "flowers" soft ...

Wade

[Chicoartist]

. . . but I think with thses two it is because they are not yet in the air.

Oh, definitely. If I were to do this again, I'd put them a foot or so above the ground ... but then again, I'm glad I'm doing this because it's something you don't often see from the side ... like I said, this is a 'dangerous' composition.

Wade any chance you can post a close up of "Salem" I would love to see the texture of the paint on the BMF.

It's layer upon layer of paint. My general process is to do a small section, then come back and 'integrate' it into the rest of the plane. Sometimes that involves changing values and/or color of existing areas. An example would be the area under the horizontal stab ... I finally decided to refer to my pencil study and get some black in there! To answer your question, it's sloppy! I love the painterly look, a`la Robert Taylor.

Wade

[Chicoartist]

Based on Stephen's suggestion, and a neat image he sent me of my artwork with the grass 'blurred', I believe I will 'blur' the foreground grass a wee bit, a`la these two images, which I had planned on using, but I decided to not blur as much ... notice the Nissen hut sheds in the top picture ... they 'star' in my painting just to the left of the third Mustang running up at far right.

Because I want to preserve the neat detail in the background, I won't blur quite this much, tho:

Wade

[Chicoartist]

I meant to add ... the two pics above are grabs from a British Pathe film shot at Debden in 1943.

Go to this site to search for 'tons' of like-films, which you can download in low-rez for free, or high-rez for about $29.00 USD. Not cheap, but excellent stuff ... I splurged on several, myself!

http://www.britishpathe.com/

Wade