146th New York Zouave study

This 8 X 10 acrylic figure study depicts a Corporal of the 146th NY as he would have appeared in the winter of 1863-64. The red tassel, which is unusual was part of the first issue zouave ( Turco ) uniform issued in June of 1863.

 

 

The three figures represent some of the painting process. The first figure shows the under painting done in raw or burnt sienna. The second shows the under painting with a wash of burnt sienna given to most of figure with the exception of very light areas. Thirdly shows the figure blocked in with it's basic colors. The color for the face and hands would be blocked in also. Lastly, more refined coloring would be applied to achieve the finished study.

 

 

The finished figure study.

 





NEW year and projects

With the new year comes a few new projects. Lately I've been working on several digital line drawing of Federal Civil War uniforms. My hope is to be able to use these for one or more book projects I've been thinking about for a long time. The drawings, which are cropped were done using Photoshop. Once complete this collection of drawings will also include weapons and equipment.

The end is near

As we approach the end of the year I thought to post some of the digital work I've done this year. While drawing and painting traditionally is still enjoyable, digital work adds another medium to choose from. Very tight line work lends itself well to doing uniform and equipment drawings.

Hopefully the new year will usher in a lot more work than what I've done this year to date.

A different kind of painting

The 150th commemorations of the Civil war are something I really wanted to take part in. So far I've refought (loosely) the 1st Battle of Bull Run as a member of the 11th NY, or 1st Fire Zouaves. A few weeks ago I marched with the 11th Pennsylvania Reserves at the 150th Commemoration of the Battle of Antietam. The years 1863-1865 (or 2013-2015) will see me largly serving in the ranks of the 146th New York volunteer Infantry. Our particpation in the 150th of the Battle of Gettysburg will see the 146th uniformed in zouave (more correctly Tirailleurs Algeriens: Algerian Sharpshooters) attire. A lot of research has gone into the reconstruction of these uniforms. With that being said we want to give equal attention to the regimental flags.

Currently I'm preparing the art that will become the full size stencils to paint the regimental flags. Since I've never painted on silk before I thought best to practice painting different elements of the flag first. The eagle of the regimental flag will be a fairly involved project. what makes it challenging is that I will have to paint this image twice. Stars are also a large part of both flags so I've painted several already with more to go. I just finished painting the eagle's head and will do a few more elements to get an idea of what's ahead of me.

The stars are really gold but photographed yellow for some reason.





North Carolina Provincial, Fort Dobbs, 1756

I just finished another pencil drawing for the APG show. What next?



Charging Confederate

I Finished the drawing this morning. It will go into a 11 X 14 silver metal frame with a black mat. Now it's on to the next one.



Time left for a few drawings

I figured there to be enough time to get one, and possibly two new pencil drawings done for the show. The first is this charging Confederate soldier. It's drawn on white bristol board but photographed like ot was drawn on gray paper.



Two more underpaintings done

Those these were a bit rushed they're finally done. Portrait numbers 3 and 4 close out the first installment of this series.




I need to tweak the position of one of the eyes as it looks
a bit off to me.





I know each shoulder looks different, but that's how
it looked in the photo...really.

Not sure what to say about this one. It's strange
how different something looks after you take a photo
or scan it.