Introducing my latest painting — Bill Shelton, in full stride on the beach in Mustique. I had the good fortune of meeting Bill through friend and collector Gareth Evans.
And, in what goes down as a first, Gareth provided the source image for the painting! Choosing the perfect photo to work from is no small feat — having this identified up front was huge.
After a few rounds of discussion, we finalized the collage materials, they were trimmed and pasted to the surface with gel medium.
Working a red under-painting (which would eventually be painted-out completely), and an orange wash over the text.
Beginning to work the negative letter space in the water to the horizon.
Lighter blue for the crashing waves/beach, and a gradient of blues (with a slight influx of green) in the type to create a sense of distance and motion. An extremely light blue fills the sky/comic book panel on the upper third of the canvas.
And now — the main event. Beginning the shadows in two tones on Bill’s sprinting form.
And yet, two more tones — here, you can feel his presence. I took a good deal of time away from the easel, looking at the canvas, and figuring out how I wanted to approach the letters on the bottom of the canvas, tonality in the figure as well as the handling of the sky.
Into the highlights, and then back again into the shadows. I find the process of working and reworking the tones in a figure helps strike the appropriate balance.
Following some textual work in the sky, and a fiery gradient — up, up and away! Bill Shelton… a man chasing dreams and breaking records to this very day. In fact, he will be competing in the National Indoor Track Championships this weekend in Winston Salem. Kick some ass Bill. Thank you. It was a pleasure working with you.
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