# 'Twin-tailed Dragons' pencil sketch ...



## chicoartist (Apr 20, 2006)

Hi guys,

Just finished this little pencil sketch for my upcoming _Twin-tailed Dragons_. The final canvas will be 24 x 32. 

Next step is to do a small oil sketch the same size as this pencil sketch to nail down the values and colors. After THAT, I have to put this project aside and finish the final 48" wide _The Debden Kidd_ canvas. The final P-38 canvas is going to the same home as _The Debden Kidd_, so no problem mixing and matching my time on these two!

I didn't bother with much detail or markings at this small size, but I did 'hint' at the distinctive dragon motif art on the booms (459th FS; Chittagong, India). 

The painting will show a few P-38s in mid-May 1944 led by Capt. Walter F. "Bill" Duke's _*Miss-V*_. Duke, a 13-victory ace, was KIA in this plane after a sweep over Heho/Meiktila airfield on 6 June 44 when he voluntarily returned to find his missing wingman after the wingman failed to join up after they cleared the target area. Duke said he had plenty of gas and circled back. 

Japanese fighters flying at altitude saw his lone P-38 and attacked. After the war Japanese records investigated by US officers confirmed that Duke knocked down three of his attackers before he was shot down himself. These last three victories do not show up on some "official" lists. His wingman actually made it home OK. 

The second ship is being flown by Maj. Willard J. Webb.

_Twin-tailed Dragons_
Pencil on paper
8 x 10 5/8


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## Gnomey (Apr 20, 2006)

Nice Wade, looking forward to seeing the colour sketch.


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## Wildcat (Apr 20, 2006)

Superb as usual mate!


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## evangilder (Apr 20, 2006)

Very, very nice, Wade!


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## MacArther (Apr 20, 2006)

Very nice... Dumb question though, why is it everyone BUT me can draw stuff, and I'm still limited to crude stick figures?


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## lesofprimus (Apr 20, 2006)

I would think that with such a distinctive art job, dragon tails on the booms, that u would have attempted to highlight this area, rather than show the -38 coming almost head on, thereby limitating the view of the booms....

Great pic none the less....


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## chicoartist (Apr 20, 2006)

lesofprimus said:


> I would think that with such a distinctive art job, dragon tails on the booms, that u would have attempted to highlight this area, rather than show the -38 coming almost head on, thereby limitating the view of the booms....



Very good question and observation, but it was a compromise ... I chose a more dynamic view than a "sitting pretty" side view. Gosh, I'm tired of those (for now). Plus, almost every "good" side view photograph of P-38s shows the plane from the side and slightly above so that you can see the other boom ... You rarely see a good action shot as I show it - from the front.

All my rough sketches kept bringing me back to this arrangment, like you're sitting in a hot air balloon and they're ZOOMING past you. Conveys speed and power. That's the effect I wanted.

The 'compromise' is that the booms aren't as visible as they would be from the side. That being said, the front of the dragon motif is highly visible on both sides (one side visible on each boom), and you will be able to see the 'tail' snaking back on the plane's left boom, so it will actually be visible on the final art.

Wade


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## lesofprimus (Apr 20, 2006)

I find ur compromise to be a very valid one, and I definatly do like the angle at which u are presenting the plane/s.....


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## cheddar cheese (Apr 20, 2006)

Great drawing!


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## Henk (Apr 20, 2006)

Great stuff mate, I wish I could do that.

Henk


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Apr 21, 2006)

i can't draw for sh*t


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## Gnomey (Apr 21, 2006)

Neither can I....


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## Pisis (Apr 21, 2006)

Yeah, it's a superb artwork mate!


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## cheddar cheese (Apr 21, 2006)

the lancaster kicks ass said:


> i can't draw for sh*t



Why would you want to anyway, shit is an inanimate object and cannot appreciate the efforts of skillful drawing 

I dabble in a bit of drawing every now and then, im not very good at all though. If I had the time I would do so a lot more.


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Apr 21, 2006)

you assume i would be drawing for the purpose of entertaining the sh*t, i could have been drawing in order to recieve some sh*t


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## lesofprimus (Apr 21, 2006)

Try drawing this Lanc....


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## syscom3 (Apr 21, 2006)

Chicoartist......have any other drawings you can share with us?


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## chicoartist (Apr 21, 2006)

Update: a collector sent me this photo - I've decided to make it the main subject of my painting. I love the nose art.

The pilot, 2Lt William G. "Bill" Baumeister, Jr. isn't credited with any aerial victories, so it will also represent the vast majority of the non-aces who hung it out there right beside the more famous types.

Oh - in answer to a question above, pls check out my website to see all my completed works in oil *and* pencil

Wade


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## chicoartist (Apr 21, 2006)

lesofprimus said:


> Try drawing this Lanc....



Well, I never figured my posts would lead to THAT!


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## lesofprimus (Apr 21, 2006)

Sorry man, I just couldnt resist, especially since I let a couple of other easy ones go by....


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Apr 22, 2006)

you think that's sh*t? no no, this, is sh*t..........

by the way, that bet with my dad, i won, the level's now past last year's, which is marked by the line of green gunk around the outside...........


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## lesofprimus (Apr 22, 2006)

Looks like Jello Instant Pudding..... How much $$$ did u win off ur Dad???


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Apr 22, 2006)

we're farmers, we're too tight fisted to bet with money, i won pride 

and that was in winter, the surface has dried out a lot more, which some people seem to think means it's solid all the way through, people still die falling in these pits, we lost a calf in there a few years back.........


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## Gnomey (Apr 22, 2006)

What a way to go, drowned in shit......


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## Henk (Apr 22, 2006)

, you guys are too much.

Henk


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## Aggie08 (Apr 23, 2006)

looks like you have some competition on the boards now chico! I made a perfect copy of yours.


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## the lancaster kicks ass (Apr 23, 2006)

mmmm, yummy.......


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## Gnomey (Apr 23, 2006)

Yeah, nice


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## Pisis (Apr 23, 2006)

Hmmm, I liked the shit pit better...


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## Royzee617 (Apr 25, 2006)

Fantastic drawing of a fantastic plane! I like sketches, sometimes more than colour. I read comics and some of my faves are sans colour.
What are you going to do with it? Sell it on Ebay?
I don't have the time either tho I think I can do something that looks plane-like. My daughter is fantastic at drawing, spends hours on it. No planes yet tho.


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## chicoartist (Apr 25, 2006)

Royzee617 said:


> What are you going to do with it? Sell it on Ebay?



The original sketch is available on my site ... along with several other originals. See: http://wademeyersart.tripod.com/id65.html

It's fun to collect originals - I have several from fellow artists. If I ever win the lottery, I'll start my own aviation art museum showcasing all my favorites.

Wade


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## Henk (Apr 25, 2006)

Well like a little kid once said to a painter, "we do that at school"

Henk


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## the lancaster kicks ass (May 14, 2006)

just a quick update on the slurry  well we were talking about calves drowning in their own **** yes? luckily for the point i was trying to make at least, here's this year's victim, it's not ours but belongs to someone who's renting some of our shed space, they realised they were missing a calf which started a large search (well, i drove around the fields looking for it  ) anyway a few weeks later this rose to the surface of the slurry pit, we think it must have been play fighting or jumping around, when she must've fell into the slurry pit, and in the struggle sank, and drowned... she later rose to the surface, well, atleast we found her in the end  anyway there's no point getting it out, and we wouldn't be able to, so there she stays, rotting at a phenominal rate, smelling really really bad........

oh, and if you're wondering why the **** looks lower than the level around the outside after i won a bet saying it'd be higher, it was higher, but as it's left the water dries out of it, and it subsides a bit, think about it, the next time there's a lot of moisture in the air, which you're breathing it, it could've just evaporated from a slurry pit 

******WARNING- Graphic Images******


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## Wurger (May 14, 2006)

Hi Lanc !!!
For God's sake, not when I'm breakfasting.


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## lesofprimus (May 14, 2006)

That is by far one of the most disturbing things ever posted here... CC's cream mouth aint got nothin on the dead calf head in the sh*t pit....

And I apoligize in advance for ruining Chicos' thread....


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## the lancaster kicks ass (May 14, 2006)

if you're interested we just had a cow give birth to two stillborn twins, in order to pull the first around into position to pull it out, we had to pull it's hoof around, although being young and not very developed we kind of... pulled the lower leg off  i can get pictures of that too if you want 

and come on les, dry those tears, it's not that bad


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## the lancaster kicks ass (May 14, 2006)

i took your silence to mean yes and got the pics, the two dead'uns and the hlaf leg in between, and the joint from where the leg in question broke off  don't worry though it was long dead 

******WARNING- Graphic Images******


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## plan_D (May 14, 2006)

Lovely.


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## cheddar cheese (May 14, 2006)

lanc, thats some kinda sick fetish you got there, taking pictures of dead animals in ****. I should think the teachers are glad you arent doing A-Level photography...


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## the lancaster kicks ass (May 14, 2006)

i'm just here to educate the masses


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