New P-51 painting - "Miss Dallas"

[chicoartist]

Hey guys,

Here's my latest, a commissioned work I finished up this a.m.

Miss Dallas
Oil on panel
11 x 14

Capt. Victor J. "Vic" France of Dallas, TX.
334 FS, 4 FG. April 1944.
71 (Eagle) Squadron vet.
KIA in this P-51B (43-6832; QP-K) on 18 April 1944.

Vic was "almost an ace" with 4.333 air and 4.333 ground - confirmed. Best friend was Don Blakeslee, who watched him go in chasing a 109 at low level.

His crew chief Don Allen told me in 2001 that he got a call from a lady in England not too many years ago - from the daughter Vic probably never knew about - wanting to know a bit about her dad from the man who saw him off every day.

Wade

 

[R-2800]

Wow thats really good Nice job!

 

[lesofprimus]

Nice work as always Wade...

 

[Gnomey]

Good as per usual Wade

 

[Micdrow]

Wish I could paint that well or at least draw. Nice job Wade.

Micdrow

 

[evangilder]

Beautiful work Wade. Having a story to go with it makes it all the more interesting.

 

[Matt308]

Agreed. Story makes it. Nice perspective on the painting.

Recognizing that you may not want to answer this, but how much time does a work like this take you. I admire the painters and modelers, but some of the master craftmen I imagine it takes quite a bit of time to get that meticulous detail that seperates you from most others.

Very nice.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

excellent as ever, however the QP doesn't look quite square enough and do you never think your signature is a little too prominent?

 

[Matt308]

Lanc, have a cup of tea.

 

[Wurger]

Shortly

 

[chicoartist]

Recognizing that you may not want to answer this, but how much time does a work like this take you. I admire the painters and modelers, but some of the master craftmen I imagine it takes quite a bit of time to get that meticulous detail that seperates you from most others.

No sweat - I actually just answered this question on another forum, so here you go:

---------------------------------------------

The work took about a week ...

Two days for prep work (choosing/cropping clouds from my own airliner-window pics; choosing an aircraft angle and composing the scene; and shooting the model outside for light/shadows);

One day for the background;

Two days for the plane itself;

Last, but not least, ~ 30 minutes for the inevitable small "corrections" which only become apparent after I publish the initial image on the 'net. Examples of those (you will see on my site when the paint dries somewhat, and I can flatbed-scan the piece) on this one are I filled in the top prop blade's "blurred arc" a bit more - it had a dead-area "notch" in there which didn't make sense ... and I worked the clouds ever so-slightly. Many of these "late" corrections will go unnoticed by most people.

... that's not full 8-hour days, however; that's just the work spread out over five days. Surfing the 'net, reading refs for other work, shuttling kids, and generally goofing off took up the balance of my time over the "five days".

. . . excellent as ever, however the QP doesn't look quite square enough.

"Square enough"? I prefer to call it a painterly application of the letters! Don't put a microscope to this one - you'll find all kinds of "painterly application".

. . . and do you never think your signature is a little too prominent?

Heck, it's not big ENOUGH!

Thx,

Wade

 

[Matt308]

Thanks for the response. And it was amusing to boot. Wade you do this for steady income or for personal pleasure and beer money?

 

[chicoartist]

I'm "full time", as it were ... I quit a very nice, well paying, and frankly pretty "easy" job in 2003 to devote more time to my art. Between job, family (four kids!), and art, there was only time to do two of those 'well', or to the level I'd like. It was getting to the point that I was completely spent by the time the kiddos hit the sack, and my painting sessions, usually at night, were getting few and far between - it was time to "shed" something.

Luckily, thanks to eBay and my site, in the 2003 time-frame my art was taking off and I had a nice clientele started, so I quit my job and I haven't looked back. What clinched the deal was the Air Force wanted a painting quickly, so I used that one project (High-Angle Gun Shot to Separation) as my "excuse" to quit when I did.

I'm currently working three-four days a week - till no. 4 heads off to kindergarten - THEN, I'll be truly full time 5 days a week.

Just got yet another commission this morning, so I guess I made the right decision. 8)

For those interested, my upcoming projects (commissions, and those I'd like to do when I get time) are listed here.

Thx,

Wade