Great idea. I’ll try that.

I actually have several “dust pattern” photos I know of that I’ll dig up for general reference (which probably show the effect exactly as you describe), but I didn’t consult them (recently).

Wade

Almost forgot … yes, I will probably publish the final canvas as a very limited edition (100 prints total) giclee with a pencil remarque option. Once I finish this study, I’ll start taking print pre-orders with a small discount.

Thx!
Wade

Interesting composition to have the subjects flying ‘out’ of the picture, quite unusual really.

Thx … not that I strive for the unusual 🙂 , but rather this is a scene I would have loved to witness, and decided to commit to canvas. This *is* a dangerous composition – art teachers worldwide may go into shock at some of the compositional elements, but I still like it.

I know you have not exactly invited comment, but seeing as you have posted it I will just mention that I think the subjects would be largely silhouetted, as the primanry light source (sun) seems to be just above the hut

Duly noted, and appreciated. If this were a photograph I took, the subjects would be almost “black” in silhouette (you’re right in that regard). However, the eye is infinitely more capable than the camera lens, and isn’t as easily confused by backlighting. For that reason, photographers avoid backlighting in general, and artists (like Keith Ferris, for example) relish it because it allows us to throw all those wonderful atmospheric colors in the (larger) shadowed areas.

. . . at least if you project the shadow angles on the UC legs, they loosely converge there.

The gear “leg” shadows converge at the horizon directly underneath the sun (or close as I could get with my loose brushwork!). You can’t continue the gear leg cast shadow line to the sun itself. Why? Since the object (the gear legs/the planes/etc.) are planted on the ground, the ground comes into play and “intercepts” the falling [cast] shadow and bends it upwards. This phenomenon can be observed by the cast shadow of a very tall tower next to mountains … the cast shadow of the tower will go down and up and up and down on the undulating terrain depending on the height of the ground “intercepting” it as it “falls”.

This is different than if a baseball, for example, were suspended magically 10 feet in the air … in that case you could draw a line from the shadow through the baseball and to the sun.

Wade

Selecting subjects …

How do you select your subjects? Suggestion? whim,? commission?

Generally, I prefer to decide on a subject or two that really interests me, then start researching the background info. About this time, I’ll let my ’email army’ know what my plans are. A good number of folks on my email list are serious collectors, so what happens is the inevitable back and forth on price with one or two people, and I come to an understanding with one … so, so far, just about everything I’ve done has been sold before I finish it. I’ve tried to do commissions out of the blue, that is, subjects I’m not particularly passionate about, and I don’t like it … it then becomes “work”, and there’s lots easier (and quicker) ways to make money! Luckily, I have mainstream tastes, and I like the popular subjects (it would seem).

At the present time, I have four commission works in line which I accepted because I wanted to do them anyway, and somebody stepped up to the plate with a deposit … “Mustangs at Dawn” (P-51s), then another piece featuring Kidd Hofer’s 4th FG B-model, a P-38 piece, then finally an F-100D scene from Vietnam. After that, I’m hoping to do a B-17 scene that I’ve been wanting to do for quite a while.

In between those major works, which may take 2-3 months each from scratch, I will probably do more little oils like the one above. It’s an exercise I like to do every once in a while … find a nice wartime black and white picture, and ‘colorize’ it my way, in paint. As much as I want to simply frame them and hang them up in the house, there’s always somebody who talks me out of them … ‘course, the wife says that’s the goal … :confused: I’m an artist, not a businessman!

Thx for the nice comments!

Wade