A New Painting: "Number 3 at McKee Hollow"

[Ponce de Leon]

Since there isn't an "art" section on JREB, I thought I would place this topic under the Nags Head Lounge.

The attached summary is self-explanatory, so if you're interested, just download the pdf and read (and look). I want to thank EM and Butch for their support and words of wisdom and advice in this particular endeavor. Also, it was EM's suggestion to have me record, photographically, the various phases of doing a painting. I had to remind myself to put the brush down long enough to take the thing outside to snap a photo--something I've never done before on one of these projects (at least until it was actually finished).

I attempted to explain just a few of the details one considers in painting such a scene. In that sense, it's much like a modeling project (for those of you who are skilled and serious modelers--and from some of the work I've seen here, I know there are several). In many cases, I work from multiple photos. This one was pretty much a slightly altered version of an old photo, but I did use a few other shots for reference.

Comments and critiques (or questions) are encouraged.

[thpbears]

Looks very Nice.

[Ptrainman]

Great job, it looks great.


Paul

[E.M. Bell]

Ron, I appreciate you doing that and letting us see how the process all comes together. I must admit I was being a bit selfish when I asked for the play by play of how you paint, as I had no idea myself.

We seem to focus on the "instant gratification" of being able to see a photo we just took, but there is none of that in doing a painting. I guess the nice thing in painting as opposed to photography is the painter CAN go back and re-create things you may have never seen in person and be able to modify that to suit your taste...with photography, you pretty much have to take the hand your dealt.

Great job, and it sure is nice to see a little culture here!

[Backyard]

  Not just a wonderful painting but a fascinating look at how the painting came together.

I shall add Railroad Art to my list of railfanning hobbies...it all comes together in our minds.

Thanks for sharing in .pdf format!

[Ponce de Leon]

We seem to focus on the "instant gratification" of being able to see a photo we just took, but there is none of that in doing a painting.

Some of you guys might recall the name Mike Danneman. Mike used to be the art director at Trains Magazine, but his younger brother Tom now handles those duties. Several years ago Mike tired of the daily grind of the magazine business and moved to the Denver area, where he still lives. In my estimation, Mike is the best railroad artist there is (at least since Howard Fogg passed on in 1996). His work is simply incredible.

I've known Mike for several years, and we often talked about the very point you made, EM. He's also an outstanding photographer, for what it's worth (also a noted modeler). A good painting can take 15 to 40 hours (or more) of long, exhausting work. It takes skill, for sure, but it also takes extreme concentration. I usually listen to some appropriate music and try to limit my "sessions" to a couple of hours or so. Then, I take a break. Doing a painting can lead to mental exhaustion.

Mike and I were talking about all this while standing on top of a small hill at Ludlow, CA, along the Santa Fe main line some 20 years ago. We both admitted that photography was actually more fun, and the "instant gratification" theme played into that very heavily. About that time, a Santa Fe freight would appear on the distant horizon, and all talk of art work went out the window.

I do love to create an image from a blank sheet of watercolor paper--but I couldn't stand a steady diet of it. The late Howard Fogg had to paint right up until his death in '96, because that was the way he paid his bills. Of course he loved the work, but many times he would accept commissions where he really disliked painting a particular subject. We corresponded by audio cassette for several years, and Howard's comments mirrored Mike's. Believe me (because I've done it)--it's not fun. In my case, however, I always painted for the creative challenge, so the money was secondary.

Thanks for the nice comments. To the younger guys on JREB, I'm apologize for all the "nostalgia" stuff--but it's important to know where railroading came from if you ever hope to understand where it is today, and where it's going.