I have been meaning to post the new Bragging Rights portrait of Eric Lander for some time. He was the winner of the 2011 Striper Cup catch and release winner and managed to land a very nice fish which was released after this photo was taken. I have to admit, when I first saw the reference photo I had to work from I was a little horrified. It was taken at night on a cell phone and didn’t show much as far as values, colors, or any background whatsoever so before I began I asked Eric if I could have some creative licensure with it and thankfully he agreed which made it a lot more fun for me. Since this was kind of a tough one and I wanted to really make it a little more interesting I decided to record the steps at different intervals as it was created.
Original Striped Bass Fish Reference photo
Step 1, rough sketch just to get an idea of placement, composition etc.
Step 2, blocking in values for different areas in broad strokes
Step 3, continuing under-painting, establishing lights and darks and wanted to start on Erics face just to have something to build on
Establishing main blocks of color, I wanted something a little more in the background to make it more interesting, roughing in the striped bass
Bringing in more detail, getting the fish squared away and playing with the shapes and colors of the clouds to give it a little depth and distance
Tightening up my shapes, sharpening lines where needed and finding where to infuse more color which is kind of a habit of mine
The finished painting ready to present to Eric. Wasnt sure if I had gone overboard with the background etc. but Eric seemed rather happy with the results.There were however a few people who felt I did exercise a little too much creativity perhaps making the painting too iconoclastic or better suited to a black velvet support so I decided to take a few hours playing around and show what I felt it should have looked like if that were the case. Thankfully Eric has a great sense of humor.
The finished artwork in its new home with its new owner Eric. Congratulations on a great fish Eric!
[...] Rights Portrait.To see the step-by-step on how Mike made the portrait, check out his blog, HERE.And to see some of Mike’s other artworks (one of which graced the November Cover of On The [...]
WOW
It is a mind-blowing post.Written nicely moreover properly organized.
That is a great fish and a fantastic way to commemorate it.
We may need to try something like that for our Halibut Derby Winner in 2012 here in California.
Keith <