2014-02-12

Christmas Card 2013 : Christmas Mirage

THIS IS A POST BEFORE I MOVED EVERYTHING TO THIS BLOG
You can see the actual post here.
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I try not to post the Christmas card before they've been mailed and I think enough time has passed. This was a departure from my "normal" cards and I think it's the first airplane I've done - at least in this format and style. And the association, the reason for the painting, was a flight I had in the Mirage F-1B (two-seater) just days before Christmas. It was awesome!

First sketch. Also used as a experimentation with oil pastels. I have a nice set but haven't used them yet. The paper was low-grade so maybe I would get the effects I was looking for (hoping for) had I used higher quality paper. I'm sure I'll try them again.

This was the ink work just before (almost just before) I added color. If' you've read any of my blog or Musket Media, you'll know the addition of color is tricky for me. I think I can draw pretty well, but the addition of color is always a leap of faith. I've ruined many pictures by adding color.

This is the final image and I was quite happy with it. It's quite sparse but that was to emphasize the jet itself.  I didn't just get a flight in a single-engine, single-tail legend, I got a flight in a jet that has served the French Air Force for over 40 years and will be retired in the summer of 2014. Good timing! The picture was given to the squadron as a thanks even though I can't thank them enough. And they gave me a cool thank you card!
-mm-

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