Leon Leyson

The latest portrait is of Leon Leyson. I never had the pleasure of meeting him, but many friends have seen him talk at Fullerton College about life and being a holocaust survivor. Leon was the youngest worker saved by Oskar Schindler and his story was portrayed in the movie Schindler's List. Everyone who has seen him lecture mentions how moved they were and what a great guy he is. Fullerton College is honoring him at this year's commencement ceremony and then the portrait will hang somewhere on campus.

The reference photo was taken by McKenzi Taylor and it has elements I like to work with; it is crystal clear, has strong lighting and captures a great expression. I changed the coloring a bit and narrowed the depth of field. I also got wind that he was a wood shop teacher, so I put him in a Penny's kind of wardrobe instead of a suit. This was a real treat to paint and I hope his family finds his positive qualities in the painting.

Philanthropic Jester

Scott Gladden turned me on to the Wavy Gravy (a.k.a. Hugh Romney) documentary Saint Misbehavin' and I loved it. Deb and I took a trip to the Mendicino area for no apparent reason and it turned out to be the home of Wavy's Camp Winnarainbow. This was followed by the opportunity to see him tell stories at the Marsh Theater in Berkeley where we each got to spend some one-on-one time with him before the show. So the reason for the trip became apparent; it was a Wavy Gravy trip. He's such the real deal, so sincere and thoroughly himself with a background as deep as a well. 

When I first saw the documentary I was blown away by the photographs taken by Barry Feinstein and immediately wanted to do something with them. It turns out that this year there will be a benefit concert and auction for Camp Winnarainbow and I started working with Assistant Director Timmy Yuen on a portrait of Wavy for the benefit. I did a sketch based on my my first impulse and sent it to Timmy who got the okay to use the Feinstein image. 

The sketch was very close to the finished composition. I tried to incorporate different aspects of Wavy's journey, from beat poet to prankster, activist to clown. This suggested two images of him, the young one with cherubic curls looking admiringly at the robust philanthropist he was destined to become. Progress was rapid because (a) I don't have a lot of work right now and (b) I had new Hendrix to listen to while working. Such a colorful guy got a ton of color worked into the skin. The bubbles are sort of a universal equalizer, everyone is amazed at bubbles and they help him in his work. Frank Lisciandro suggested the Peace sign, couldn't believe there wasn't one in the original sketch. I made up the jester hat, but Wavy admitted to having about two hundred hats ("follically impaired people have many hats") and oddly this one seemed familiar to him.

Wavy and Deborah's painting

Deborah made a donation to the cause and presented Wavy with this beautiful clown painting. You could see Wavy melt and described it as "sweet". Jaharana gushed, saying if she saw it in a gallery she'd be sure Wavy would see it, it's just the kind of thing he loves. 

Jaharana, Me, the painting, Wavy, Deborah

Everyone was so nice and appreciative. Jaharana swooned at the image of Hugh from the 50s, "...ohh, that's the man I married". Wavy pointed to the current image and said "and that's the guy you're stuck with." It was a great meeting followed by a full tour of the house, brimming with art and memorabilia. Wavy provided stories behind each interesting object. 

Wavy and Jaharana lead a full and busy life; their attachment and devotion to each other immediately jumps out at you. Fundraising seems to be 24-7 for them and an energetic staff. The time on stage might be the only time they can relax. The positive work they do for charitable causes, particularly Camp Winnarainbow and SEVA, has really moved us and we're delighted to play a small role in their success.

P.S. Both our pieces sold. Apparently Jaharana had mentioned that she was so "touched by how much it (the painting) reminded her of the man she married" to someone who is considered a "very dear friend of the camp" who bought the painting and promptly gifted it to Jaharana. This thrilled me to no end. I so wanted the painting to remain a part of their collection, but I also wanted it to raise money for the scholarship fund. This is success on all levels, everybody wins. 

Gerald Roush - Historian

 

In America there is one Ferrari historian, Gerald Roush. There are guys worldwide who have historically relevant material and wonderful collections of data, but in the automotive world I only know of two people who are trained as historians, Gerald Roush and Randy Ema. Information from them just has the extra stamp of credibility and it was essential to include him in the Ferrari Flame Keepers series.

Sadly he passed away before I could do a photo shoot with him so this one had its challenges. I didn't have many photo references for this, but Gerald's daughter Cathy sent me a photo of him at his desk that she liked. I too liked that setting but needed a lot more info. I had done a video interview with Gerald in the early 90s and reviewed that footage. I played the tapes and took photos of the TV screen and did some charcoal sketches from those. I used those sketches as reference for his likeness. With all the books and stuff in the painting there were over 160 reference shots.

I did a small portrait and the likeness was fine but it didn't have any story, any punch, just a face. I remembered being in his office, surrounded by files and books and papers, the printer busily churning out the next issue of the Ferrari Market Letter. I felt like I was in the huge library described in Faust and wanted to convey that in the portrait. So I (loosely) based the painting on his desk area with bookshelves towering over him, relaxed and relating a story of how he got involved with Ferrari in the first place (the magazine on the typewriter is the source). I didn't make the background exactly like his environment, there's no memorabilia, just reference material, but it conveys what I wanted to say.

Trofeo Grand Touring

 This one started several months ago when Charles Betz approached me with an idea. He and his business partner Fred Peters have sponsored an award every year at the Ferrari Club of America National Meet for the last ten years and were ready to try something other than the traditional bronze statue. The award is given to a car that is driven regularly, not a garage queen. Chas thought a painting that reflected a driving experience would be appropriate. It would be printed in a series of ten and one given out each year for the next decade. So I started some sketches based on our conversations and did a couple oil color studies to get capture what he had in mind. Eventually we got there and then set up an evening light photo shoot of his 250GT short wheelbase berlinetta. We then picked the right shot, the right proportions for the painting and had Leon Picture Frames make me a canvas.

Everything flowed smoothly, largely because of the groundwork that was laid. I gave Chas periodic photo updates by email and he made suggestions as necessary. The painting was ready on time and subject to approval by Fred and Brooke, which went well. Then off to get the prints made. I use Stan Nishikawa in Irvine. We decided that the actual award would be a bit smaller than the original so I went over everything with Stan who then did a digital capture and set out to do the color correction. In a few days we were back at Stan's to check the proofs he made available and make a selection. A few days later we had the finished prints and took them back for titling and signing. Each one got the quote "The best Ferrari is the one that is driven" in keeping with the trophy theme and was numbered 1 through 10. From there we were back to Leon Picture Frames to pick matting, frame and that ultra clear museum glass. Chas had a brass plaque made so a window was cut in the mat for it and it turned out beautifully.

Then came the FCA National Meet. Every year it's in a different location and this time it was held in Palm Springs. The recipient of the award isn't picked by Betz and Peters, they just sponsor it. The FCA judges picked Ken and Dayle Roath who has driven his 250 Europa in two recent Mille Miglias. That's a thousand miles each time, hard to do more miles than that, plus his usual driving. I have got to know Ken a bit in the last year or so and I'm delighted to know my work is on their wall.

Fullerton College Centennial

 
In 2013 Fullerton College will be celebrating it's one hundredth birthday. They are planning to make it a big to-do, and rightly so, it is is the oldest continuously running community college in our state. A few artists have been asked to do portraits of significant players in the college history and I got a gal named Esther Litchfield Hatch, the first female dean at the college, back in the 30s. According to a period press release, she was young, enthusiastic and gay (the original meaning). Her duties included helping female students with their academic, financial and romantic endeavors.
I was provided with several photocopies of school paper and yearbook pictures, small and grainy and when you look at them close, all you see is dots. Its hard to do a large painting (29" X 36") from these, but the challenge was made and I met it as best I could. I picked a photo from early in her career, after all, were commemorating the fact that she was the first, no sense in picking a shot from ten years on the job. The other photos gave me the advantage of seeing how she looked in different light, from different angles and how she looked when she got older. I used these as a guide to capturing her likeness.
I gotta admit, it was rough. Just getting the facial geography right was a challenge. Eventually I used the computer to help me. I printed a copy of the original and then printed a copy of my painting over it, this told me where the painting matched the original and where it deviated. I was amazed at how close they matched. I was looking for a problem with the level of the eyes and was surprised to find the solution was in the width of the base of the nose. I hadn't looked there. Then I did a loose grid to check everything else and made a few small mods to get the desired likeness. The painting technique is a combination of traditional under-painting and glazing, some dry brush scumbling on top, then some more glazes. I really like the end result.
I'm not sure what role the painting will play in the Fullerton College centennial celebration, when I get more info I'll post it here.

Conflagration

This painting is for Rod Drew of Francorchamps America in Costa Mesa. It is Ferrari 250LM (5149) burning at Sebring. This is the first 250LM and really the only one to actually have a 250 engine, the others sporting a larger 275 version. It was originally shown at the Paris, London and Brussels car shows, then campaigned by Chinetti's N.A.R.T. team, where it didn't fair very well. After four race entries its career ended here at Sebring. It was rebuilt and eventually converted to street use, then burned again! Years later the car was reconstructed from the remains which are said to include the engine, transaxle and other significant parts. The car went through other owners and eventually made its way back to the Chinetti family.

Rod had done extensive work on this car sometime back and seems to enjoy seeing it presented this way. He has been after me to do a painting of the car burning for quite some time, suggesting Tom Burnside's wonderful period photograph as a starting point and insisting the guy with the cowboy hat be included. I added other figures to photos of the reconstructed car I shot while back east last year and came up with this. 

This is a glazed painting, 24” X 36” oil on canvas. I did a lot of research for this piece, even going back and finding period pictures of the logos for Sebring firefighters back in the day. I did one color study of oil fire and one of firemen, since I wanted to make up most of the guys. I was happy to have photographs of the real car that I had taken recently, and found many detail differences from the car today and as it was then. Like all Ferraris from the 40s through 60s, this one is unique, and doing the research to present it as it raced on March 21, 1964 was a blast.

Orange County Fair 2012

This is the third time I've entered the fair and I've been lucky that all my entries have been accepted AND I've earned five awards in that time. This year I submitted "Resuscitation" and "The Hub" which pulled a Staff Award and Honorable Mention respectively. 

There was a ton of work in the show, 1900 pieces in the fine arts division (which included photography, sculpture, watercolor, mixed media, digital and many other categories). This year I went to the 'Judge's Walk Through' for the first time. You follow the judges around the exhibit as they offer insights to their selection process and give a light critique of some of the winners. It was pretty 101 but a nice way to see the work through someone else's eyes. They said they liked the way I 'handle paint' and the unique perspective of "The Hub" kept them coming back as they considered the entries for awards.

As a side note we counted the number of entries from Deborah's painting class, there were almost forty, and at least six of them won awards, some of them major awards in both amateur and professional categories. One year ALL the award winners (except one HM) were from her classes. So if you're ever looking for a painting class...