George Caleb Bingham

Recently I made some illustrations for the Notable Missourian book on the painter George Caleb Bingham.  He was an interesting man in both art and politics.

Young George sits and watches Chester Harding paint a portrait of Daniel Boone.  His love of art was now official.

George went east to study the works in the big museums there.

George was passionate about the plight of the people, and got deeply into politics.

Not only did George enjoy politics, but he used it as a subject of many of his works.

George as an elder teaching a painting class.

JC Penney

Its time to get started on the 2017 Notable Missourian illustrations for Truman State University Press.  The first book features James Cash Penney.  That's right, JC Penney himself.   Here are some of the sketches done for Chapter 1 - They show a young JC in the hog business.

Andrew Taylor Still teaching

This illustration shows an older Andrew Taylor (A.T.) Still watching over a class being taught at his newly founded school of Osteopathy.  This illustration is for the Notable Missourian series published by Truman State University Press.

Final art

Rough sketch.  You can see quite a few changes were made.

Buck O'Neil stuff in progress

Here's some cropped close ups of some Buck O'Neil illustrations currently being worked on.. 

What are these guys looking at?

One of the Homestead Grays makes a mad dash to first base.  Where's Buck?

What's better than motorcycles and balloons?

Answer:  Many things depending on who you are!  Maybe its ice cream, or bungee jumping, or quiet walks on the beach, or doing crossword puzzles in the bathroom.  But if you were Albert Bond Lambert, the answer to that question would be airplanes!  Albert loved adventure from his youth on.  He first satisfied his thirst for adventure with motorcycling.  That gave way to ballooning. Once the Wright Bros proved the viability of the fixed wing aircraft, Albert was immediately intrigued.  He took lessons and bought himself a Wright brothers built aircraft.  Not only did this become a hobby of his, but as a business man he could see how airplanes were going to change the world.  Thus (yes...i said thus) he became a major investor in aviation and aviation infrastructure.  I hear he also still really enjoyed doing crossword puzzles in the bathroom though.  Some old hobby's are hard to let go.

The illustration below is for the Notable Missourian book on Albert Bond Lambert.  This book was written by Christopher Lynch and published by Truman State University Press.

Albert flying a Wright Model B

Balloony!

Here is another  illustration for the Notable Missourian book on Albert Bond Lambert, written by Christopher Lynch and published by Truman State University Press.

Before there were airplanes or dirigibles, balloons were the way to experience flying.  The problem with flying a balloon is you're totally at the mercy of the air.  You go where the wind blows you.  Of course this made it exciting too. Albert Bond Lambert, ever the adventurer, spent much of his time flying and racing balloons.  In fact some people thought he spent so much time with his gas filled hobby that he was neglecting his job as a city counsilman. 

The more I think about it, "balloon race" is a bit of a misnomer as it was more about distance then getting somewhere first. How far would they go?  Well, one time Albert and his fellow aeronaut H.E. Honeywell packed two fried chickens, twelve sandwiches, water and a thermos of coffee....so they clearly planned to be aloft for awhile. They landed almost 20 hours after takeoff in Tiger, Georgia - 450 miles away from where they started in St Louis.

Jeffrey Deroine settles down

This is the chapter 5 header illustration for the Notable Missourian book on Jeffrey Deroine.  

Jeffrey lead a remarkable life.  He was a slave for a fur trapper, gained his freedom and became an interpreter for the Ioway nation, travelled the world with the Ioway, and ultimately was able to purchase some land and settle down.  

This illustration is for the Notable MIssourian book on Jeffrey Deroine, published by Truman State University Press.

Rough sketch

Final art

The Rest of Alphonso

Things are a bit hectic and I'm behind on posts so I'm going to post the rest of Alphonso all at once.  Alphonso was a fascinating guy who continued to have a life full of adventures worth writing about even after he lost his arm in the War of 1812.

These illustrations are for the Notable Missourian book about Alphonso Wetmore, written by Mary Barile and published by Truman State University Press.

Alphonso riding to a fort to bring the soldiers their pay

Alphonso on the Santa Fe Trail recording the days adventures.

Alphonso writing his memoirs or some fiction or maybe a grocery list in his St Louis office.

Marie Meyer Fower, a Missouri Barnstormer

This Notable Missourian book (written by Christine Montgomery and published by Truman State University Press) is about Marie Meyer Fower. Not only was she one of the rare women pilots in the early days of flight, she was also a barnstormer, wing walker, and all around daredevil with a true love of aviation. This first illustration shows Marie playing with the other kids in St Louis and noticing an early airplane flying in the distance.

Rough Sketch

Colors roughly blocked in by hand in acrylic

Finished art, completed in Photoshop

From super rough to finish - Jean Bartik and the ENIAC

Rough hand painting.  Rough rough rough..

So the way I'm going about this year's round of notable missourians is way different then the way I did the recent "This Is Kansas City" illustrations.  The TIKC illustrations we're made completely by hand on panel.  The Notable Missourians are hybrid hand/computer illustrations.  First I start with a rough hand painting. Really rough. I mean people think my kid did it and I don't correct them rough.  The main purpose of the rough painting is to give me some good textures and colors and the basic location of the illustration elements.  I digitally bring the rough painting into photoshop and thats where I chip away at it.  Its a great method that makes experimenting, editing and changes no prob, and I think it gives a nice hybrid look.  

The Notable Missourian series is published by Truman State University Press.  The book on Jean Bartik was written by Kim Todd.

The illustration after some computer lovin'.  

Jean Bartik gets news of the War

This is an illustration showing Notable Missourian Jean Bartik and some of her friends learning about the attack on Pearl Harbor.  This illustration is for the Notable Missourian series published by Truman State University Press.  The story of Jean Bartik was written by Kim Todd.

Jean Bartik Rough Sketches

Work has begun on illustrations for the 2015 Notable Missourian series published by Truman State University Press.  First up is the story of Jean Bartik, written by Kim Todd. Jean was an early pioneer in computing. In fact, for awhile she was literally a computer. Yes I said that right. It's weird to think now, but in the middle of last century a computer or calculator was a job description, not a device. One of her many notable accomplishments was her work programming the ENIAC, the first general purpose electronic computer. I really want to emphasize how important those early room sized, vacuum tube laden, punch card programmed computers were in getting to where we are today, but I would be in way over my head.  I'm just glad I don't have to replace vacuum tubes and patch cables into switch boards to use my iMac.  

Speaking of vacuum tubes, when I was a kid I found an old box full of them and thought they were incredibly cool. Not for any practical purpose...I had no idea what they actually did.  I just thought they made great doomsday weapons for my toy GI Joes. If you came across  my Cobra Commander action figure holding a vacuum tube, some bad stuff was about to go down and GI Joe had some work to do.  

Back on topic, here are some rough sketches for Notable Missourian Jean Bartik

Jean as a teen daydreaming in the hayloft

Jean and friends learning about the attack on Pearl Harbor

Working on aircraft during WWII

Small town girl in the big city of Philly

Jean working as a human computer

Jean and another woman working on the ENIAC

Jean up against the glass ceiling

Rivercene

After some rough starts, Joseph Kinney ended up doing quite well for himself in the steamboat business.  He built a mansion for his family just across the Missouri River from Boonville.  The mansion was playfully called Rivercene by Joseph and his wife Matilda as a pun playing off the fact that the river can be seen from the house and the house can be seen from the river. Rivercene still stands today and it remains a striking building unlike any other in the area.  

This artwork is for the Notable Missourian book on Joseph Kinney, written by Maryellen McVicker and published by Truman State University Press.

Steam Boat Race

This illustration for the Notable Missourian book on Joseph Kinney saw some changes since the most recent composition sketch.  Mainly, I changed the angle of the steam ships so it looked more like they were passing by instead of heading right for the poor spectators.  I also changed the POV of the ships to make it appear as though the crowd is on higher ground instead of near the shore line. Below is the final illustration along with some of the original composition sketches for this chapter.

This artwork is for the Notable Missourian book on Joseph Kinney, written by Maryellen McVicker and published by Truman State University Press.

Final illustration of steamboat race

Final composition sketch showing steamboat race 

An early idea sketch for this chapter showing the race from inside the wheelhouse.  I still like the potential of this one.

An early rough sketch.  Hell I'm not sure why I'm including this one.  It doesn't look like a race or anything really.  It more looks like some knucklehead just hanging out with his lady and waving a flag while ships pass by.

Emmett Kelly on "What's My Line"

Even in his later years Emmett Kelly made appearances on TV shows such as "What's My Line".  In this episode (which can be viewed here) the contestant says it all when she figures out the mystery person is a clown: "The first clown's name that comes to my mind is Emmett Kelly." Everybody of that era knew who Emmett Kelly was to such an extent that his character name "Willie" was rarely used. Emmett's mere presence would make people light up and be ready to laugh.  That's quite an effect!  When I grew up the only clown I knew by name was Ronald McDonald and his presence just made me hungry and want to ask questions about the strange psychedelic crew he was running around with.  Anyways I'm sure the good clowns will have their day again.  So it goes with all things.   Might be awhile though.  I feel like we're still squarely in the middle of a "Clowns are creepy" era.

This illustration is for the Notable Missourian book on Emmett Kelly, written by Donald McManus and published by Truman State University Press.

Sweeping the Spotlight

Emmett Kelly's most popular skit involved him coming out to sweep the ring between acts. While doing so the spotlight would begin to slyly follow him around the ring.  After some bemused frustration he would sweep at the circle of light cast by the spotlight making it smaller and smaller until he could then sweep it under a rug or out of the tent.  Versions of this skit live on to this day and its another example of something so familiar that I never even stopped to consider who first came up with it. I've had a lot of moments like that with this series.

This illustration is for the Notable Missourian book on Emmett Kelly, written by Donald McManus and published by Truman State University Press.

Emmett Kelly showing off

As a teen Emmett Kelly was known to be the neighborhood acrobat.  He would climb telephone poles and trees and proved himself quite fearless...all the while scaring the crap out of his mom.  Something I learned from this book was that Emmett Kelly had his start in the circus as an aerial artist - meaning he was on the trapeze. That seems so far from being a clown that it really surprised me.  He was good at it too!  Of course I suppose the fact that he lived to be a clown speaks to that.  I mean, if you're not good at the trapeze...well...splat.

This is an example of an illustration where it didn't turn out as good as I imagined it would in my wee brain, or even as good as the composition sketch hinted at.  I'm fine with it, but not my favorite.

This illustration is for the Notable Missourian book on Emmett Kelly written by Donald McManus and published by Truman State University Press. 

Troupe Movement

This illustration is for chapter 1 of the Notable Missourian book on Emmett Kelly (Written by Donald McManus, published by Truman State University Press).  Here young Emmett is shown fascinated with a vaudeville troupe disembarking for a performance in his childhood hometown of Cabool Missouri.  Back in those days (late 19th, early 20th century) traveling vaudeville acts were an incredibly popular form of entertainment and nearly every town big and small had a theatre where the entertainers could perform. 

Olive Boone with some Grandchildren

Here is an illustration for the final chapter of the Notable Missourian book on Olive Boone (written by Greta Russell, published by Truman State University Press).  Here Olive is shown enjoying the company of some of her many grandchildren.  Olive's final years had some rough turns after the passing of her husband, Nathan, but her grandkids continued to be a source of joy for her.  A big thank you to my awesome editor Barbara for the help with period clothing throughout this project. If left to my own devices I would've made everybody from the 19th century wear a top hat, a monocle and have their hair in a bun.  

If you love them, carve them a piroque out of a cottonwood.

This is for Chapter two of the Notable Missourian book on Olive Boone (written by Greta Russell, published by Truman State University Press). Here Nathan and Olive are flirting as he carves a piroque out of a large poplar in preparation for his families move to Missouri. They thought they would never see each other again but all that courting clearly had an effect. Soon after saying their goodbyes and setting out to travel down the river, Nathan landed in a nearby town and bought a marriage license. He returned to Olive by horse and asked her to marry him. Spoiler alert: She said yes.