Plein Air painting in my backyard

If you've ever been to my house, you've probably been in the backyard and saw the great little swing that we have back there that's covered by a grape vine. I've actually been meaning to paint this scene since I moved into this house but haven't, until now, been able to just sit down and do it. I actually spent a couple of days working on this piece, but I signed it with today's date because I feel like I finished it, today.

W.A.S.P Portrait Update

So I was not able to finish the painting of the Women's Airforce Service Pilot (W.A.S.P) in time for the airshow, but I took it anyway. The really exciting thing was that my table at the Airshow was actually right NEXT to two actually WASPs, and was able to show them the painting as it was, unfinished. They couldn't see very well and their hearing was going pretty bad, but they were very honored and appreciative of my sentiments. They signed pictures for many people that came up to the tent, which gave me a little bit of traffic as well.

Since I haven't finished the painting yet, I thought I'd share a couple of process shots to keep everybody interested in what I'm doing and show a little bit of a step-by-step.

So since you've already seen the digital composite, you've got a basic idea of what the finished image will be like. I washed over the drawing with a very diluted burnt umber to just get a whole quick layer over the bare canvas with the drawing over it.



From there I used a rub technique to pull out some highlights, and then went in again with the burnt umber to lay in my darker values and start giving the painting some shape. This is called the underpainting. It allows me to show my basic value and creates a unified base for the rest of the paint to sit on top of.



Now that I have my underpainting down, I can start mixing my palette and getting some color in there. It's important for me to start with the background so that I'm essentially painting in layers from background to foreground. I start with the sky and then work my way down the airplane, which is a Fairchild PT-19. The PT-19 was the plane that the army used to train its pilots during WWII.



The final stage will be, of course to render the girl, and then last but most important, the Fifi logo on her jacket, which is the emblem created by Walt Disney that the WASPs used.

More to come!

COLORADO SPORT AVIATION AIRSHOW Aug. 28-29 2010

AUGUST 28th & 29th, 2010 starting at 8:00am.
Jefferson County Airport (Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport)
11755 Airport Way
Broomfield, CO 80021

I will be doing Caricatures as well as displaying some of my artwork on both days. I'm working on a special painting of a WWII W.A.S.P. (Women's Airforce Service Pilot).

Come by to get a coupon to recieve $20 off any portrait painted in oils.

Thrilling Aerobatics, Afterburners and Pyrotechniques will all be a part of the 2010 Colorado Sport International Air Show. Join Us on Saturday and Sunday for the best and only airshow on the Front Range this summer. Come on Saturday and you will experience the bonus "Twilight Airshow" and CAF's Red, White & Loud Tour concert starring Aaron Tipp.

Saturday Only
5:30 - 7:00 PM - Immediately following the Live Concert

Twilight Air Show Performers

The Evening Begins with our Warbird Spectacular,

See Yak-52's, Nanchang CJ6-A's a T-28, B-25, C-47, P-51, and Other warbirds flying as the show begins.

Then Don Nelson, Gary Rower and Dan Buchanan will perform in the setting sun.

We'll continue into twilight with an exclusive and spectacular performance by our US Military Demo Aircraft.

After the Twilight Air Show stick around for the Barnstormer's Ball.

And just before the evening comes to a close, watch and listen as Neal Darnell and the "Flash Fire" Jet Truck light up the night sky in preparation for the grand finale Fireworks Show

CLICK HERE FOR TICKET INFO AND MORE

FantasyConstruct.com!

NEW DOMAIN! After kind of a ridiculous run-about way of doing things, I've had to purchase a new hosting package and domain for this site. Now christophermanzanares.com and fantasyconstruct.com are both one and the same. Christophermanzanares.com will take 24-48 hours to reinitiate itself and sink with the new server. Fantasy Construct is the name I use for my blog as well as my Facebook fan page, so I figured that the domain name was the next logical step, it's also easier for people to spell and shorter to type out. Hopefully I won't have this many problems when it comes time to renew, next year! Cheers: to my first successful year online, and for many more to come!

FantasyConstruct.com, click here!

Portrait Painting - Little Rey

Here's an oil portrait that I did as a Christmas present for my cousin Reymundo. The portrait is of his son "Little Rey." I presented the painting to them at Little Rey's birthday party this last weekend. So far as I can tell, the painting was well received. Let's hope that it will be well cared for, as well.



"Little Rey"
11" x 14" Oil on Canvas
©2010 Christopher Manzanares