Having chosen to try my hand at painting the Makasi Plane, I pulled out my equipment and got to work. I decided that my normal freehand method of acrylic painting would not "fly" with this endeavor. Transferring just an outline of the plane onto my canvas took multiple steps.
First I had to find an appropriate picture of Steve's plane. We had several that we took in the hangar when we visited him in the fall, but none showed the plane to its best advantage.
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| Clark in the Makasi Aircraft last November |
I decided to Google "Makasi Plane" and see what turned up. I found a video of Steve's plane when it was used a couple of years ago to give rides to CIA veterans.
As I watched the video, I found a spot with a good view of the plane on the take-off / landing strip and took a screenshot that became the subject matter for my artwork.
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| Makasi Aircraft ready for takeoff |
I sent that picture to our printer to have something with which to work. I have a package of carbon paper I inherited from my parents that, based on the looks of the packaging, must date back to the 1960s or before. There is enough that one day my kids will inherit it from me and wonder what the heck to do with it. I taped the picture and carbon paper to the canvas and traced the key lines of the plane.
It took about 12 hours over 3 days to complete the picture. Clark took a picture of my progress at the end of day one. Given the plane is basically black and white with grey for accents, it proved to be a challenge to get the right look. The photocopy came out anemic / washed-out, so I had to work from the photo on my laptop; otherwise, instead of black I would have had a plane in "50 shades of gray".
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| End of day 1 results |
The second day, I did a lot of rework - darkening up the blackest of black, refining and outlining the numbers and letters, etc. The end result was a picture that looked very much the same as at the end of day 1.
The next day, Saturday, I got diverted from my plane project. Although I had looked forward to the event, I completely missed Jim's, "Third Degree", post on Facebook announcing today's scavenger hunt that he is conducting on a weekly basis. Somewhere on the marina grounds he placed a wooden birdhouse and gave clues on where to find it. He posted the hints at 10:00 as he said he would. At 10:15 I saw Jim, "Hour Plan", walking by -- the proud owner of the birdhouse.
I yelled from my boat as he walked by, "You found it already!" He grinned and said, "Yes, and it's the only RV I'm likely to ever have!" As he walked by, I said if he wanted it painted to let me know. Lo and behold, he came back a short while later to have it painted.
When I asked what color, he said, "AC wants red with a weathered look."
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| Wooden birdhouse ready to be painted |
What fun! My hobby before I started painted on canvas was painting cement sculptures. I have quite a few of them at home, so many in fact, I gave up the hobby for something that takes up less space.
Very quickly I pulled out my paints and got to work. As I was painting it, my critic came along and all he said was, "Black wheels?!" "I'm letting them dry" I said, "and will add hubcaps later." When, a short time later, I asked him what he thought, all he could offer up was "It's red!" Dragging a compliment out of him is worse than pulling teeth!
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| Painted RV - weathered-look red with grayish shutters and hubcaps! |
Of course, Clark's opinion did not matter in this scenario, and as far as I could tell AC and Jim were well-pleased with the end result. AC tells me it is destined to be part of a floral display on her deck at home in South Carolina. Based on her comments, I believe she received what she was looking for.
Having played with my paints today, I felt that I needed to postpone work on my plane project until another day. While painting, as time goes on, my attention to detail slackens. Since the plane is all about detail, I figured I better start fresh tomorrow.
It took all afternoon on Monday to finish the plane picture, but I am proud of the results. I left the worst for last. I knew that painting moving propellers would be a difficult task, and I had to fix up the painting multiple times as I corrected and re-corrected the many mistakes I made.
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| Outdoor lighting |
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| Salon lighting |
The final step before I declare the picture completed is to spray it with a satin finish that is water resistant to protect the paint. Having completed this one, I now need to go looking for my next project. It will be hard after this to come up with something of interest.
Meanwhile I have started a 7-book series about "The Dorset Boy". Again, this is a nautical series. Book 1 had a slow start as the hero had to work his way up from country bumpkin to midshipman. Now, it has reeled me in and become a real page turner. I have already moved on to book 2! Thank goodness for Kindle Unlimited!
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