Close-Up of "The Battle"
This summer was consumed by one job that lasted quite a while and tested my ability to keep focused on the vision of the final product and make some good art. I was contacted by a great Irish agency that wanted me to create artwork for an billboard campaign across Ireland. The company that had the TV rights to the Rugby World Cup, in France this year, wanted to emphasize the beauty of it through the tag line: "L'art du Combat"
They asked for 'beautifully painted masterpieces'. Gulp...sure, no problem.
This was a scary job for me to tackle; many figures and I was asked to paint them a bit more painterly to make them look more like Bellows or Eakins than O'Brien. I also was NOT going to get any useable reference from the client. I had to buy some of it at high cost but the budget covered those fees. Where I could not get a good shot, I did it myself. Uniforms were specific and none of the reference was right.
The first painting was called "The Battle" and called for a runner stiff-arming a player while looking elsewhere. My final product was not my best effort and I had the feeling that it looked more like the cover or a Revell Plastic model box and not a 'maserpiece.' I worked on it a bit more and felt good about the final.
