Van Rossmann Illustration

A LONG WAYS TO GO

rustyvanrossmann — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:57:00 +0000

Foxy in Sept 09

Thought I would let you see what Foxy is supposed to look like in the end. It will take awhile to get there. The image is for reference as we will tune the animal to lifelike detail and Dentzel expectations.

The great artwork is done by our resident carousel artist Kurt Christensen www.kurtzoid.com. At this point, the animal is continuing to be shaped, and taken down close to the final detail level. As this is Coreen’s and my first animal we are going slow and learning a great deal from the master carvers.

FOXY TAKES SHAPE

rustyvanrossmann — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:45:56 +0000

Foxy in August 09

Foxy is slowly gaining shape. Work and other projects on the old house have only allowed me to carve once a week. Here you can see progress on shaping the blocks and our work in dowling the limbs and neck. My partner Correen is working on the legs while I’m focused on the body.

Art update (or almost art)

rustyvanrossmann — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:16:17 +0000

Finishing up projects for clients lately. The artwork is unpublished so far so I can’t present it here yet. I’ve worked with different techniques in artifact drawing and reconstructions and I’m pleased with the results. It’s good to stretch yourself even if you’ve been using the same technique for over 30 years. Other projects I’m currently working on are the master bedroom of my craptastic old house (sanding the 130 year old floors took two full days) and starting on ”Foxy” the carousel Fox (pretty original name there). Working in 3 dimensions is quite different but a nice challenge. I have more of an appreciation for sculpture now, and for the strength it takes to swing a mallet for hours.

Downtime

rustyvanrossmann — Tue, 12 May 2009 06:41:19 +0000

Having trouble with a PC that holds many of my images. Hope to have some new work up soon. Too busy to keep the web site up-to-date is a good thing I guess. Clients come first. More later.

Town Hall Meeting

rustyvanrossmann — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 01:17:39 +0000

Another quick study of Abraham Lincoln in acrylics. This piece was an effort in color mixing and was used in the Albany Lincoln Town Hall Meeting in mid March 09. The pose came from a B&W photo so I experimented with color and highlights. It’s rough but looked great on stage with the presenter standing below. I have more work to do to tighten up the next image. I’ve added some other views in the Portrait Gallery.

Munchie Gets Cleaned Up

rustyvanrossmann — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:26:13 +0000

Munchie Feb 25

Just about ready to finish Munchie. The overall image is in place with only a few tweaks left to do. Cleaning up the edges and doing some sanding has started to give him a finished look. Ove the next few sessions I’ll wrap it up and have the painters do a primer coat for touch-up review. A full image has been added to the Brass Ring Gallery.

Return of the Blue Figure

rustyvanrossmann — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:30:42 +0000

The Blue Figure is an acrylic now in a private collection. This is one of the first figure studies I did learning to use color after 25 odd years of B&W and graphite. What struck me about the model was the way the light emphasized the bone structure of the back. It looked abnormal.

The photo I took of the original had some defects so I removed it from the gallery and photoshopped it clean. Amazing! She is back in the Portrait and Figure Gallery.

Happy Birthday Abram

rustyvanrossmann — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 01:02:55 +0000

Portrait of Abraham Lincoln for his 200th Birthday after G.H. Storey. I wanted an image to punch up a patriotic shield used on the Monteith House Museum for a celebration of Oregon’s 150th birthday. This is a first attempt at a serious portrait study in color. I didn’t have alot of time to put it together so it’s in acrylic. I like Storey’s style and his unification of color and I learned quite a bit doing it. There are some things I could improve here but the overall look came out well. Looked good on display. I’ve included this image and another in the portrait gallery.

Almost done?

rustyvanrossmann — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:44:36 +0000

Munchie 2_08_09

I was told I can start finishing Munchie as he’s getting close to being done. I’ve started taking the face down for final detailing and adding detail in the saddle blanket so the painters have more guides. I’m finding that just like in 2d, overemphasizing the body mass helps with overall visual acceptance of the image. I’ve gotten a lot better at trusting my senses and whacking away at the wood rather than being too timid and not taking enough wood off. The Carousel “pole” will be hinted at and emphasized by the painters. Even though it’s getting close. I can still see a ton of places I’d like to tune. Knowing when to stop seems to be the same in 3d as it is in 2.

Powell Cottage

rustyvanrossmann — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 18:23:44 +0000

This piece started out as a background for the family tree project. Subject is the old family homestead in England. A larger version can be seen in the watercolor gallery.