Harriet Tubman References

In creating each painting that I do, there's nothing like reference material - whether I pay a model to pose for something, or a sunset over my neighbor's house, every little bit counts. I think artists have become too heavily reliant on source material online (nothing wrong with that), but nothing beats your own material. Sticks and twigs are great for understanding how light works on the natural wood, as well as how they're shaped. One twig can be turned multiple ways to give an effect of a variety of trees. Yes, as small as it may seem, this all goes into a painting. The little canvas is a study of the movement of the limbs, and base colors. I go through a ton of those tiny study canvases. "What do I get you for Christmas, John?" Cotton socks and small study canvases, thanks.

Harriet Tubman - Third Layer

This is the third and final layer of a base coat before I sand it down once more and begin to lay in paint. While this is drying, I have one more color study to do, and then it's showtime.

Harriet Tubman Color Study

Here are two oil panels of color studies that I'm doing of the Harriet Tubman painting. I want to keep the colors pretty simple. I'm not sure just yet which one I like better - the blueish background or the reddish sunset background. Either way, the left of the painting will be completely black.

Harriet Tubman - Second Layer

Because I'm showing the entire process, this is the second layer of paint. Once it's dry, I'll sand it down, and apply a 3rd layer before actually laying down the paint.

Harriet Tubman - Priming the canvas

I think traditionally, when artists prime a canvas, they use gesso. This helps the colors in the painting really stand out. If the canvas is poorly primed, the oil may seep into the canvas and leave dull patches on the surface of the painting. Because I'm going all old school with this painting, I'm priming it with 3 layers of oil paint with liquin mixed in. Liquin is a drying agent that thins the paint out at a faster rate and allows it to flow smoother. Oil paints can take anywhere from a week to 3 months to dry to the touch, that's why they take so long to paint. Liquin cuts that time in half. Too much liquin added and your paint will crack. Because the canvas is porous, I will be applying one coat of toned oil paint, waiting a week, sanding it, and then applying another coat. I will do this 3 times before starting the actual painting.

Harriet Tubman - Canvas Size

While working on the studies - composition, colors, lighting, references, I knew I wanted this to be on a big canvas. I was torn between these two canvases but ultimately went with the one on the right for several reasons. 1. The canvas on the left is thinner and the one on the right is higher quality. 2. The one on the right has more of a 'landscape' feel to it. This is not to suggest that the one on the left doesn't have a landscape quality to it, but the one on the right just 'felt' right, and 3. most of the shows I plan to enter this year won't accept canvases over 48" in any direction and that one lengthwise is exactly 48". What good is doing a masterpiece if you're unable to display it? Anyway, while doing my studies, I went ahead with purchasing the canvas.

Harriet Tubman - Light Study

In the process of painting anything, I believe reference pics (especially the ones you take) are important to accuracy. Taking a pic from the internet really doesn't give you the feel of the environment and even the true lighting. So right on the James River, right off the slave trails, I went out with a friend right after sun set to get reference shots of my own of an old lantern with several candles in it to get a true idea of how the glow worked. These are just some of the nearly 3 dozen pics I got. Yes, I know some of the pics are blurred.

Harriet Tubman Slave Trail Study

While getting ready to paint this masterpiece of Harriet Tubman, I headed over to the Richmond Slave Trails just before you pass over the James River Bridge. Although Harriet Tubman stayed primarily in Maryland during her rescue operations, I didn't have the luxury of going back and forth to those locations that she traveled. Walking along the trail, I needed to make sure most of my reference pics were in the winter, as this was the timeframe she generally traveled. I have a ton of reference photos, but these are just some of the ones I took while out there. It's a very somber feeling, knowing that humans that were seen as cattle, were forced to walk these trails, waiting to be sold. While most of the pics I took were during the day, this painting will be a nighttime painting. 

Harriet Tubman Landscape Study

This is the second of two landscape studies I did during the fall for the Harriet Tubman painting. I needed to get way off into the woods for this and went out to Herring Creek near Berkley. The creek flows from the James River. This section was exceptionally vibrant during mid fall, around late October. It was gorgeous out there. In the painting of Harriet Tubman, I plan on having a river in the background, and hope to incorporate this into the painting, but I'm not sure as of yet. 

Harriet Tubman Landscape Study

This is one of two landscape studies I did during the fall for the Harriet Tubman painting. I had no intention of painting a waterfall or anything "serene" in the painting. This is more for landscape study than anything else.

Harriet Tubman - Into The Darkness

This is how all of my artwork starts out, as an idea (or two, or three) and I take what I see in my mind and put it on small study panels. These panels are generally no bigger than 11x14 and are only meant for quick studies. In this, I had two images in mind, one is a close up of Harriet Tubman going through the woods with three runaway slaves, and the other is the same painting, but more pulled back. I put it up for a vote and most people who saw it, voted for the second one, as it conveys the magnitude of their situation and the fear they faced. These panels were created back in early December 2018.

The Yellow Rose

This is a painting I did for my mom for Christmas. Her favorite flower is a yellow rose. She had five children, so the goldfish on the vase represent all five of us, and the two fallen petals are for my father, who she was married to for 35 years, and my brother, Micah, who passed in 2001.

Mom's Painting - In Progress

Mom's Painting - In Progress

The rose I used for reference.

Mom's Painting