Hi folks. I just wanted to share a small piece that I've just finished up. This is the color study for what will be a larger aircraft portrait of Erich Löwenhardt's Fokker DVII.
The purpose of the color study is to serve as a small color sketch off the larger painting. By first painting the image on a small scale I am able to spot any potential problems that might arise with composition, color and shading. Working out problems on a smaller scale allows me to do so in a matter of minutes rather than the hours or days it would take on a larger painting. By devoting a few extra hours for creating a color study I am able to save myself a lot of time that would be otherwise wasted on decision making and correction during the painting of the final version.
I've been wanting to tackle Löwenhardt's DVII for a while now. The easel is currently open as I've finished up a Lafayette Escadrille piece and am working on drawings for a Kurt Wolff piece, so I figured that I would go ahead and throw an aircraft portrait of the yellow DVII into the mix.
With 54 victories to his credit, Erich Löwenhardt was Germany's 3rd highest ranking ace of WW1. Löwenhardt flew this bright yellow DVII while leader of Jasta 10. Only one indistinct photo actually exists of this brightly colored DVII, however, historians have a good idea of what it looked like from contemporary descriptions.
cheers
Russ
Löwenhardt!
oil on masonite
11" x 7"
final version will be 26" x 16"
