Upupa Epops - a small painting ...

Chicoartist · **Posted:** Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:03 am

After finishing my recent B-17 project, I had a batch of 'aluminum' paint left over (just kidding - my 'aluminum' doesn't come from a tube), so I thought I'd knock out a small oil of my fave currently flying Mustang - I'll post a finished scan soon.

The goal is to do a much larger work one day featuring one of the two confirmed kills this airframe had in WWII. The Upupa Epops we see today was Bud Tordoff's second tour machine. It was assigned to the 353rd FG on 26 Jan 45. She's credited with the destruction of 1.0 Me 262 and 1.0 Bf 109 in the hands of 1Lt. Tordoff. Overall, Bud made ace with three aerial victories during his first tour and the two mentioned above during his second tour.

Not wishing to spend a lot of time on this small piece, I noticed the sun was out and I shot a quick pic. The layout of shadows and highlights looked good, so it was Game On!

After a bit of 'tweaking' to add the markings, I transferred the image to a panel I had already prepared, and I commenced mixing paint - it wasn't long after showing this image on an aviation art site that one of my regular collectors 'claimed' the piece.

More progress - will finish soon -

Wade

bobbrunn · **Posted:** Fri Apr 03, 2009 6:51 pm

looking good as always Wade !

262crew · **Joined:** Thu Nov 15, 2007 7:24 pm **Posts:** 877

Missing man flown in honor of Bud, last summer. Very emotional event!

Chicoartist · **Posted:** Fri Apr 10, 2009 3:39 pm

Finished her up today ...

Holedigger · **Posted:** Fri Apr 10, 2009 4:29 pm

Nice! Looks like she will fly right off that canvas! Really like that prop/blur technique, just the right "weight". I've seen some wonderful paintings ruined by too heavy a hand at the prop.

Django · **Posted:** Fri Apr 10, 2009 5:06 pm

Very cool. And fast too!

Which color cast of the sky is the final version?

262crew · **Joined:** Thu Nov 15, 2007 7:24 pm **Posts:** 877

Wade that looks beautiful! Thank you for posting it! Is it for sale?

Chicoartist · **Posted:** Fri Apr 10, 2009 8:59 pm

Django wrote:

... Which color cast of the sky is the final version?

The images above are all 'hand-held', and subject to the whims of the ambient light and the phase of the moon ... that being said, on my screen, which is color-balanced, or 'tuned', or whatever you call it, the last image is closest.

I don't worry too much about the exact 'cast' of the light or a perfect white-balance in my camera at this stage of the game ... I save my anal side for the final master scan (which I will post on my site in about a month, oil paint drying and all that sort of thing). I'll spend up to a week color-correcting the very large scanned file in Photoshop because my scans are all archived for future publication use. The originals rarely hang around here for very long, so I have to get the master image file "right" while I still have the original to refer to ...

On that note ...

262crew wrote:

... Is it for sale?

Thanks for asking, but this one was snapped up by one of my regular collectors soon as I let everybody know it was underway. These days, my entire lineup two years out is composed of commission work, but sometimes, as in this case, I just have to get something out of my system and I'll do a smaller, simpler piece to relax ... then I'm ready to get back on the larger, more complex commission work.

Wade

Chicoartist · **Posted:** Fri Apr 10, 2009 9:09 pm

Holedigger wrote:

... Really like that prop/blur technique, just the right "weight". I've seen some wonderful paintings ruined by too heavy a hand at the prop.

Thanks - and yes, that is a debate within the aviation art community as to prop 'technique''. It has been fussed and discussed ad nauseum. Generally, the 'less is more' rule is the way to go if in doubt.

This piece, being smaller, I went all the way with the 'less' part, showing ONLY the yellow warning tip portion of the full-arc ellipse. If this piece were bigger, I'd probably add a bit of darkening in a few strategic areas to suggest more of the 'arc'.

Wade

Lynn Allen · **Posted:** Fri Apr 10, 2009 10:30 pm

Well done Wade....

Lynn

The Inspector · **Posted:** Sat Apr 11, 2009 3:02 am

Actually I sort of like the pinkish tint that comes across on my screen, gives a warm feeling as well as adding some hint of a lost hero joining with the ever increasing flight of those who are gone, and 262crew is right it WAS emotional watching UPUPA pull up and out heading West that hazy day,
Great job and great tribute THANX

mazdaP5 · **Posted:** Sat Apr 11, 2009 3:41 pm

Bravo.

RyanShort1 · **Posted:** Sat Apr 11, 2009 5:43 pm

Magnificent job Wade.

Ryan

krlang · **Posted:** Sat Apr 11, 2009 6:55 pm

Man,
After seeing that name for years and not having any idea what the heck it could possibly mean, I went and looked it up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoopoe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7hJ2Idjqao

Very Impressive.

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Upupa Epops - a small painting ...

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