Hi Folks,
I have been promising to start a new acrylic painting, and share the progress with any of you that are interested. I believe that this process might be especially interesting to artists of all experience levels, and might be used as a learning experience. It might also be interesting to Folks that are interested in the history of the Native Americans, especially the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy that occupied much of the area around the Great Lakes.
The premise of the work is the adoption of the Tuscarora Nation into the Haudenosaunee Confederacy of Five Nations and making it the Six Nations. This event took place in 1722 and actually occurred in Albany New York with the Governors of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia in attendance. However, I intend to move back in time a bit, and represent the event as what took place between the Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee and the petitioning Tuscarora.
The Tuscarora, an Iroquois tribe, had been living in North Carolina where they had been at odds with the settlers of the area for many years. There had been much bloodshed on both sides, and the Tuscarora were being murdered and sold into slavery by the settlers of the area. In the early 1700’s the tribe had petitioned Pennsylvania to allow them to move into their territory but were refused. Shortly thereafter, and extending over several years, the Tuscarora began to move into the area controlled by the Five Nations. This set up the circumstance where the Five Nations accepted the Tuscarora into the Confederacy as the sixth, and the Haudenosaunee became the Six Nations.
The main goals of the painting is to represent as closely as possible:
· The ceremonial life of the Native American
· The native dress of the Six Nations. (All had their own dress style, similar but unique to their own Nation.)
· Artifacts that were in use by the people at this period.
· Inter-relationships of the different Nations with each other.
The painting process is at the very earliest stage, and at this point I have created two proposed thumbnail sketches. The first is assuming that the “Adoption Ceremony” took place outside and loosely represents a village, probably the town of “Onondaga” in upper New York. The sketches are just that. Sketches that have been proportioned the same as the final painting. That is the final painting will have a ratio of 3 units of height to 4 of width. So the sketches are sized at 12 inches height to 16 inches length. The final painting will be either 30 X 40 or 36 X 48 inches, so the sketches can be enlarged using a grid, and the proportion of the sketches will fit the canvas exactly.
The second thumbnail takes place inside a Longhouse, and affords a closer look of the different styles of dress of the Six Nations.
It must be noted again that this is a very early stage in the painting, and I am reasonably sure that neither of these sketches are even close to the final drawing, but are just a starting point in the process.
I welcome, and look forward to your comments and suggestions concerning historical information, composition of the painting, suggestions of extra information that might be included, etc., and will respond to as many as I can. During the period that this picture will represent, the Iroquois had access to trade goods such as cloth, metal ware, and weapons. Their dress, and culture would likely have been influenced by these products that where obtained from the settlers.
The process of creating this painting will no doubt continue for a considerable time period, and I intend to document the progress. I hope that many of you be interested and will follow along. Feel free to comment on my blog, at: http://western-artist.typepad.com/robert-walker-western-art/
My Face book at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=100000352931255
Or e-mail me at: rwalker548@bright.net
11/03/2010
10/10/2010
Hi Folks,
The Loudonville Street Fair is over and by late Monday will be history. Late Monday is the time that the Fair tents will be down, the manure and Fair Food wrappers cleaned up, and the detoured traffic will be moving through town instead of out around it. All-in-all, a time to look forward to.
Having said all of that; traffic through the Stonewall Gallery was marvelous. I met some really great folks, sold some art, and judged the Fair Art without reprecussions. (So Far at Least.)
This month I have sold an original watercolor to a collector in Canada, and in the process got my inspiration for my next work. It will probably be a few weeks, but if all goes well I will be sharing the progress of this work with the Folks that have signed up for my Newsletter. If you want to follow along, go to www.western-artist.com , click on the "Newsletter Link"
and sign up.
The picture that I sold is shown below.
09/25/2010
09/15/2010
I learned today that the new film, “Fair Game”, featuring Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, and Ty Burrell, would be released in the USA on November 5, 2010 here in the States. Just a little over a year ago I was contacted by a Set Director in New York City, and she contracted to have these graphites appear on one of the sets that is to resemble a room in the “White House.”
Check the pictures out on www.western-artist.com/print-sales.html .
Needless to say, I am a bit excited about this!
09/10/2010
The Ohio Erie Canal was constructed in the 1820s and early 1830s. It connected Akron in Summit County with the Cuyahoga River and on to Lake Erie. A few years later it expanded to connect to the Ohio River near Portsmouth, Ohio, and then made connections to other canal systems throughout Ohio, and Pennsylvania
The canal carried freight traffic from 1827 to 1861, when the arrival of railroads killed the market. From 1862 to 1913, the canal served as a water source to industries and towns. In 1913, much of the canal system was abandoned after critical sections were destroyed by flooding.
09/07/2010
09/06/2010
The Thundering Herd
A group of my high school classmates met here at the Stonewall Gallery for our 55th Reunion over the weekend, and Terry Fedor one of my classmates suggested “The Thundering Herd” as a title for this picture. He forewent the card set for another glass of Zinfandel so the contest is closed, and the name title stands.
I have just added another Domain to my lineup. Now http://www.western-artist.com will get you to my website, along with http://www.emerging-artist.com and http://stonewall-gallery.com . Eventually they will all go to different entry points of the site.
I will be sending this message out to a group of artists, friends, and customers whose e-mail addresses I have collected over the years. If any of you would like to be removed from the list just reply with a cancel message and I will remove you from the list.
Thanks for your support,
The Western Artist
