Painted Nativity Scene Project

Hi All,

I hope things are going well for everyone.  Recently, my family and I were going thru "the big photo box," after my Dad passed away; reminiscing and looking at pictures.  While looking at old pics I came across a few photos of a project I helped put together around the year 2000.  It was a fun job and an old school project as well.

While in the Air Force I was stationed near Honolulu, Hawaii.  Every year during the holidays the city hosts displays in downtown and a parade.  This particular year, some folks from the church we attended, put a nativity scene together and asked if I would help out by doing some artwork for the display.

Painting nativity scene panels on large sheets of plywood with acrylic paint

The project was a lot of fun.  Very much a cartoon style display, but the as you can tell, the characters weren't exaggerated either.  Almost like coloring book style artwork.  As you can see by the top photo - outline first, then fill in with color, then finishing with airbrushed highlights and shadows.

Working on details.

At the time I still had my hand in doing airbrushed artwork on a regular basis.  Years prior to this, most of the illustrating I did was created using traditional media; including airbrush.

Bethlehem to my left, camel and wise man on my right.

Unfortunately, I didn't come across any photos of the completed project.  When painted, the panels were constructed into a little stable with nativity scene.  It all came together quite nicely and was a beautiful display.  It was a fun project to help out with.  I hope you enjoyed it.

Have a great day.

Peace,

Tom

On-line portfolio: www.behance.net/tk-art

On Facebook:  www.facebook.com/pages/Tom-Kreienbrink-Art-and-Design

Medal of Honor Recipient Portrait

Hi All,

Happy Tuesday!  It's a great day....taking another step toward wrapping up a big project, the sun's shining, and I'm breathing in and out....not bad.

I came across an old piece of artwork today that I produced for the Air Force Art Program.  I completed the artwork while still on active duty while stationed at Bolling AFB in the District of Columbia.  While working in DC I learned about the Air Force Art Program (AFAP), from my pals at the Pentagon.  The AFAP's office was right down the hall from Air Force Media and I got to see the operation and what it's about.

The Air Force Art Program is an office at the Pentagon that handles an amazing volume of artwork.  The artwork is donated by artists who create artwork with Air Force themes, in various sizes and media. They coordinate and catalog all of this artwork and sign it out to units all over the planet, to be displayed.

To have my work accepted into the AFAP was really an honor.  There was even an annual Art Induction dinner, where the year's newly inducted artwork was displayed as a show and the artists were invited to attend, along with guests and some other VIPs.  It was fun, and really a cool experience to be able to meet these other artists, get to know them, break bread together and just be a part of it.

Pitsenbarger - pencil and airbrush, 16"x20"

So I decided that I'd draw a portrait of A1C William Pitsenbarger.  He was a true hero and awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.  He was serving in Viet Nam in 1966 when he went on a rescue mission to help some Army infantry soldiers who were pinned down and taking heavy casualties.  He was lowered from the helicopter thru the trees and immediately started tending to the wounded and loading casualties.  When the helicopter started taking fire and had to leave, he waived them off and stayed to provide aid to injured on the ground.  He coordinated the evacuation of nine casualties. He continually put his own life on the line, pulling wounded from the line of fire, providing medical aid and returning fire when he could.  In the end, he didn't make it out alive that day, but was able to assist many others that day who did.

I drew the portrait of him in pencil depicting him in uniform with his helicopter aircrew helmet on.  The medal of honor is also on the pic, drawn in pencil.  I airbrushed in a warm background of a light yellow to brown.

As a graphic artist in the Air Force - it's an honor to have a piece of my artwork in the Air Force Art Program.  It's also an honor to have served with so many amazing men and women, who put mission before self every day. 

I'm glad that my artwork hangs somewhere in an office or hallway, in an Air Force building where Airmen and civilians alike can see his image and reflect on the inspiration that this man, William Pitsenbarger was.

Take care and have a great day everyone.

Peace,

Tom

Dylan - Part II

Hi All,

Wow!  What a great day here in Phoenix, AZ today.  We've got a nice gentle, steady rain coming down this morning.  Beautiful.  The summer in the desert has been long and hot, so this is a nice change.  I hope you're having as good a day wherever you're at.

So I got up early today to get an early start and be productive.  The first thing I wanted to do, is finish the Bob Dylan artwork.  (I know it's not really a priority - but - that's how it goes sometimes).

So last week I did a pencil sketch caricature of Bob Dylan.  It was fun and I liked it.  Just a fun sketch for myself.

Original pencil sketch

So after posting the sketch, I decided to continue to work on the pic a little and see where it went.  So I took it into Photoshop and started working with Black strokes.  I did this on the same layer as the sketch.  So I made a "pen and ink" with pencil.  Well, I liked it and I liked the effect.

finished color illustration

I thought about adding color and didn't want to affect the pen or pencil drawing - and I couldn't color on a layer below.  So I used the "darken" setting in the brush tool Mode.  It allowed me to add color to the image of Bob Dylan, without affecting the dark line work.  By this time I'd also "cut out" the Dylan image, and set it as the top layer.  Then I started coloring in the background layers underneath it.  I think the background is comprised of about 5 or 6 layers.  I keep adding layers when working backgrounds and playing with brushes, colors, and layer opacity levels.  Fun stuff!!

So that's the Dylan.  A fun little project.  Hope you like it.  All you out there - have a great week.  Enjoy what you're doing - every moment, and be good to yourself and those around you too.

Peace,

Tom

Qui Gon Jinn Illustration

Hi All,

I've got a few projects on the boards that I'm finishing up, but I wanted to pull out a classic piece today.  A Star Wars inspired portrait of the Jedi Knight, Qui Gon Jinn.  He was played by Liam Neeson and portrayed a Jedi Master in the Star Wars prequels that came out about 10 - 12 years ago.

There was a time not so long ago, when I did a lot of airbrush work.  This was a personal piece, done for my own pleasure.  The artwork is on cold press illustration board and I used transparent acrylic airbrush paints (Comart or Golden are my personal favorite).

I started by drawing the layout on the board and then laying in color with the airbrush with no masking or frisket.  I wanted to keep the mood with a warm pallet of browns and yellows.  By not masking I got a  little soft overspray of colors that served to enhance that mood in certain areas of the piece.  The other tools on hand were an electric eraser and X-acto knife.  As I painted in more and more detail I would need to remove some of the color to define detailed areas, uncover highlights, and remove some unwanted overspray.  I would simply use the knife and electric eraser to scrape or erase the paint from the board.

The beauty of using transparent colors is they blend well.  They also allow you to work dark to light on a project like this without a lot of tedious masking.  If I got a little yellow overspray on the dark areas it wouldn't show.  The knife is a great tool for this because it let's you really show the fine texture and detail of hair and beard.  The brushes I use for this work are made by Iwata; HP-C, HP-B, and Custom Micron.  The C has good coverage and the B and Micron are great for fine detail.  Freehand airbrushing isn't the recommended approach by illustration masters, but I think with some practice you can get some pretty good results.

Until next time....Have a great week.

Aloha,

Tom

Childrens Dental Month Artwork

Hi All,

I'm highlighting a couple of fun pieces that I created while working as a medical illustrator several years ago.  At that time I not only did anatomy illustrations, but I got to work on fun projects like this one too.

This project started when some of the people in the Dental Clinics were planning educational presentations; to visit schools and teach kids about Dental care for Children's Dental Month.  So they requested some fun posters that they could use to support their  presentations to the kids.

Enamel - 18" x 24"; marker and airbrush acrylic
on illustration board

The first was a representation of Enamel.  I made the posters about 18" x 24" and used markers, acrylic and airbrush.  All totaled I created 6 posters.  The presenters could set them up in the classroom and discuss the topics on the board.  This allowed the kids to learn some good information in a fun way.

Acid - 18" x 24"; marker and airbrush acrylic
on illustration board

The second poster is Acid.  Again, the same idea as the other poster.  A serious topic - Acid - something that can be bad for teeth, presented in a fun way -- as a mad scientist.

I do have to note one thing.  I've since touched up the images in Photoshop.  Unfortunately, I have a record of the originals on 35mm slides.  I scanned them in to the computer a couple years ago - and they needed a little help.  So, I "fixed" them up using Photoshop and my Wacom Tablet.

This was a fun job and as I recall they were a hit with the kids.

Have a great week everyone.  Let me know if I can assist with your future presentations.

Aloha.

Tom