The Lawman was originally painted when I was first learning the ropes of illustration. My teacher, Peter Caras, allowed his students to use his vast collection of black and white scrap. Scrap is a term used for photographs of models (scenic images can be scrap too) posed in all sorts of genres – high society, secret agents, romance, medical situations, but mainly western settings. The original illustration focused on learning how to paint from black & white photos. This was so your final illustration would not be influenced any color choices but your own.
I focused on the model. The valued of his face and clothes. The background was left as a layered wash of raw ochre with a touch of burnt sienna. I always thought the illustration was a successful study but remained an unfinished work because of the background. That is until recently. I pulled The Lawman out from my flat files and scanned him into my MacPro.
I used photoshop to separate the lawman from the background and then started playing. The end result is what you see. Besides creating a cool background, I changed his completely blue denim outfit to black. I thought it gave the illustration a more omnious feel.
Giclee Art Prints of The Lawman are available at my Shop.