One of my other interests

[cfellows]

Nice work, George.  I've always thought that if I had my life to do over again I would either be an artist or a concert pianist.  Having dabbled in art some, I know it can be a long and arduous task to make a nice drawing or painting.  How long did each of these works take you to complete?

Chuck

[Ramon Wilson]

Hi George,

This is the first time I have read your posts on your 'other' talent and I'm truly impressed. Your ability is simply astounding and your skill to convey shiny and reflective surfaces truly remarkable. The reflections on the car are so realistic whilst that chrome on the Ford is just totally convincing. I was once told that 'All art is an illusion' - you have certainly mastered that concept

Congratulations on such fine work and please - keep us posted on further accomplishments.

Regards - Ramon

[gbritnell]

Hi Chuck,
On the more complex pieces like cars with all kinds of detail they can take up to 50 hours to complete. It starts out by making a sketch from the reference photo and making any changes to the composition. The sketch is then enlarged to the size the finished artwork is going to be, usually by taking it to a copy shop. The sketch is then transferred to the drawing paper by laying one over the other on my back patio doors, kind of like a giant light box. Once the light sketch is complete the coloring starts. With colored pencils it's not just a matter of picking out red for the car and black for the tires, each color has up to 5-6 layers of pigment to give the finished color depth. Once the coloring starts I get lost in the work, just like machining, and sometimes work into the wee hours of the morning until I look at the clock.
Thanks for asking,
gbritnell

[ReFlad]

Wow George.  You have a mighty talent.  Very nice! Thanks for sharing and inspiring...

[ths]

You are no amateur in any of your 'interests'!

Hugh.

[gbritnell]

Gentlemen,
As a follow-up to the last posting on my inline 6 cylinder engine I said that I had to take a break to do an art commission. Well I got it finished. It turned out to big a little bit bigger job than I had anticipated. The lady wanted 3 portraits in one picture, here husband, his father and their son.
When I do art for people I don't charge a lot of money but when I was asked how much to do 3 portraits in one I was kind of put in a position. The reason being the lady who requested it is related to my wife's cousin by marriage. Not really close family but close enough that I had to forgo my usual fees and do it for quite a bit less. Anyway we came to a mutual agreement and I just finished framing it yesterday. Here husband's birthday is in early February so the deadline was met.
gbritnell

[steamer]

Done in the typical Britnell vain.....perfectly.

George.....you are good!

They should be VERY happy with that....at twice what they paid for it.....JMHO.

Dave

[Tennessee Whiskey]

Not only is the art work beautiful, if you think about it, the subject matter is quite relevant to the mindset of most of this forum, "GENERATIONS."

Whiskey

[HobbyNut]

Gentlemen,
Here's an a few more pictures to update this thread.

An the last one for today is one of my all time favorite car works, a 32 Ford hot rod. The reference work was taken at one of our local Saturday night car gatherings. I just thought the shot with the shading and colors was very eye catching.
gbritnell

That '32 Ford art is real nice. Actually, to be correct, it is a '30 with a '32 rad shell. The car I am building is identical except for the antenna, the tri carb and the dropped headlight bar. Even the color is relatively the same. Mine is being painted this Saturday, and back in my shop on Sunday for assembly.
George you are an artist in many disciplines, and we should all strive to better ourselves from your sharing with us of your projects.
The pencil drawing that is my avatar, is a self portrait I did about a year ago. I too took art school and have quite a few pencil drawings, and a few airbrush pieces, and a lot of pinstriping panels.

[b.lindsey]

She should be very pleased with that George. Just knowing you created such a family heirloom for them must be a tremendous source of pride, even despite the lower fee. That really is a wonderful piece of art!!!

Bill

[gbritnell]

Gentlemen,
Well I'm recuperating fine but still can't lift anything for another 5-6 weeks so it gave me a good reason to go back to my drawing board and catch up on some projects I've had waiting. This first one is a colored pencil drawing of my granddaughter Hannah taken last year on a miniature golf outing. I had done a couple of portraits on black paper many years ago so this was kind of a learning experience once again. It's done with Prismacolor pencils and is about 13 x 14 inches.
gbritnell

[b.lindsey]

Simply lovely George...please keep sharing these ...they are as awesome as your engine building artistry!!

Bill

[steamer]

Good lord George....a very beautiful picture of a very pretty little girl

You must be very proud indeed!

Dave

[Don1966]

George your attention to detail is remarkable from the hair down to the cloth. Such a beautiful little girl and a proud grandfather I bet. Beautiful work as usual George and I would not expect anything less from you easil. I differently like........... 

Don

[PatJ]

I just saw this thread today.

All I can say is wow George !

Pat J