"Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look."
- Ronald Reagan, in the Inaugural Address as he began his first term as President in 1981.
Above, as of 7/11/05, is how the painting-in-progress looks after 9 months of on-and-off work. See below for some of the early stages.
Painting Stage One - Ronald Reagan painting in progress 9/06/04. After gessoing the canvas with a gray primer the night before, I sketched a rough outline of the basic objects in the picture and started to underpaint the face, hand, shirt, and sun.
Stage Two - Ronald Reagan painting in progress 9/07/04, Here I underpaint the black tux with purple lapels and black tie.
Stage Three - Ronald Reagan painting in progress 9/08/04. Here I begin to underpaint the background from the bottom up.
Stage Four - Ronald Reagan painting in progress 9/09/04. Then I underpaint the mountain and Lady Liberty.
Stage Five - Ronald Reagan painting in progress 9/10/04. I've underpainted the sky as best I can in one session. The rough painting is now ready for the meat of the thing. After the oil paint dries to some extent I will begin on the hand, then eventually to the face, all the while detailing the rest of the paimtimg as I go.