Head Starts

Civil War Face

@ 9" x 7"

Pastel

Casey Klahn

Sergeant Major

Sergeant Major Sketch

@7" x 9." 

Charcoal and chalk on toned brown paper.

Casey Klahn

This is a life sketch I rendered last weekend at a battle reenactment.  The opportunity to draw the figure from life is rare for me, and Civil War reenactments are a grand time, with costumed participants, equipment and regalia for subject-matter.

Detail Didact

Detail from Route Step...Casey Klahn

Soft pastels are not very appropriate for drawing details. Choose pencils and hard pastels for smaller details. Here are five tips for the detail-oriented pastel artist.

1. Decide ahead of time whether your picture will be finished as a painting or as a drawing. The difference to me is more about lost lines and edges versus outlines. Either result may be achieved with pencils, charcoal and hard pastel. But, keep track of your goal.
   
2. Sharpen your crumbly pastel pencils the old fashioned way. Shave a small portion of the business end of the wooden case from back to front to expose a small tip of pastel. Make sure you get it exposed all around. I use an X-Acto Knife for this. Now, sand the point with a sandpaper sharpener. I re-use mine by stapling hardware store sandpaper to the old board.
   
3. The bigger Derwent Set may be my favorite because it has three values for most of the colors. And I like the consistency.
   
4. Don't forget the invaluable General White Charcoal pencil. Also vine charcoal and compressed charcoal sticks, the latter also comes in white.
   
5. Hard pastels may pleasantly surprise you with the intensity of some pigments. They are traditionally used for blocking in lightly, but I urge you to try them over soft pastels occasionally. The effects are better than many other tools used for moving around and shaping soft pastel.

Detail from Route Step...Casey Klahn

More than enough knowledge on sharpening pencils-Link. Warning: doll defacement shown.

Soldier Artist

Soldier, Hero & Artist Charles W. Reed

Abraham Lincoln at City Point, Virginia, 1865
Charles Wellington Reed (1841-1926)

Charles W. Reed was a soldier artist in the Civil War. What is more, he earned the nation's highest medal, the Medal of Honor, for an action at the Battle of Gettysburg.

MOH, Authorized Version until 1895

A rather confused link, but with numerous thumbnail images of Reed's artwork.

It seems that Reed, an enlisted bugler, was rather a "Johnny on the spot," having been present at key battles and for great events. Among those events he witnessed were Gettysburg, the illustrated review of common soldiers by the president, and no less than General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox. His illustrations were published after the war.

Civil War Artillerymen

Route Step in Garrison

8" x 7"
Charcoal & Pastel on Canson Mi-Tientes
Casey Klahn

This now qualifies as my return to the figure, and as a project. I'll name it the Civil War Project. The guy on the left of the image makes a great model, as he is a big statured guy with large hands.

Today, at The Colorist, I posted about the Civil War artist Alfred Waud. Follow the links there to find some artist reenactors who are active back east.

The drawing is not quite this severe in respects to contrast, as this is a scanned image.

Civil War Art

Painting Waiting to Happen
All Photos: Casey Klahn

Caisson

Girl Marching in Uniform

Dresses

Back to Civil War figures. I had the unparalleled opportunity to sketch and paint the reenactment in Spokane over the holiday weekend. The figure is a subject I have wanted to return to. An artist can pay good money for costumed models, or find an event like the one I did. But, you gotta be brave to set up in the middle of holiday gawkers, and more than likely fail all over the paper. See the artist bleeding on the ground.

As it turned out, I was really happy with the outcome. Yesterday's post shows Friday's images. I returned with the family in tow on Monday, but gusting winds kept me from setting up. It just underlines the blessing of getting a good set-up on Friday.

Maybe I'll get in costume and arrive next year at the Civil War reenactment as a period artist. Stove pipe hat, anyone?

I was wondering who were the artists active during the Civil War, so that I could have a baseline to begin with for my study. The illustrated magazine was new on the public stage, and artists were in demand. The first artist I found was, of course, a pastellist. Edward Lamson Henry, 1841-1919 struck a chord with me right away.

Winslow Homer is the most noted Civil War battle sketch artist. Thumbs.

Wounded Soldier being Given a Drink from a Canteen

Drawing: Charcoal and white chalk on blue-green paper, 1864

14 3/8 x 19 ½ ins
Winslow Homer

Drummer Boy

Drawing: Black and white chalk on blue paper, 1864
17 x 10 5/8 ins.
Winslow Homer