No. 433: Cinderella

"Cinderella" by Tom Wills, watercolor and ink, February 2019. SOLD

Click on each photo to enlarge.

The Mill Creek Park Suspension Bridge in  Youngstown -- the Silver Bridge or Cinderella Bridge --since the late 1800s has been the scene of many first kisses, engagements, photos and, true, paintings.  It's a unique and well-preserved historic structure that draws the eye and breath and fires fancies.

I was asked at the start of 2019 if I would paint this bridge, for an April wedding!

Politano/Steines wedding

The bridge certainly is a complex contraption of girders, wires, block and concrete. Indeed the bridge does appear suspended someplace outside of reality.

The park's literature explains that the 1895-erected Suspension Bridge carries Valley Drive across Mill Creek to connect the east and west sides of Mill Creek Park. "Following the wishes of Volney Rogers to create fanciful park entrances, Charles Fowler of the Youngstown Bridge Co. designed the structure.

"The Suspension Bridge is the oldest of six bridges in Mill Creek Park. It measures 86 feet long and 32 feet wide and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976."

In the summer and fall of 2007, with input from the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, Youngstown State University, the Ohio Historic Preservation Office and additional agencies, the Suspension Bridge went through a major rehabilitation.

I accepted the project with some trepidation. First I would have to draw the bridge, and then draw over it with ink, and finally paint over the ink and pencil marks. And those wires and trees would surely be a challenge!

Things started out alright with this rough watercolor wash over the ink. The basic colors followed the tree line and grass edge, and I knew where the bridge and its base would go, as well as the pavement and walkway in the foreground.

But as the bridge came together, the tree line became a train wreck. Too dark, too "Wizard of Oz" rather than Walt Disney. Fixing this took some thought.

Fortunately a tiny paint brush and some white, yellow and brown dots. smudges and splotches did the trick -- and it is a trick of the eye -- creating the illusion of sunlight and moisture on tree leaves.  This lightened the woods up substantially though I kept tinkering with them right up to the end.

Next came the intricate tasks of filling in the bridge and its railings. Again the fine brush was used, and a bit more ink, and three days of patience.

I set about "building" the bridge deck after the bridge suspension was complete. It's set upon beams and blocks and adorned with intricate trim.


Next came the supporting blocks and the grasses along the walkway. The grasses are another illusion: Six colors of paint applied with a small brush to again create the illusion of sunlight, many plants and wind.

Last to be done were the walkway and the pavement. Though these are mostly white, gray and brown the foremost pavement is another illusion: If you look closely, it's purple! Have you ever looked at sun-baked paving? It's anything but black.

This was a monster of a project and I'm satisfied with the result. I found the right frame with a matching mat and it looks like a good fit!

I thought a lot about making prints of this piece but settled against it. I've always said to "Consider an Original." That has meant there is always just one work. This "Cinderella" painting, then, can be no different.
Like the original bridge, since 1895, there can be just one.

No. 432, 'I've Just Seen A Face'

No. 432, "Butters," January 2019. Pencil.

"I've just seen a face,
I can't forget the time or place" -- The Beatles

The name of No. 432 is actually "Butters," but I called this blog "I've Just Seen A Face" because of a little magic I was asked to perform here.

In the original photo, our rider Pam was looking down. You couldn't see her eyes.

To fix this, I was sent several more photos of her face on everything BUT horseback. I was able to find one of the approximate same angle and superimpose her features inside of the riding clothes.

She has kind of a surprised expression, which is appropriate because she had no idea -- until now -- that this one was coming.

"A horse is pretty much a dog until you attach the nose." -- TW

No. 430: Soul One (James Brown)

"Are you ready for Star Time?"

"We gonna do something funky right here … Wait a minute … Stop!"

I am perhaps the whitest person you'll ever know.
And yet I know my music, and I am colorblind to it.
Always loved a tight beat, thanks to my early years as a drummer, and from all of the music time I have logged behind my own studio equipment.

The king of tight was James Brown, Soul Brother No. 1, The Godfather of Soul, The Hardest Working Man in Show Business, Mr. Please, Please, Please.

No. 320, "Soul One" by Tom Wills, graphite, December 2018.

Original JB records in good condition are hard to find, because they were basically party records and have been played to death. There are hundreds of them and they're not all stellar, mostly because King Records of Cincinnati really knew how to exploit its artists. There are plenty of low-fi ("Vivid Sound") live recordings, half-assed compilations and instrumentals that simply are hit songs with the vocals stripped off. JB was an egomaniac too, also releasing all sorts of James Brown Productions annually across other labels (Smash, Polydor).

But the grooves are so deep (actually) that heavily tracking these platters on a good turntable still brings the funk, and sometimes the surface noise adds a little icing. JB's banter is self-centered, politically incorrect, outdated in 2018 --  and funny.

"You can't tell me how to use my mess."

I'm at the point now where I actively have to think out and search for musicians to draw. I've gone through most of the genres: rock, jazz, soul and country. I thought about doing JB for a long time but kept moving him to the end of the list, which now seems misguided. Correcting that took one weekend.

Black.

I drew JB's face first, knowing that nothing else would work if the face and hair were off.  And it was tough: There were problems at first with the mouth, cheeks and chin. Erasing and shading took care of that, the most difficult phase of the piece.

Next came the overcoat, the white shirt and the pants.  I started on the black background to add some contrast, then did the microphone.

The dark background was problematic and exhausting, completely wearing down my last three Wallace Special Dispatch 251 pencils from 1940-50 -- the blackest lead I have ever seen (They were made for newspaper editing).  I then dabbed over the black markings with an eraser and smudged it all to create the illusion of background, fog, audience, spotlights ,,,  wherever your imagination takes you.

Because this picture is so dark, you can really see the deep pencil lines if you look at it in the right light.
The groove is so great.

This illustration is available for $180 locally. Contact willstom01@gmail.com

Grooves. And the death of a pencil.

Video: Writer(s): JAMES BROWN, BOBBY BYRD