Celebrating America Through Art

“I’ve never made a statement painting like this before.

At a time in our lives where the 2nd Amendment is under scrutiny, I wanted to remind people what it means to be American.  The right to bear arms, the right to freedom of speech and so much more” shared Scott.

THE START OF AN IDEA

Scott started a commission painting for Jeff, a long time collector who has an impressive gun collection of over 500 guns.

As Scott, Jeff and our Gallery Rep, Ron were on the phone deliberating, the overall message was clear; freedom, the right to self protection, and our overall rights as Americans.

“As we were discussing the painting idea, I was so getting excited.  More than I have been in a long time.”

CHOOSING THE GUN

Before anything was started on canvas, Jeff text Scott 20 photos of different guns he could envision in this painting.

Scott decided on a rare 44 Ruger Black Powder pistol which happened to be one of Jeff’s favorites.

In the meantime, Scott ordered a replica Constitution while the Ruger was in transit to his studio.

Once the gun arrived, he tried different compositions for achieve the perfect reference photo.  Then, he began blocking in the background, which in this case, was our beautiful flag.

What many people aren’t trained to accomplish is making an object in a painting look like actual metal.

Scott has been perfecting his craft for over four decades, so he makes it look easy but it really isn’t!

 

It requires first airbrushing a smooth gradient and then taping off sections to blend multiple colors together.  In this case, a newer gun requires silvers, tans, and blues to create the look of this shiny gun.

Once the pistol was finished, it was time to mask around the Constitution to dab colors to make it look like aged paper.

After that, he added the grain of the gun’s wooden grip.  It’s really coming together, don’t you think!?

The final touch were the words on the Constitution which took focus and patience.

“Painting the words of the Constitution made me realize how few people probably know what it says.  I was careful to duplicate the handwriting as best I could because I wanted to respect the history of such an important piece of American paper.

I’ve never studied the handwriting of our Founding Fathers before until now.  For example, the word ‘do’ in the second line is so much larger than the rest of the words.  Fixing an error wasn’t easy like it is today by simply hitting Delete on our keyboards.

I want people to look closely at the words and read the sentences that helped shape our government.”

“Paintings can be more powerful than the brushstrokes themselves.  It’s like a musician or writer creating something that leaves an impact once it’s finished.  I don’t think you have to explain this painting to anyone.  It could mean many things to different people, but the overall message is America.”

“We The People”

“There are very few paintings in my career that are this powerful.  Normally, I paint pretty images that can be hung in someone’s living room.

This is not a political painting; it’s a statement about our rights as Americans.  Everyone is entitled to their beliefs and that’s what makes this country so great” shared Scott proudly.

2022 STURGIS RALLY PAINTING

As “We The People” was coming together, another collector heard of the concept and asked if Scott could include one of his guns in his Sturgis Rally painting.

The gun that Dennis owns allegedly belonged to Jesse James’ gang.  After he purchased it, he contacted Remington to have the serial number traced back to its origin.  The number on this revolver is so close to Jesse James’ personal gun that was found underneath his house that they believe it was in the same crate of guns that were stolen from a train heading to St. Louis in the 1860s.

“I’ve always included a motorcycle in my Sturgis paintings, so I thought it was time to change it up” shared Scott.

The concept of a Sturgis Rally wine painting came up because of Scott’s Harley-Davidson wine series being so successful for so many years.

Scott and Danial James designed a unique wine label in a vintage poster look.

“I wanted the label to include a landmark people would easily recognize from The Black Hills.  We chose Needles Highway since it’s so iconic.”

The last time Scott painted the American flag (before “We The People”) was “Made in USA” in the mid 90s.

Once the American flag was blocked in, Scott went over in airbrush to add texture and folds into the fabric.  From there, he taped around the stars and stripes to airbrush texture into them.

Next, the bullets!

Once the bullets were done, Scott began on the main focal point, the wine!

“The label took longer than you think!  There’s so much detail in such a small area.  I had to take it slow and have several breaks to give my shoulder a rest.”

This painting is currently incomplete and title-less.  Scott left yesterday morning for a personal vacation in Alaska with an art collector!  He’s going to try fly fishing and come back to this painting refreshed and ready to complete.

“I didn’t want to rush and finish the painting before my trip.  It would’ve lost some integrity and overall detail.”

This is as far as Scott got before his trip to Alaska!  So close!

“TITLE TBD”