Thursday, January 08, 2009

John Brown: Harpers Ferry Attack

...This is the last of the interior art for the upcoming John Brown book, a love letter to N.C. Wyeth. Now, nothing left but the cover.

8 comments:

Dan Z. said...

Really beautiful, John! Love those blue shadow splotches. Can't wait to see this thing all together (don't blow the cover).

John Hendrix said...

Thanks Dan... those shadows were an agonizing decision. Wasn't sure if I needed them, and I wasn't sure if it would feel right falling over their faces, like it did on the ground.

Owen Schumacher said...

I think the shadows are very good, too. The bark on the trees is lovely, and the woodgrain on the gun stocks is really satisfying. And the Paul Bunyan bigness of John is really working for me!

Mike Boast said...

I find this image disturbing. To me Brown is thinking, "I am happily going to murder some people."

mjmurdock said...

Looks great! The composition is really wonderful and his beard is epic! I can't wait to see the book.

John Hendrix said...

Thanks all. Mike, you've given me a new addition to my band name list- "Epic Beard" ?

Speaking of beards- Redbeard.
Thanks for the comment- Brown's goals were never mayhem, destruction or vigilante retribution- unlike a murderer. He was not infuriated with individuals so much as the slavery machine. In fact, if you read about his blunders in the raid itself, the very fact that he wasn't a cold blooded murderer is why he got stuck in Harpers Ferry. He didn't want to risk killing hostages or his men in a flight to safety. But your perception of him is exactly the impression I hope to correct with this book.

Andi said...

beautiful.

Chad W. Beckerman said...

Very 'Moses leading his people to freedom'