The Civil War
- THE CIVIL WAR - An acrylic painting on a 14 x 18 size canvas board, started in 2006.
I am working on this painting in my spare time. It's in a tonal stage, mostly in earth colors and I'm just about ready to add other subtle colors throughout. To render my Civil War scene accurately I am relying on Steven Brizek, my nephew, who is an expert on the Civil War, and who has taken part in Civil War re-enactments.
Several years before I began this painting Steven and I stood on the battlefield at Gettysburg. I closed my eyes and imagined it was July 2, 1863, I was among the rebel ranks moving across the open field toward Little Round Top where Union soldiers held the high ground. In my mind I heard the loud popping of thousands of rifles, bullets whizzing by, some thudding into soldiers next to me, the booming cannon fire, the smell of gun smoke, the yelling and the screaming of those charging and those falling. One soldier in front of me was hit and fell back down against my legs, and I opened my eyes to look down at him, and all was gone, all was quiet. It was a beautiful sunny summer afternoon, and my nephew was telling me, "so it was imperative for the Union troops to take Little Round Top before Lee could get there with his Rebel army".
It is now 2014 and I'm having difficulty finding time to finish this painting. The truth is, my intention to be accurate about uniform and weapon details and colors has become an obstacle I'm finding hard to deal with, it is something I rarely had to do as a science fiction illustrator. Historical artwork requires research to a much greater degree than does science fiction or fantasy artwork, which is mostly a product of the artist's imagination. My respect for the artists who painted "The Civil War" in the past, and those who do so today has grown immensely, it takes a high measure of devotion and integrity to be faithful to the profession of historical painter.
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