Wednesday, September 23, 2015

The Making of a Masterpiece: The Winds of Change Phase 2

Winds of Change
Washington at Valley Forge, March 4, 1778

After reading whatever I could in advance, I visited Valley Forge National Historical Park and had a tour of all the pertinent sites with its then chief historian, Dona McDermott. I examined all previous art that had been done of Washington at Valley Forge and realized no one had ever done one painting showing Washington, Von Steuben, Lafayette, and Alexander Hamilton all at the same time. I also wanted to be able to show snow on the ground. When I learned that von Steuben arrived on February 23rd, and there was a heavy snowfall on March 3rd, I had my time frame for the painting.      – Mort Künstler

You can see what the feel of the painting will be after Mort has painted the sky. When completed, you will see that he used the light streak of the setting sun to create a contrast against the center of interest, George Washington.

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All illustrations by Mort Künstler. Text by Michael Aubrecht, Dee Brown, Henry Steele Commager, Rod Gragg, Mort Knstler, James McPherson, and James I. Robertson, Jr. - Copyright 2001-2019. All Rights Reserved. No part of the contents of this web site may be reproduced or utilized in any form by any means without written consent of the artist.