War Cry, Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, forest, Cretaceous, theropod, ceratopsian, sunset, pencil sketch, gesso, black and white

War Cry

Taking pencil drawing to its logical conclusion.
Original pencil drawing on hardboard, coated in PVA-based size, and then acrylic gesso. Coated in varnish. 25″ x 60″.

I did this drawing as one last nostalgic tribute to the era when we didn’t realize that tyrannosaurs had feathers. I wanted an edgy, sketchy kind of look with sharp detail. I also wanted a lot of dynamic range at the same time as having bold contrast and a dramatically lit scene. I achieved this look by drawing with various pencil shades from 6H to 8B on a board coated with acrylic gesso.

I started planning this composition in 2015, completed a quick draft sketch in 2016, and worked on the drawing from 2016 to 2019. There were a couple hiatuses in there and my studies of Ojoraptorsaurus were mostly worked on during this same period, but War Cry required overall the largest number of hours I have spent on a single artwork (even including sculptures). Why did it take so long? In a word, gesso. Firstly, according to the local art supplies stores, you can not buy illustration board larger than 40 inches wide unless you are willing to order a few hundred. My solution was to buy a piece of hardboard – it’s like MDF but harder. But I had to make a white finish to draw on, so I sealed it with PVA-based size (a sealer), and then coated it with a couple layers of acrylic gesso. Then I sanded it to a smooth finish with just enough tooth to be good to draw on. I soon realized that I couldn’t use an eraser on the gesso. Since working and re-working my composition until I am happy with it is part of my process, I had to figure out a solution to the eraser problem. My solution was: tape two pieces of Stonehenge paper to a separate board (sheets of Stonehenge are 44” wide and the board I taped it to was 60” wide) and figure out the overall composition there; tape tracing paper on top and trace out the composition onto the tracing paper; and then rub out the tracing onto my gesso-coated board. I then very carefully completed all the details and shading on the gesso board – I couldn’t make any mistakes since I couldn’t use an eraser. Three and a half years later and – voila!

The draft sketch of the composition, 2016, was on display at the Symposium of Vertebrate Paleontology 2016.

Testing fixatives on acrylic gesso in order to make a decision of which fixative to use once the drawing was complete.

Pencil on acrylic gesso gave the drawing an edgy, sharp quality which I liked. When I first started researching this technique, around the end of 2015, I remember I only found one artist that actually completes finished pencil drawings on gesso-covered board. And now I know why there are so few artists who work like this. I probably won’t do this again.

Product 1: the original artwork.

The original is on the piece of hardboard, 25 inches x 60 inches, so it’s five feet wide and pretty heavy. Available for sale for $9,000.

A photo of the back of the hardboard, sealed with size.
Front of the original.

Product 2: Limited edition print, signed and numbered.

I am only making four large prints from the original, all four are printed using archival quality gicle inks and are signed and numbered by me:

Print 1 of 4: 23” x 58 7/8” (full size) on stretched canvas (SOLD).

Print 2 of 4: 23” x 58 7/8” (full size) on stretched canvas. $700.

Print 3 of 4: 23” x 58 7/8” (full size) on stretched canvas. $700.

Print 4 of 4: 17.53” x 44.16” (75% size) plaque mount/dry mount. $650. I made the plaque-mounted print 75% of the original size to cut down on weight slightly and to make it a more manageable size to fit on a wall.

Photograph of the full size gicle print on canvas, with black tape around the edge. Only 4 prints are being made of this drawing (three of which are on canvas).
The back of the canvas print, with wall-hanging hardware.

(Please contact me regarding purchasing original or print of War Cry: [email protected])