Portrait of John Wayne

John Wayne was not only an icon symbolizing American values and ideals he was also an actor whose characters in their majority exemplified the universal image of a rugged gentleman whose courage, appearance and actions set standards of masculinity. When Buffalo & Company organized a poll on their Facebook page in which their customers were asked to share their thoughts about what men should be honored for personifying classic values of manhood, it was not surprising that quite a few people voted for John Wayne. As a result I was commissioned to draw a portrait of John Wayne.

John Wayne aka Duke

There are some interesting facts about John Wayne which are especially curious to me as I was born in USSR. According to Wikipedia Joseph Stalin was a fan of John Wayne's movies, although Stalin had ordered to assassinate the actor as John Wayne was an ardent anti-communist with an incredible popularity in the USA. Stalin died before his order could be carried out and his successor personally rescinded the order. Another interesting fact is that there were not many Western movies made in the USA which penetrated the Iron Curtain and were shown in Soviet Union cinemas. However one of Wayne’s movies called “Stagecoach” ran in Soviet cinemas. In USSR the film was shown under the title “The Journey will be Dangerous”. It means that values and ideas depicted in John Wayne’s movies are rather universal and comprehensible not only by Americans.

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I can only imagine how extremely popular John Wayne was (and still is) in the USA. But there is a fact which tells me a lot about the actor’s popularity. It is a rare thing when a public location is named after an actor. However there are several public places named after John Wayne in the United States among which I can mention John Wayne Airport (Orange County, California) and John Wayne Elementary School (Brooklyn, New York). There is also John Wayne Cancer Institute founded by actor’s son to find the cure for the disease which had taken the movie star away from millions of his fans. Thus the name of John Wayne lives on to keep the memory of the great actor in a special place in American people’s hearts for many generations to come.

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Portrait of Hank Williams, Jr.

Hank Williams, Jr. portrait is the second artwork created for Buffalo & Company’s American Music Legend T-shirt Series.

Hank Williams, Jr. aka Bocephus

I have already told in my blog post dedicated to the portrait of Johnny Cash that country music is probably one of only a few music styles which absorbed the wisdom and philosophy of many generations of American men. Those men had actually built the country which became the home for the world’s most powerful nation for a relatively short period of time. I believe such a stunning success of the American nation was possible because, from its very cradle, the country was ruled by men who appreciated the basic values of manhood passed from generation to generation, including courage and intelligence. But rulers are not the only ones who build a nation as it is impossible to do it without average men and women whose hands and brains play a great role in the prosperity of every country. These average Joes and Janes preserved their experience, both positive and negative, in the form of music. Country music is probably the closest to the hearts of those US people who still honor courage, thirst for adventure and other real men’s values in times when such values are often forgotten.

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Buffalo & Company has built their brand on honoring classic masculine values through men’s apparel they produce. No wonder they pay special attention to legendary country singers as Johnny Cash and Hank Williams Jr. whose appearance and art express the old spirit of a real man. Unfortunately, being a celebrity, Hank Williams Jr. is not easy to reach in order to get his permission to use his portrait on t-shirts. May be one day Mr. Williams will read this post and watch the video showing how his portrait was created and he might want to contact Buffalo & Company to discuss conditions on which he could allow selling t-shirts featuring his face. I believe he would be pleased to be honored by Buffalo & Company and their customers alongside with the great Johnny Cash, American presidents and other famous men. If one day Buffalo & Company gets his permission I’ll update this post with a picture of a Hank Williams, Jr. t-shirt.

Related posts:
Johnny Cash Portrait

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Custom Pin-Up with 3 Cars

I knew that after I had made a few custom pin-up drawings featuring cars along with actual pin-up girls (see my previous blog posts dedicated to the rat rod pin-up, the Chevrolet pin-up and the pin-up portrait featuring a girl changing a tire on her car) there would be more clients with a particular interest in cars who would commission me to draw personalized pin-ups with automobile theme.

Soon after the posts about my car pin-ups had been published on my blog I was contacted by a guy named Brandon whose business was related to cars. The guy also had a beautiful wife whose beauty he admired even more than cars. He had an idea to commission an artist to create a cool artwork combining two most common passions of a man – a beautiful seductive woman and powerful cars. Well, pin-up is exactly the type of art which purpose is to stimulate men’s passion. So Brandon thought that a personalized pin-up portrait featuring his beloved wife and his favorite cars would be a great and unique gift for his spouse (and for himself, of course), especially if his wife shares his passion for auto & moto. The custom pin-up poster I created for Brandon features his wife with three vehicles – a 2004 lifted Ford Excursion, a 1981 Corvette and a 2011 Corvette Grand Sport.

Custom pin-up portrait featuring Ford and Corvette cars

Brandon also wanted another version of the pin-up incorporating the logo of his business (Auto Adrenaline).

Another version of the pin-up incorporating the Auto Adrenaline logo

I’ve also made a time-lapse video showing the work in progress. The video is set to some cool rock’n’roll tunes to reflect the character of this particular pin-up and to let readers of my blog feel the beat and the passion of the pin-up art in general.

Watch this video on Youtube

As you can see in the video, I used art supplies from Pentel (brushes) to paint some basic parts of the pin-up. these tools are really handy and I try to expand the usage of Pentel brushes as much as possible.

Click here to see all my custom pin-ups on this blog
All my pin-up videos

Related posts:
Pin-up with a rat rod
Pin-up artwork with a car
1956 Chevrolet pin-up

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Portrait of Harry S. Truman

Another US president whose portrait I made for Buffalo & Company was Harry S. Truman.

Harry S. Truman (33rd President of the United States)

As you might know from my previous posts, Buffalo & Company advocates classic values of manhood in men’s lifestyle, fashion and character. The company designs clothes with the heritage of men in mind opposing their brand to today’s trends in men’s fashion promoting the image of pretty-boys instead of rugged gentlemen strengthen with the life full of challenges. Buffalo & Company honors men whose courage and resolution, talents and charisma, intelligence and wisdom totally correspond to the classic image of a man. Harry S. Truman can definitely be among those men honored by Buffalo & Company. A president of a country, especially such a big and powerful country as the USA, is the person who faces an enormous number of challenges in his daily life. I cannot even imagine how difficult and tough must be the life of a president whose country is in war as the destiny of the whole nation depends on his decisions. But even if he takes unpopular decisions, the President must be an extraordinary person to lead the nation to the victory and never loose the universal esteem years after.

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Related posts:
Winston Churchill portrait
John F. Kennedy Portrait
Teddy Roosevelt portrait

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Enhanced Influence of Poster Art Among All Age Groups

I continue publishing guest posts which topics, I believe, can be interesting for some of my existing clients as well as for future ones. This time I would like to publish an article dealing with porter art. This kind of art may be interesting for those who commission me to create custom pin-up portraits.

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You will find a huge number of fans of poster art in your surroundings. Posters are mainly printed or painted that has either typography or graphic constituent. It is an easy and affordable way to get an access to art that inspires you. You can decorate any part of your home, apartment, office, boat house, hotels, restaurants, dorm rooms, café and many other placements with the help of posters. There is a huge collection of posters that include celebrity, movie stars, movie directors, music bands, concerts, educational, different types of sports and players, food, cooking, cartoons, maps and many more to choose from. Just decide what type of poster or a collection of posters you want and then go for it or them. You have to keep in mind all aspects of mounting or placing them and your placements to enhance and enforce the chemistry in-betweens. Pay special attention to frames because frames alleviate the beauty of art. Go for wider frame in case of large posters, if you want that particular piece to be the focal point of any place, and also manage to get proper lighting above or around the framed poster to catch an eye towards it.

Vintage pin-up posters can be a great example of poster art

Original and antique posters are precious, quite praiseworthy and valuable, especially the ones before the period of 1950s. The prodigy of antique posters of art and images has full-fledged in the previous ten years. The original ones are usually available at the heritage auction arcades and galleries and are accessible auctions. Auction arcades are more reliable and a good way to acquire original posters because there are unlimited supply of reproduced and replica posters. The differences between the original and replica are obvious if noticed keenly. If you ever get the chance to touch the original one, you will find its surface a bit rough and dull while replica will have a smooth silky surface and shine. Search for your full consent about the reputation of the dealer, if you want to invest your fortune in antique poster, whether you are buying it online or in person. If he is dealing in general posters then maybe he is selling replica.

It is very important for the safety and maintenance of your posters. Bring it to a specialized conservator who will engage in precautionary measures to decelerate the unavoidable decaying process. Prevent them from heat and water because they will accelerate the deterioration process.

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Andrew Jackson Portrait

My next portrait created for Buffalo & Company and their Heritage t-shirt series features Andrew Jackson, the 7th president of the United States.

Andrew Jackson, aka Old Hickory

Andrew Jackson t-shirt by Buffalo and Company

Well, Andrew Jackson is far from being the most favorite president for the Americans as he is widely criticized for his support of slavery and the Indian removal policy. However, I believe, nobody can deny Andrew Jackson’s big role in laying an important brick in the foundation of today’s American democracy and one of the most effective political systems. Just read the Wikipedia article on Andrew Jackson to get convinced that some of reforms started by the 7th president of the USA were of considerable importance and wisdom for today’s free and democratic society of the United States.

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Related posts:
George Washington Portrait
Thomas Jefferson portrait

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