"Death Cannot Conquer" Watercolor Painting of the
Carthage Jail
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 In 1844 when Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith was imprisoned and murdered by a mob at the Carthage Jail in Illinois, many assumed that would be the end of the young Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But they were proven wrong as the faithful members held true to their beliefs and were willing to sacrifice their homes and more to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and His restored Gospel. Today the LDS Church has nearly 14 million members spread throughout the entire world, all who believe that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. The Carthage Jail has been restored to it's original appearance by the LDS Church which maintains a visitor's center there, along with a monument to the consitutional right of Freedom of Religion. |
STEP BY STEP PAINTING DEMONSTRATION BY ROLAND LEE |
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1. My paintings always begin with sketches and value studies. If I get them right at the outset, I am about 80% sure the painting will be successful. This is my tracing paper full-size sketch where I begin to flesh out my ideas. This is a fairly straightforward depiction of the Carthage Jal as it has been restored, however I moved the tree a little to the right to allow a better view of the structure and the windows. I also added a more rustic look with weeds and grasses instead of a trim lawn, and created a dirt road entering the painting. I'm hoping this allows the viewers to decide for themselves whether this is a painting of now, or a painting from the past. |
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2. Working with transparent watercolor pigments, I start blocking in the lights and darks moving quickly into some darker darks in the roofs. Again this helps me get a feel for the range of values I will use in the remainder of the painting. Obviously I am painting around the white trim on the windows and those areas that will appear light against dark in the finished work. |
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3. A closeup shows that my glazes are fairly loose at this point. For example on the stone work, I'm using a vareity of colors, textures, and values but I'm not too concerned about the edges. I want some to appear soft, and others hard. |
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4. Notice how the addition of cast shadows starts to give dimension and form to the objects. As I paint the trunk and branches of the tree in the foreground, I am careful to preserve areas of light where the foliage falls in front of the trunk. This is done using the technique of negative painting. |
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5.At this point I move down into the foreground area and lay in some big bold washes of color, letting pigments mingle on the paper. As the foreground darkens in value, it forces our eye to the light area on the building behind it, creating a sort of framing effect. Pinned to my drawing table are my value sketch and photo references. This is fairly typical of the way I work.
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6. Now I complete the foliage on the tree, making sure I use a variety of colors and values to add interest. As I paint, I leave some of the light branches coming toward us to add depth. The painting is close to being finished, but I still need to darken the foreground shadows and finish up some of the doors, windows, and other details on the buildings. |
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7. Tah Dah! The painting is complete. I'm pleased with the result. What do you think?
"Death Cannot Conquer" Painting of the Carthage Jail Collection: Grant and Joyce Lee |
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8. Grant Lee and I at the Carthage Jail in May 2009. An avid family history buff, he commissioned me to paint three paintings of pioneer scenes and had as much fun as I did researching and visiting the painting locations. |