What you said about Timken ads makes sense 'pullman, it would explain a lot.
Very dramatic artwork at any rate! I agree, gallery-worthy. Maybe art snobs wouldn't think so, but an audience of railfans would differ. Most of them anyway, the "rivet-counters" might have issues.
I believe an advertizer, Timken in this case, might not want to highlight any one railroad customer, much the way old Association of American Railroads brochures and booklets had the photos retouched to eliminate any hint of the railroad name.
Here's another George Shepherd work using a similar "porthole" locomotive. It almost has a Santa Fe "Blue Goose" look to it.
Timken by Edmund, on Flickr
Some of the artwork used in those print ads of the time were certainly worthy of a gallery showing.
Cheers, Ed
Good Lord Overmod, you take care of yourself, please!
We need you!
Overmod-- " 112 degrees F, and something like 104% relative humidity. It's giving the heart medications a real workout, with increasing lack of success this morning."
Oh man that's brutal, how on earth can you breathe? Of course you know what I'm going to say... it's been a very very cool summer for us here in Northern Sask. 38-43F at night, 62, 63F daytime highs. We had one afternoon in mid June that got to 77F for a couple of hours. Folks up here barely know what humidity is. My flowers need warmth and so does the soil!
Perhaps in the future to come we came devise a mechanism that would even it all out somehow. In the meantime stay in the air conditioning, an unneeded feature up here. ( of course you can flip the whole scenario in the winter)
Flintlock76How would a commercial artist know what a T1 looked like anyway, if he even knew one existed?
For more fun: he's got one of the 'original' production locomotives with the portholes there. He's obviously never seen a T1 from the ground; what he's rendered is sorta what the 'porthole' nose looks like from the air in a photograph.
There are similar distortions in the Loewy Sharknose styling when seen from overhead ... it's just wrong. But remember the 'point' of having and using a 3d model is to get the appearance right from the perspective it'll be seen ... not just a good-looking set of side and end elevations.
That was also a ghastly era for pastel shades in 2-color process, hence the brown (I tried squinting to see it as Tuscan but failed miserably). You also see sagey green used to unfortunate effect -- as in the way the 1937 New Haven promotional material uses it, with that awful excuse for script. Timken was surely going for 'generic support' and that would include intentionally removing as much specific "PRR" styling as possible...
I have been relying on that orangeade ginger ale ... and a fairly large bag of spring-water ice ... to get through the day. Official Mercedes temperature in the underground garage is 112 degrees F, and something like 104% relative humidity. It's giving the heart medications a real workout, with increasing lack of success this morning.
Started with a photograph. OK, I can dig it, I'm with you on that one. How would a commercial artist know what a T1 looked like anyway, if he even knew one existed?
Nice bit of work though, even with the error as to locomotive color. Put some snow on the ground and it'd make a nice Christmas card.
As an aside, it's been so damn hot here lately I may just put a "Toy Trains And Christmas" DVD on the player just to try and cool down!
Flintlock76That's no retouched photograph, it's advertising art done by a master of the trade.
I'm just saying he started with a photograph. Look at the detail of the leading Timken side rod ... it clearly doesn't match either the style or the level of detail in the 'finished piece of artwork' and is clearly recognizable right down to the proportions of the side bolts. That one detail would have taken more care to get 'right' ... and it is 'right' ... than most of the rest of the painted detail.
In other words, I don't think it likely that he sat down with some inspirational artwork and painted this directly by eye from the start.
Beg to differ Mod-man, respectfully. That's no retouched photograph, it's advertising art done by a master of the trade. Look at the buildings reflected in the water in the upper left-hand corner for example, and also the expert use of light and shadow. If you click on the picture and enlarge it you can pick out some other details.
It may very well have been inspired by a photograph of a T1 on the move, I'll grant you that.
Flintlock76I'd guess the ad artist was handed a photo of a T1 with no instructions as to color and just told to get to work.
In fact I think what you have there is a retouched photograph, and I'd further bet someone like Mike could find the exact photograph that was the starting point -- as I was able to find the photograph that inspired John Nance's watercolor "Smoke and Mirrors".
Interesting bit of artistic liscense on that almost-but-not-quite-there rendition of a T1.
Interesting to speculate on what a two-tone T1 might have looked like. Brunswick Green boiler jacket with Tuscan Red below, or vice versa?
I'd guess the ad artist was handed a photo of a T1 with no instructions as to color and just told to get to work.
I believe it was Loewy screaming since he had many interesting ideas designed for the T1 which was supposed to follow the S1's step as a rival of the Dreyfuss Hudson of NYC. But many of his proposals weren't adopted by the PRR. We heard that he first tried to paint the #3768 in bronze to match with the F.O.M scheme but Pennsy insisted to paint it back to DGLE. The T1s in the concept arts and drawings looked like wearing a lighter color livery and the stylish Baldwin BP-20 was supposed to have a multi-color livery like the MILW Erie-Built and a square headlight.
Anyway, DGLE plus gold stripes were a perfect match, elegant but also practical.
Jones 3D Modeling Club https://www.youtube.com/Jones3DModelingClub
MiningmanA different paint scheme and slightly altered T1
Shades of Blood and Custard!
I see the artist is keeping both the type A valve gear and the exhaust that goes right into open cab ventilators...
A different paint scheme and slightly altered T1Might look good with the Fleet of Modernism scheme
Is that Jones screaming?
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