ELK CREEK, Va., May 25, 2012 — Tucked
away in the far southwest corner of Virginia sits a former schoolhouse, its
gymnasium transformed into a temporary home for one of the country’s most
anticipated historic reconstructions. Illustrator Todd Price is on hands and
knees, laboriously applying vinyl inks to his one-of-a-kind, large scale canvas
– Intrepid, the world’s first and
only Civil War manned balloon replica.
Based on photos, drawings and
notes depicting the original Intrepid,
Mr. Price’s work is attempting to maintain historical accuracy. One side of the
balloon shows an American Eagle with wings outstretched (25 feet from tip to tip)
clutching an American flag, and holding in its beak a framed portrait of
revered General George McClellan. The other side prominently displays the Intrepid moniker.
“To our knowledge, no one else
has attempted to paint an image this large and complex on a balloon in modern
times,” said Peter Arnold, president and CEO of GCV&M. “After looking at
the number of challenges associated with this task, it becomes a bit easier to
understand why.”
Following fabrication of the Intrepid’s shell envelope by AeroBalloon
in Hingham, Mass., it was recently transported to Elk Creek, Va., where Mr. Price
keeps his studio, ToddPriceArt. After carefully maneuvering the 45-by-70-foot,
1,500-pound balloon into the vacant school gymnasium, he set to work.
The artist describes his
painstaking process. “I first made a transparency of my original illustration,
projected it to full scale on pattern paper, and perforated the images. Finding
the center lines of the balloon, I rolled the patterns out and transferred the
images with a charcoal pounce bag through the holes. I then penciled the full
size image onto the balloon.”
“After premixing vinyl inks – a
warm, medium and cool for each element – I began painting from the center using
fitches, working outward to avoid kneeling on the image. The inks dry very
rapidly, altering my usual blending techniques, so I’m forced to work quickly
and the colors have to be spot on.”
Adding to the complexity is the
structure of the deflated balloon itself. A sphere, the balloon doesn't lie
flat and the substrate doesn't stretch, requiring Mr. Price to paint over hills
and valleys while maintaining the proper perspective.
Although today he teaches at the Chestnut
Creek School of the Arts in Galax, Va., Mr. Price is no stranger to large
format painting. From 1986 to 1992, he lived in Rochester, N.Y., painting billboard
pictorials across the region prior to the advent of vinyl wraps.
He maintains another connection to
armed conflicts in our nation’s past, having designed the 3,600 square foot
Blue Ridge Veterans Memorial, which is currently under construction.
Painting of the Intrepid is expected to be completed by
early June, after which GCV&M will take delivery of the balloon.
Construction of a companion Civil War encampment has begun, bringing an added
dimension of realism to Museum guests.
A team of prominent advisors is
assisting with the project, including Tom D. Crouch, Ph.D., senior curator of
Aeronautics for the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum;
Jim Green, director, Planetary Science Division, National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA); and Rob Shenk, director, Internet Strategy &
Development, Civil War Trust.
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