The Church of Hockey
Every once in a while I stumble across an archival pic that I simply know I'll someday turn into a painting. Perhaps no other picture has ever caught my imagination like the one below...
It's from 1944 and depicts a team called the Bombers, playing out of a building simply called
"The Old Arena Rink" in the town of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.
I was immediately captivated. Having been something of a 'rink rat' myself as a child, my affinity with this image was automatic and deep.
Me tending goal for Accurate Printing circa 1972
So what do I like about it, besides basically everything? It's the intimacy of the building, for starters, with the audience literally stacked atop itself and jammed to the rafters.
It's the fact that the largest ads are...unapologetically...for cigarettes.
And it's also the fact that this domed cozy barn would have been a warm and boisterous haven from the freezing cold Maritime winter just outside its wooden walls.
I knew that one day, I'd simply have to honour it on canvas. Yet it was a long time before I finally felt ready to give it a go, in part because of the daunting amount of detail contained within. My methodology in the past few years has been to be reductionist; distilling any image down to the minimum required brushstrokes and no more. But that would never do for this piece. So with that thought in mind, over the Christmas break of 2021, I got underway.
Luckily, in the last little while, I've caught on to the wonderful utility of acrylic pens.
I had first employed them when I was working on this commission, "Vimy Bridge at Night" because I needed a tool beyond just a tiny paintbrush to render the fine lines of the suspension bridge's wires.
I'm slowly building up a small arsenal of the pens (which are very much like ball point pens that dispense paint), in a variety of colours. I bought a brown one specifically to help with all the wood boards that would make up the arena.
Beyond just the wood planks, this is a painting that is loaded with details. Patience was the key, and I have absolutely no idea how long it took me to paint this one. I decided to tackle it in a series of small blocks or 'mini-paintings'. Bite size chunks, if you will.
And so the work became a steady progression, in tangible steps, towards the end goal.
Now I'd like to walk you through some of the details that I think bring the scene to life:
THE PLAYERS
For starters, I changed the image to have the game in progress, versus the posed lineup for the actual photo. I gave the players jersey styles and equipment that would be representative of the era, like the long leather gauntlet-style player gloves and the tube skates. Of course the goalie had to be maskless, as this was about a decade before the Jacques Plante era.
PUCK MARKS ON THE BOARDS
There would be a lot of game history in a rink such as this, so I made sure to mark up the boards with lots of puck marks, especially to either side of the net, with none directly behind the net.
THE SCORE CLOCK
When squinting at the clock in the original photo, it was a bit hard to tell what was going on with the time increments. But with a bit of research I was able to determine that a lot of clocks of the era were designed to represent a twenty minute period. I also like to incorporate a touch of "lived authenticity" into my paintings, and so I added a puck mark on the face of the clock (at roughly the 17 minute increment), because I figured that at some point in the history of the rink, some idiot probably challenged another to see if he could 'hit the clock with the puck'.
THE GOAL JUDGE
Tucked safely behind a metal grate is the goal judge. I even included the conduit leading up to the red light, protected from errant pucks by a submarine-style cage.
THE AUDIENCE
There are close to 100 individuals in this painting. And instead of resorting to simple oval heads, I wanted to ensure each person was given their due, and that they are a living entity interacting with the game, and not just part of a convoluted backdrop. Here are the notables:
The 'backseat coaches' hollering advice that none of the players are paying attention to.
The startled spectators, thinking the defender's poke check is about to send the puck their way.
The guys on the catwalk. Two of several smokers are shown here.
The dad with the young boy. He's the only child shown, so I'm implying that this is a late game.
The gals in the balcony. I was even careful to direct the spectator eyes towards the corner of the rink where the main action would be taking place.
And so there it is! Often paintings for one reason or another don't turn out as I originally envisioned, but I must say this one was close. And though it took a long time to complete, I think for the first time I could actually feel myself in this one...like I was actually in that rink any time I worked on it.
And if time travel were ever possible, these folks would be surprised to see me materialize in their midst, to lend my voice to the cheering choir in "The Church of Hockey".
If you would like a print (or another form of merch) of this painting, they are available on demand with many different framing and size options at this link:
Comments
Post a Comment