Rain Bird ad

illustration header

Rain Bird ad
Acrylic, airbrush & crack-effect
11x17 in print

"This illustration was done for Dave Bartholomew after he left Reid Advertising, for a freelance client of his own. The concept was to show Moses dividing the Red Sea, to go with the headline implying that Maxicom technology was nothing short of miraculous.
The idea was to show the Parting of the Red Sea as if it were a Renaissance painting. I chose to push the look into the realm of post-Renaissance Mannerism. It was supposed to have an unfinished look, hence the unfinished figures in the lower left (see detail 1). Most of the figures are lifted from sketches or paintings by Rafael and Michelangelo. The Moses figure is based on the familiar Charlton Heston portrayal. The cracking paint effect was added with an acrylic cracking glaze (see detail 2), although the large cracks were painted in to affect an appearance of an aged wall, as if the painting were a mural or fresco.
The painting doesn't work particularly well at the small size necessary for Web display, though I'm happy with the close-up details."
— Jon Fraze