Geronimo!

Geronimo was the famous or infamous Chiricahua Apache leader who terrorized the South-West of America and large tracts of Northern Mexico during the mid to late period of the 19th century. His band were (officially) the last hostiles to surrender in 1881. Immediately following the surrender they and their families were bundled on a train and exiled to Florida. Eventually he was rehabilitated and lived out the last stages of his life as something of a celebrity. This study was painted from a photograph taken during the latter period. Some Apaches allied with Geronimo never surrendered and took refuge in the wild and largely uninhabited Sierra Madre mountains of Northern Mexico. There were reports of incidents as late as the 1920s and I suppose it is possible remnants still remain to this day. 

My setup with guide photo 

 Contour drawing graphite mechanical Pentel pencil 07 2B 

I first made a careful contour drawing ensuring everything, eyes, nose, mouth were in the right place and to scale. The two things that struck me about this photo were the hard, piercing eyes and the steel trap of a mouth, although less daunting than in his hostile days. 

Geronimo - Waterford 16" x 12" High White Not 140lbs (300gsm) 

I first painted the eyes, then the nose followed by the mouth. In order to get the skin colour fairly dark I used Translucent Brown (Scminke PBr41) as the main component instead of Cadmium Red. Cadmium Red also featured as a secondary colour with very small amounts of Raw Sienna.To darken I used Cobalt Blue Deep.(Rowney PB72). When painting the face I didn't stop at the boundaries but continued into the hair. I tried to harmonize the whole avoiding cutouts and painted mostly wet in wet. The hat colours are Ultramarine Blue,  Translucent Brown and Raw Umber, again mainly wet in wet. Overall I avoided too `pretty' an approach and adopted the `be slightly crude' advice of Charles Reid. I'm happy with the result.

Brushes were the usual Isabeys and the Da Vinci Artissimo 44.

More Amerindians

Geronimo. Chiricahua Apache 1898 http://www.firstpeople.us/

Geronimo is one of the most famous indian leaders. He is famous, infamous at the time, as his band of 36, including 20 women and children were the last hostile indians to surrender on September 4th 1886. This in effect brought an end to the Indian wars, although the Ghost Dance problems  with the Crows in 1887 and the Sioux in 1890 post dated his surrender. Geronimo, who led the band with Naiche Cochise's son,  was hunted by 5000 soldiers and Apache scouts under General Miles. Without the assistance of fellow Apaches  hostile to Geronimo they would probably still be free. As it is very small numbers of Apaches remained thereafter in the wild mountains of Northern Mexico and reports of them raiding continued into the 1920's. Their descendants  may still be there. The above photograph was taken at the Trans Mississippi Exposition in Omaha, 1898 when Geronimo would be nearly 70.

This is Geronimo, on the right, at around the time of his final surrender. He would be about 57. Contrast this with his later more civilized appearance when he appeared in circuses and generally capitalized on his fame, including selling pictures of himself..

Geronimo. Waterford 16" x 12" Not  Second Version

Geronimo. Fabriano Artistico 15" x 11" Not First Version

The reason for two versions is that I first did the version above in a sort of rosy sepia colour. There is a story why I did  but I won't bore you with it. Initially I was pleased  but gradually realised the colour did not reflect the dark side of Geronimo, the hard eyes and slash of a mouth. I then did the second version with slightly different dimensions. Comparing the two I thought I might be able to improve the intial painting and put some additional washes on it to darken both the face and the hat, with slight touches on the clothing. Colours used were Cadmium Red Pale, Raw Sienna, Cerulean Blue and Ultramarine Blue. Touches of Hookers Green around the eyes with Viridian and Permanent Carmine for the tie. Raw Sienna, Raw Umber, Quinacridone Gold also featured in the clothing with Ultramarine and either Burnt Umber or Burnt Sienna for the darks. I an fairly pleased with both these portraits.