Drawing Bernie...
In seventh grade, crouched in front of a flimsy red Mylec street hockey net, with foam pads, baseball glove and replica Parent mask I was him... I was Bernie Parent, the Flyers phenomenal goaltender.
Since that time, Bernie has always held a special place in my childhood hockey memories. He was the ultimate warrior, the epitomy of old school hockey. Undersized pads, razor sharp reflexes and huge heart, he routinely faced the shots of Bobby Hull and Bobby Orr with half the equipment of today's goalies. He was fearless but sadly his career was cut too short by an eye injury... a sad day for all Flyers fans. I have told friends and family that if I could get the chance to draw one "official" piece of Bernie, I would never have to draw another thing and I would be completely fulfilled.
I figured it would be fun to document the process in the same way I did for the Hall's first annual art competition that I won in March. So check back often and let me know if I am doing Bernie justice in my rendering of him.
No, this isn't my drawing - just a photoshopped image... check back to see my rendering take shape...
11/21/06
Here's The Man himself posing with a re-print of the Bernie Tribute piece. Special thanks to Biskit Art patron and Flyers fan, Helena Haig for taking this photo at the 11/20 game and being so kind to share it. Thanks Helena!
08/10/06
Finished!!!
I am really pleased with the end result (aside from the time it took to complete), and I am really hoping that I did justice for such a tremendous athlete and huge part of Philadelphia sports history. So, the different parts of the image are (from bottom left corner): The Vezina trophy which Bernie won twice; guarding the post; a kick save; hoisting the Stanley cup (I think this was the '75 cup); the famous number one; rare raised mask during a game (rarely showed his face during games); first stint with the Flyers as number 30; two various mask angles.
Just about done!!!
I have been kicking it out pretty good and the Bernie tribute is just about finished! The next entry should be a decent quality scan of the print - keep your eyes out for it within the next 2-3 days. Stay tuned...
Gettin' close...
Made some progress this weekend, but still not complete. I pretty much finished up the whole upper portion and I have begun working down the left side with Bernie raising the cup and making a kick save. I have also made more progress on the large mask section at the bottom, but the shading is pretty tedious. I have to say though, I am pretty sure this is probably my best work to date, just hope the completed image comes together as I am seeing it in my head. Stay tuned...
Wow!
This piece is really complex! I am still loving drawing it, but the shading is amazingly complex, much more so than I anticipated (that is my reason for not being done and I am sticking to it!). The Stanley Cup is pretty difficult to get just right; it has so many layers and reflects the light strangely and the large mask shot of Bernie at the bottom of the piece is challenging because it is stark white, but has a lot of different nuances that need to be rendered right or he will look like a bad version of Jason from Friday the 13th. Stay tuned, were almost there - to all the FlyersFlies.com folks - I have not forgotten about you!
PS - The next piece in the works is a tribute to Pelle Lindbergh to be called "Heaven's Crease"...
Unfortunately a cold and holiday barbacues ate into most of my time this week - I am behind on the Bernie piece but I should be done pretty soon. I have gotten a lot of really great feedback on this piece so far - Bernie was a big deal to a lot of Flyers fans - and he especially was a big deal to me when I first developed an interest in the game of hockey. When hard-core Flyers fans go "Wow" when they see it, it makes me feel especially good. Personally, my favorite part is Bernie's early look - it is so old school hockey and cool looking... I would have loved to seen him play in his first seasons with the Flyers. Stay tuned...
I know I already said it, but I am really enjoying the hell out of drawing this tribute to Bernie Parent. I personally feel that it is my best effort to date. The inking is going along pretty smoothly.
Wow, hard to believe a month has gone by already since I started this tribute piece of Bernie. Shamefully, I have not gottten as much done as I would have hoped. The Spring has been pretty busy with home chores and projects, however I have begun inking the Bernie piece and it is coming along pretty nicely. I am hoping I can have it done by the end of June, but I am not going to rush it. I am enjoying drawing it a lot - it is definitely the homage I always wanted to pay to one of my boyhood hockey heros.
Here is a picture of the rough sketch so far: I am finding that I enjoy drawing the action montage style better than individual action images (as is obvious by my slacking off on the Zeus drawing). The one thing that I think is cool about this drawing is the image in the middle right of Bernie in his first stint with the Flyers. Not only was he number 30, he also wore a totally different style of mask than the Jaques Plante designed one that we all know and love. I wanted to include this as I thought it was really old school and cool looking and because I had never seen Bernie in this type of mask until I found a photo of him wearing it.
The rough pencil sketch is about 20% done. I am really enjoying drawing this piece as Bernie is probably my all-time favorite hockey player. The challenge is to get the mask to look just right. Bernie's mask was intimidating and slick looking at the same time - emotionless, yet conveyed a lot just from the eye holes.
I have gotten about 75% through the layout of the print using Adobe Photoshop - I have found tons of cool reference photos of Bernie. Once I have the layout completed, then I can begin transfering the pencil sketch to illustration board. I received my 15"x20" boards yesterday (the piece is going to be 15" x 20"), so I am almost ready to start drawing! I am pretty excited about this piece.
First, a little background on the man's achievements. In case you are interested, the following info is from the book, Without Fear: Hockey's Greatest Goaltenders by Kevin Allen and Bob Duff:
- Only Goalie to win back to back Conn Smythe trophies.
- NHL record 47 wins in the 73-74 season.
- Posted 4 shut-outs in the 74-75 playofffs.
- First player ever signed by the WHA.
- Won 2 Vezina Trophies.
- Won 2 Stanley Cups.
- Played in 5 NHL All-Star games.
Parent actually started out with the Boston Bruins in 1965 and then was picked up by the Flyers in 67-68. He was then traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs and then controversially went on to play in the new WHA league (initially for the Miami Screaming Eagles who had no rink) and eventually for the Philadelphia Blazers for (most of) one season before coming back to the Flyers for their miraculous cup runs. He posted an amazing 1.89 GAA in the 73-74 season and was the last NHL goalie to post a GAA under 2.00 for twenty years! Being a Flyers fan, I am biased, but I think he is one of the best to ever play the position and certainly deserves his place in hockey's history books... and he was a Philly Flyer! Here is a cool pic I got at the Hockey Hall of Fame last spring:
Back to back Conn Smythes.... impressive
