Herb Roe | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1974 (age 51–52) Portsmouth,Ohio, US |
| Education | Apprenticeship toRobert Dafford[1] |
| Known for | Oil painting,Murals |
Herb Roe (born 1974) is a painter of large-scale outdoor murals andclassical realist oil paintings.[2] After attending theColumbus College of Art and Design inColumbus, Ohio for a short time, he apprenticed to mural artistRobert Dafford.[3] After 15 years with Dafford Murals, Roe left to pursue his own art career.[4] He currently resides inLafayette, Louisiana.
Roe was in born 1974 inPortsmouth,Ohio. He spent his childhood across theOhio River inGreenup County, Kentucky, but moved to Portsmouth while in his teens.[5] In 1992 he received a scholarship to theColumbus College of Art and Design[6] inColumbus, Ohio and attended his freshman year there in 1992 to 1993.[7]
In the summer of 1993 he met theLouisiana mural artistRobert Dafford when he started a mural project in Portsmouth. Roe subsequently apprenticed to and worked for Dafford for 15 years.[8] During that time Roe worked on Dafford mural projects inPortsmouth, Ohio;[9]Paducah,[10][11]Maysville,[12] andCovington, Kentucky,[13]New Orleans, Louisiana;[5]Vicksburg, Mississippi;[14] andPine Bluff, Arkansas.
Subjects painted by Roe as a Dafford muralist includeNative American history,[15] early settlers such asDaniel Boone andSimon Kenton,[10]Carnegie Libraries,[16] industries such as riverbarges[15] and hospitals,[17]labor unions,[18]African-American heritage,[14] and local notables such asRosemary Clooney.[12] In May 2003 he was photographed painting theLewis and Clark Expedition mural in Paducah by photographer Jim Roshan as part of theAmerica 24/7 project. The image was used in Roshan's bookKentucky24/7 published in 2004.[19] Roe was the only Dafford muralist to work on all of the Paducah murals, completing several of them entirely by himself.[10]
In 2007 Roe left Dafford Murals to pursue his own commissions and devote more time to his own artwork under the nameChromeSun ProductionsArchived 2012-03-04 at theWayback Machine.[20] In 2009 he collaborated with Dafford on a poster project for theZydeco Cajun Prairie Scenic Byway, in which he did the preliminary digital painting for the design. The year-long project highlights many local spots of interest.[21]
In 2010, Roe painted two new murals in Paducah and Vicksburg. In July, he paintedEvening Roll Call in Paducah, a mural depicting the 100-year history of localBoy Scouts of America Troop 1. The mural was dedicated onNational Scouting Sunday February 6, 2011 with a parade and other festivities.[22] In the fall of 2010, Roe teamed up with another former Dafford muralist, Benny Graeff, to paint the 55-foot "Run Thru History" mural in Vicksburg, Mississippi.[23][24] Roe's current artwork focuses on the traditional southwesternLouisianaCajun celebration of theCourir de Mardi Gras. It is a series of hyper-realistic depictions of costumed celebrants playing music, dancing on the backs of horses, and chasing after chickens.[2][25]
Roe conducts extensive research to develop his works and shows acute attention to detail.[26] They are typically started asAdobe Photoshop sketches,[3] often based on models and surroundings he has lighted and digitally photographed.[2] Hiscompositions are often influenced by classical art, and he cites European artists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuryMichelangelo,Peter Paul Rubens,[3] andCaravaggio as major influences.[5] For his historical murals, he will often pick a particular artist or illustrator from the time period he is depicting to emulate; thereby he can stylistically invoke the era.[11] After the composition is decided upon, he transfers it to the painting surface either byscaling the design and doing a grid transfer or with anoverhead projector.[3] He paints the murals either with industrialacrylic enamels or the longer lastingsilicate mineral paints.[3] His oil paintings are done in a classical realist style, and subjects include portraiture, photo-realist abstract compositions, and historical illustration.[4] These oil paintings may contain from three to 20 layers, from underpainting to the final colored glazes.[2]
Roe also does conservation work on murals.[1]
