THECOMPOSITIONS

Carl Barks' name will forever primarily be connected with his long career as a Storyteller of comic books. But another aspect of his work - which he actually practiced for a longer period of time - was the production of hundreds of oil paintings. This career took place in his retirement years and it is interesting to learn how (and how much) he developed as an artist from the first feeble attempts in general portraits and landscapes, which he was unable to sell, to the stunning and complicated duck paintings, which now sell at astronomical prices.
In between Barks made other types of paintings some of which are shown HERE. Most were part of a series in which well-known persons were portrayed with duckbills, but he also made another series, in which well-known persons were portrayed with human faces*.

How did Barks plan and construct his paintings from rough sketches to finished product? This page will offer you an example from the latter series showing how he composed one specific painting during its rough sketching stages. The painting, from 1978, was named King Beowulf.

THE LEGEND

An old English epic and heroic poem tells about Beowulf, who was a young warrior in the tribe of the Geats. The Geats were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting the Swedish county of Götaland (Land of the Götars).
Beowulf is remembered for his three battles: First he kills an intruder to the tribe, Grendel, by tearing off his arm(!), next he kills Grendel's mother who tries to revenge her son, and last he - now as a King - enters a furious battle with an unnamed dragon, which is guarding an enormous treasure. Beowulf's subjects and warriors are so panicky that they flee from the scene and leave it to him to face the fire-breathing dragon alone. The battle ends when Beowulf finally manages to slay the dragon, but soon after he dies from his own wounds.

THE TECHNICS

The painting was made in oil on Masonite, Barks' favourite material because of its smooth surface which enabled him to add tiny details. It bears the official number and name 40-78 King Beowulf and has the size 410x510 millimeters (16x20 inches).
The painting was made to order meaning that it was to be reproduced as a lithograph. 300 were made. The original painting was later sold to Bruce Hamilton, the entrepreneur and business associate who had ordered the painting for reproduction.

THE COMPOSITIONS

Sketch A

Sketch B

Sketch C

After the initial idea Barks began sketching the main motif in a very rough style using a soft pencil on tissue paper. As you can see, he had decided to place the huge dragon in the dynamic center with Beowulf riding on its back. In sketch A he is placed right on the animal's back and he is fairly large himself. In sketch B Beowulf has moved onto the dragon's neck and his size has decreased considerably compared to the monster. In sketch C Beowulf has been placed on the very neck of the dragon, thus increasing the drama of the turbulent scene. Now we perceive Beowulf as a fearless dragonslayer who is in control. In all three sketches you will notice that Barks has supplied the warrior brandishing a sword.

Sketch D

Sketch E

Now Barks began 'feeling around' as it is commonly known when idea sketches are put together. In sketch D he added some foreground characters fleeing from the battle, and then, in sketch E, he added both foreground and background. He also decided to mirror image the motif. Notice that Beowulf in these sketches now battles with an axe as weapon.

Sketch F

Sketch G

Sketch H

Barks started slowly to develop his roughs into more solid compositions. Sketches F, G, and H are examples of more detailed clean-up work on tracing paper showing parts of the total sketch. We are drawn into the menacing scene featuring panicking women (subjects and royalty) as well as men (warriors and a jester) attempting to escape the fire-breathing dragon's flames and claws. In the background Beowulf's castle is in flames probably caused by the flying dragon.
The finished sketches were then placed correctly on the Masonite board and traced onto it with black carbon paper. When all the sketches were traced Barks used a rubber eraser to lighten the lines that stood out too black. This was a necessary process, otherwise it would be hard to cover them up with paint. What remained of the sketch lines were now somewhat indistinct but still clear enough to lay over with paint. Next the lines were sprayed with a retouch varnish thus sealing the now faint lines.

THE PAINT

Here is Barks' own account on how the paint work for a typical oil painting would commence: I prefer to apply my paint thinly. I work with very small brushes to get the niggly details into the many crowded spaces in the busy compositions. Small brushes of red sable are too soft to spread color thickly. Besides, I never found it easy to paint thick with big, bristly brushes, even when doing outdoor scenes of defunct barns. Because the pigments are applied thinly with only a turpentine mixture, the colors are pale and chalky at this stage.
Many layers of paint later the colors begin to look rich and juicy. Color is usually my big stumbling-block. I have to battle around with it and scrape it out and wash it out and paint it over again, until I finally get something that looks like the time of day or the colors that I want. The glossiness of paintings comes from the linseed oil or copal medium that is mixed with the final coats of color to jazz it up. Without these oily coats a painting would look dull.

THE RESULT

Click the painting to see a more detailed version.

In the final painting - after many more sketches - everything come together in a dynamic snapshot. Several things have been added, for instance the dragon's fire, scales and rudimentary wings, and the colours now dramatically enhance the ominous scene. The only thing left for Barks to do was to sign the piece...