Herb Roe
Encyclopedia
Herb Roe is a painter of large scale outdoor murals and classical realist
oil paintings. After attending the Columbus College of Art and Design
in Columbus, Ohio
for a short time, he apprenticed to mural artist Robert Dafford
. After 15 years with Dafford Murals, he left to pursue his own art career. He currently resides in Lafayette, Louisiana
.
, Ohio
, USA. He spent his childhood across the Ohio River
in Greenup County, Kentucky
, but moved to Portsmouth while in his teens. In 1992 he received a scholarship to the Columbus College of Art and Design
in Columbus, Ohio
and attended his freshman year there in 1992 to 1993. In the summer of 1993 he met the Louisiana
mural artist Robert Dafford
when he started a mural project in Portsmouth. He subsequently apprenticed to and worked for Dafford for 15 years. During that time Roe worked on Dafford mural projects in Portsmouth, Ohio, Paducah
, Maysville, and Covington, Kentucky
, New Orleans, Louisiana
, Vicksburg, Mississippi
and Pine Bluff, Arkansas
. A number of subjects painted by Roe as a Dafford muralist include Native American history
, early settlers such as Daniel Boone
and Simon Kenton
, Carnegie Libraries
, industries such as river barge
s and hospitals, labor unions, African-American heritage, and local notables such as Rosemary Clooney
. In May 2003 he was photographed painting the Lewis and Clark Expedition
mural in Paducah by photographer Jim Roshan as part of the America 24/7
project. The image was used in the book Kentucky24/7 published in 2004. He was the only Dafford muralist to work on all of the Paducah murals, completing several of them entirely by himself. In 2007 he left Dafford Murals to pursue his own commissions and devote more time to his own artwork under the name ChromeSun Productions. In 2009 he collaborated with Dafford on a poster project for the Zydeco 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. In 2010 Roe painted a two new murals in Paducah and Vicksburg. In July he painted "Evening Roll call" in Paducah, a mural depicting the 100 year history of local Boy Scouts of America
Troop 1. The mural was dedicated on National Scouting Sunday February 6, 2011 with a parade and other festivities. 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.
are often influenced by classical art and he cites European artists of the sixteenth and seventeenth century Michaelangelo, Peter Paul Rubens, and Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
as major influences. For his historical murals he will often pick a particular artist or illustrator from the time period he is depicting to emulate and thereby stylistically invoking the era. After the composition is decided upon, he transfers it to the painting surface either by scaling
the design and doing a grid transfer or with an overhead projector
. Murals are then painted either with industrial acrylic enamels or the longer lasting silicate mineral paint
s. His oil paintings are done in a classical realist style, and subjects include portraiture, photorealist abstract compositions, and historical illustration.
Realism (visual arts)
Realism in the visual arts is a style that depicts the actuality of what the eyes can see. The term is used in different senses in art history; it may mean the same as illusionism, the representation of subjects with visual mimesis or verisimilitude, or may mean an emphasis on the actuality of...
oil paintings. After attending the Columbus College of Art and Design
Columbus College of Art and Design
Columbus College of Art & Design is a private college of art and design located in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Originally founded in 1879 as The Columbus Art School, CCAD is one of the oldest operating art schools in the United States...
in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
for a short time, he apprenticed to mural artist Robert Dafford
Robert Dafford
-Life and work:Robert Dafford is a current resident of Lafayette, Louisiana. Dafford has painted over 300 murals across the United States, Canada, France, Belgium, and England. He has been painting murals, signs and fine art paintings for 35 years...
. After 15 years with Dafford Murals, he left to pursue his own art career. He currently resides in Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
.
Biography
Roe was in born 1974 in PortsmouthPortsmouth, Ohio
Portsmouth is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Scioto County. The municipality is located on the northern banks of the Ohio River and east of the Scioto River in Southern Ohio. The population was 20,226 at the 2010 census.-Foundation:...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, USA. He spent his childhood across the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
in Greenup County, Kentucky
Greenup County, Kentucky
Greenup County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1804. As of 2000, the population was 36,891. Its county seat is Greenup. The county is named in honor of Christopher Greenup....
, but moved to Portsmouth while in his teens. In 1992 he received a scholarship to the Columbus College of Art and Design
Columbus College of Art and Design
Columbus College of Art & Design is a private college of art and design located in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Originally founded in 1879 as The Columbus Art School, CCAD is one of the oldest operating art schools in the United States...
in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
and attended his freshman year there in 1992 to 1993. In the summer of 1993 he met the Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
mural artist Robert Dafford
Robert Dafford
-Life and work:Robert Dafford is a current resident of Lafayette, Louisiana. Dafford has painted over 300 murals across the United States, Canada, France, Belgium, and England. He has been painting murals, signs and fine art paintings for 35 years...
when he started a mural project in Portsmouth. He subsequently apprenticed to and worked for Dafford for 15 years. During that time Roe worked on Dafford mural projects in Portsmouth, Ohio, Paducah
Paducah, Kentucky
Paducah is the largest city in Kentucky's Jackson Purchase Region and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Ohio River, halfway between the metropolitan areas of St. Louis, Missouri, to the west and Nashville,...
, Maysville, and Covington, Kentucky
Covington, Kentucky
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 43,370 people, 18,257 households, and 10,132 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,301.3 people per square mile . There were 20,448 housing units at an average density of 1,556.5 per square mile...
, New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...
and Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Pine Bluff is the largest city and county seat of Jefferson County, Arkansas, United States. It is also the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff, Arkansas Combined Statistical Area...
. A number of subjects painted by Roe as a Dafford muralist include Native American history
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, early settlers such as Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
and Simon Kenton
Simon Kenton
Simon Kenton was a famous United States frontiersman and friend of Daniel Boone, Simon Girty, Spencer Records and Isaac Shelby.-Family and early life:Simon Kenton was alive even before Ohio was a state...
, Carnegie Libraries
Carnegie Library
Carnegie Library, Carnegie Public Library, Carnegie Free Library, Carnegie Free Public Library, Andrew Carnegie Library, Andrew Carnegie Free Library or Carnegie Library Building may refer to any of the following Carnegie libraries:- California :*Carnegie Library , listed on the National Register...
, industries such as river barge
Barge
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
s and hospitals, labor unions, African-American heritage, and local notables such as Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...
. In May 2003 he was photographed painting the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
mural in Paducah by photographer Jim Roshan as part of the America 24/7
America 24/7
America 24/7 was a book published by DK in 2003 about culture and life in the United States. It is a photographic book, i.e. every page contains a picture depicting life of Americans from every U.S. State.-Collecting:...
project. The image was used in the book Kentucky24/7 published in 2004. He was the only Dafford muralist to work on all of the Paducah murals, completing several of them entirely by himself. In 2007 he left Dafford Murals to pursue his own commissions and devote more time to his own artwork under the name ChromeSun Productions. In 2009 he collaborated with Dafford on a poster project for the Zydeco 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. In 2010 Roe painted a two new murals in Paducah and Vicksburg. In July he painted "Evening Roll call" in Paducah, a mural depicting the 100 year history of local Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
Troop 1. The mural was dedicated on National Scouting Sunday February 6, 2011 with a parade and other festivities. 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.
Techniques and style
Roe's pieces begin with extensive research and attention to detail. They are typically started as photoshop sketches, often based on models and surroundings he has lighted and digitally photographed. His compositionsComposition (visual arts)
In the visual arts – in particular painting, graphic design, photography and sculpture – composition is the placement or arrangement of visual elements or ingredients in a work of art or a photograph, as distinct from the subject of a work...
are often influenced by classical art and he cites European artists of the sixteenth and seventeenth century Michaelangelo, Peter Paul Rubens, and Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque...
as major influences. For his historical murals he will often pick a particular artist or illustrator from the time period he is depicting to emulate and thereby stylistically invoking the era. After the composition is decided upon, he transfers it to the painting surface either by scaling
Scale (ratio)
The scale ratio of some sort of model which represents an original proportionally is the ratio of a linear dimension of the model to the same dimension of the original. Examples include a 3-dimensional scale model of a building or the scale drawings of the elevations or plans of a building. In such...
the design and doing a grid transfer or with an overhead projector
Overhead projector
An overhead projector is a variant of slide projector that is used to display images to an audience.-Mechanism:An overhead projector typically consists of a large box containing a very bright lamp and a fan to cool it. On top of the box is a large fresnel lens that collimates the light...
. Murals are then painted either with industrial acrylic enamels or the longer lasting silicate mineral paint
Silicate mineral paint
Silicate mineral paints or silicate emulsion paints are mineral based coatings formulated with potassium silicate or sodium silicate, otherwise known as waterglass as the binder, combined with inorganic, alkaline-resistant pigments. Traditionally, they have been fully inorganic and are...
s. His oil paintings are done in a classical realist style, and subjects include portraiture, photorealist abstract compositions, and historical illustration.
Exhibits
- In 2002 Roe was part of an exhibition with artist Wayne Ditch at the Cite des Arts in Lafayette, Louisiana during the Festival International de Louisiane.
- In 2008 he was included in the Acadiana Center for the Arts "Southern Open", an annual juried show open to residents of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The juror for the show that year was Peter Frank.
- Solo Exhibit at the A.I.R. Studio in Paducah, Kentucky in September 2009.
Murals
- In 2006 Roe completed three murals in the new Portsmouth High SchoolPortsmouth High School (Ohio)Portsmouth High School is a public high school in Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio, United States. PHS's mascot are the Trojans, and their school colors are red and blue....
. The murals depicted the previous high school building (now demolished), school mascot Trojans welcoming new students into the building, and an indoor sports themed mural at the entrance to the gymnasium. - In 2009 Roe completed three sports themed murals on the new Clark Athletic Complex in Portsmouth, Ohio. The murals depict the three sports played at the new facility, a baseball game, a tennis match, and a football game.
- In the summer of 2010 Roe added a new mural to the Paducah Wall to Wall Project showing the 100 year history of the local Boy ScoutBoy Scouts of AmericaThe Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
troop. Troop 1 is one of only a handful of troops who share their centennial with the centennial of the national scouting organization itself. The dedication for the mural was held on National Scout Sunday, February 6, 2011. - Roe teamed up with Benny Graeff, a fellow former Dafford muralist, to paint the 55 foot long "Run thru History" mural in Vicksburg, Mississippi in the fall of 2010 . The mural is located across the street from the Vicksburg Riverfront Murals Project on Grove Hill The murals subject matter is the annual 10k run through the Vicksburg National Military ParkVicksburg National Military ParkVicksburg National Military Park preserves the site of the American Civil War Battle of Vicksburg, waged from May 18 to July 4, 1863. The park, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Delta, Louisiana, also commemorates the greater Vicksburg Campaign, which preceded the battle. Reconstructed forts and...
and shows several prominent monuments from the park.