(If you’re looking specifically to buy firefighting prints or buy firefighting posters, scroll down to the end of this article.)
As I promised last Sunday, here’s a quick look at some of my latest artwork: a series of paintings from a local fire station.
My goal was to create realistic firefighting art that appealed as much to the firefighters themselves as they did to non-firefighters.
While most firefighting art glorifies the act of fighting fire and all the heroism that goes along with that, I wanted my fire art to be even more realistic by giving glimpses of the fire station where firemen and women spend so much of their lives.
Preparing for these firefighting paintings involved visiting a local fire station, talking with firefighters, and basically snooping around their “home away from home” as much as possible.
I loved the bold colors that were practically everywhere—red in particular, of course—and it brought back the dreams that I once had (like most boys, probably) of becoming a firefighter.
You can bet I didn’t miss the chance to go down the fire pole a few times while I was there, and of course I’m deeply appreciative to the firefighters for letting me be there at all.
In the end, each of these paintings was created directly from natural still-life scenes that I came across in the fire station. Nothing was posed or altered so that the final paintings would be as close to real life as possible.
About the same time I first started this series, I became interested in the possibility of making firefighting prints from the completed paintings, which was something I’d never done before.
After doing some research, I decided to make prints of just one of my firefighting paintings (for now) and found a printing company online that had a lot of options, instant online quotes, and good prices: Inkchaser.com.
When I opened the package, I was extremely pleased with the quality of the prints—every detail from the original painting is there, the brush strokes, the colors, even the canvas texture.
I’m happy with the painting I picked as well. Of all the paintings I made for this particular series, I think The Firefighter’s Badge best conveys what firefighting is all about.
Just hanging there on the rack, the coats still seemed to flicker as though lit by firelight, and of course I can’t help but think that those reflective stripes are almost as symbolic as the stripes on the flag itself
If you’d like to buy a signed print of The Firefighter’s Badge they’re available for $25 and there’s no cost for shipping inside the US. Each print measures 17″ by 31″ and is made with high-quality archival inks and paper.
To purchase, simply send me a message via my contact form and I’ll get back to you with the appropriate information as soon as possible.
