James Reininger Photography

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The Orono Years

These are the drawings that I did while I was at Orono High School between 1984 - 1988. For the past 20 some years, they have been kept in storage. However, shortly before my father's death, he requested that include them on my photography website. So here they are...
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Country Girl, A study for N.I.B., circa 1987<br /> Another 'study" for the N.I.B. painting. This time I was trying to focus on the girl. Can you see my difficulty with noses! Initially I just drew the girl, then for some reason, I drew a singular eye on the right side of the sheet. It was really nothing more than a doodle. I added the mountains, clouds, and night sky at the very end. Again, Country Girl is a reference to a Black Sabbath song.
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Country Girl, A study for N.I.B., circa 1987
Another 'study" for the N.I.B. painting. This time I was trying to focus on the girl. Can you see my difficulty with noses! Initially I just drew the girl, then for some reason, I drew a singular eye on the right side of the sheet. It was really nothing more than a doodle. I added the mountains, clouds, and night sky at the very end. Again, Country Girl is a reference to a Black Sabbath song.

CountryGirlb

  • Watching the west fall in the east, circa 1987<br /> The title is from a Black Sabbath song. Why I picked it as the title for this drawing, I have no idea other than it must have been what I was listening to at the time.
  • The Gaurdian That Watches Over Me, circa 1986<br /> I have always have had an interest in strong women, as my wife will attest. This is a reproduction of a drawing that I saw in a magazine. No idea what I meant by the title.
  • Saint Peter, circa 1985<br /> Another reproduction of a Leonardo da Vinci sketch.
  • By the Grace, circa 1988<br /> This is a combination reproduction/original. The hands are from a photography of Ozzy Osbourne praying. He was being interviewed in Hit Parader magazine (which I read too much of) and they took a picture of him with his hands together as if he was praying. I just elongnated the fingers to make them look more femine. Initially when I saw my drawing of the woman twenty some years later, I had a negative reaction. This is because I relied too heavily on technique where you smear the lines with a wad of paper. She was suppose to be this beautiful blonde, instead it looks like she is wearing dread locks. However, when I look closely at her face, I am pleasantly pleased with myself. Look, I got the nose right!!!
  • Fall of Democracies, circa 1988<br /> I feel some explanation is needed here. When I did this, I did not mean it to be "unAmerican" - even though the only American reference is the gun. Instead the piece was a statement about the challenges posed by foriegn intervention. A better title might have been "Fall of Empires".
  • Randy, circa 1988<br /> A few different drawings of Randy Rhoads. Randy was the guitarist on Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo albums. He died in 1982 in a freak airplane accident. Five years later Ozzy released "Tribute". It was a live recording of Ozzy performing with Randy. Initially I bought the cassette tape. Inside the jacket were a series photos of Randy playing. I decided it would kind of cool to do a collage of some of the images.
  • Whispers, circa 1988<br /> The girl in this drawing was in a Star and Tribune photograph that I had found. I attempted to draw her in a style similiat to that of Alphonse Mucha.
  • Hanging from the Cobb Web in my Mind, circa 1987<br /> Title is a reference to a Dio song.
  • At a time that's Magic, 1987<br /> One of my better attempts at doing a potrait. You can see my difficulty with noses. I also think the right eye is bigger than the left. I believe the title is a reference to a Dio song.
  • Country Girl, A study for N.I.B., circa 1987<br /> Another 'study" for the N.I.B. painting. This time I was trying to focus on the girl. Can you see my difficulty with noses! Initially I just drew the girl, then for some reason, I drew a singular eye on the right side of the sheet. It was really nothing more than a doodle. I added the mountains, clouds, and night sky at the very end. Again, Country Girl is a reference to a Black Sabbath song.
  • Dancing with the last of the light, circa 1987<br /> Whoa...What's wrong with her nose! Okay, I have to admit I was relucant in sharing this one. However, one of the things I wanted to do with this gallery is show growth - which means showing mistakes. I always had a hard time with noses, and this is particularly evident here. I remember redrawing and redrawing her nose. I never could get it right. Twenty some years later, I see how I would fix it - but I won't. Again, I did this drawing as part of the N.I.B. painting that I did in my senior year. I think the title is a reference to "Midnight, Moonlight Lady" by the Firm.
  • We have seen the fire, circa 1987<br /> Me and my D & D phase! This whole image was based on Rainbow's "16th Century Greensleeves". A song they claimed was originally written by Henry VIII. It wasn't, but the melody of the song does comes from a song from the Elizabethan period called "Greensleeves". Twenty some years later, the thing that I really enjoy about this image are the horses. They look pretty good! I think I reproduced them from a book that my parents got me on drawing animals. I also noticed that I got around the issue of drawing the woman's nose by placing the tower in the middle of her face. But then again, it is consistent with the lyrics of the song (at least Rainbow's version). To hear the song: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP2gGuP62-c">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP2gGuP62-c</a>
  • Melgamania, circa 1987<br /> Why I decided to draw Winona Judd naked, I have no idea! The title is again a reference to a Black Sabbath song. While a great song, I have no idea how it relates to this drawing.
  • Waiting till Darkness, circa 1986<br /> Title is a reference to an Ozzy Osbourne song.
  • All Moving Parts, circa 1986<br /> This is a drawing based on photograph from a Guess ad. The title is a Black Sabbath reference.
  • Sweet, Circa 1986<br /> Based on a Guess Ad. If you look in the upper right corner you will see some dead space. This is where I had placed the original image while I did the rest of the drawing. Why I didn't fill it in afterwards, I have not idea. I also have no idea on why I titled this "sweet".
  • Thanks Leonardo, circa 1986<br /> During this period I was reproducing a lot of Leonardo da Vinci sketches. I attempted to do my own using his style. However, I don't think he would tell me "Your Welcome".
  • In Honor, circa 1986<br /> When I was a kid, my Mom ran a daycare. There were a number of kids who came and went. However, there were a few that made a connection. Here is two of them. I remember their names. They played together all the time. During my D & D phase, I thought it would fun to do a drawing where the little boy is pretecting the little girl from the big bad dragon.
  • A Study for NIB, circa 1986<br /> This was for one of the few paintings that I did. NIB is another Black Sabbath reference. The house in the background is the ranch house that my Mom grew up in. This is one of my Mom favorites. However, I don't think she ever read the lyrics to NIB.
  • Into the Void, circa 1986<br /> Another image with a unicorn! A very long unicorn! You can insert penis joke here. It also another example where where I named a drawing after a song I really like, not really knowing what the song was about! In this case, Into the void is a Black Sabbath reference. Into the Void, while a kick a*** song, has nothing to do with unicorns, instead the song is about nuclear warfare! Specifically, the song is about a nuclear missle in flight. Hey, look at the length of that unicorn.
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