WORTHINGTON -- When Ben Kroll thought about what subject to paint for the Minnesota Aviation Art Contest, Charles Lindbergh popped into his head.
Lindbergh was known for flying "The Spirit of St. Louis," but he spent many of his boyhood days on a farm in Minnesota, near Little Falls -- making the famous aviator a perfect subject for the Minnesota-focused contest.
Kroll's painting of Lindbergh, his plane and his distinctive signature won the Worthington High School senior second place in the 14- to 17-year-old category of the statewide contest.
About 800 people participated in the three age categories of the contest.
Kroll won a $40 gift card for art materials, a Discovery Flight certificate redeemable for $50 toward a flight, a ribbon, a certificate and a digital copy of his painting. He and the other winners were recognized this month at the State Capitol Rotunda in St. Paul.
ADVERTISEMENT
"It was just really cool to see people walking around in the Rotunda, seeing them walk up to the picture and see them enjoying the piece," Kroll said. "... I would've been happy with getting in the top 15."
The painting will be featured first at the Minnesota Department of Transportation Building in St. Paul and then at the First Floor Art Gallery at the Art Institutes International Minnesota.
A painting with 'Spirit'
Kroll laid out the painting using a computer program to determine how to place each element -- the envelope on the left, the "Spirit" in the center and Lindbergh on the right.
Strictly speaking, the piece is not simply a painting, though paint is the basis of Lindbergh, the plane and the background. Kroll chose to use gouache, a type of paint similar to watercolor but with richer colors, as the primary medium.
He drew Lindbergh's face and the "Spirit" based on online pictures and painted them using ink for the black portions. Lindbergh's highly-detailed eye, which draws the attention of the viewer, was one of the last things to be added to the painting, along with Lindbergh's brownish scarf.
For the blue background, he used the gouache and overlaid it with a detailed map based on Google Map's bird's eye view of Little Falls. It was a time-consuming process, but people familiar with Little Falls will be able to pick out the features of the town, inked out with a blue gel pen.
The envelope portion of the painting on the left features Lindbergh's signature, drawn out and then inked with pen.
ADVERTISEMENT
"It is pretty similar to what his actual signature looks like," Kroll said.
Kroll also used a pen to create replicas of the stamps in circulation the year Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic. The gouache paint was utilized again to make a few stains on the "envelope."
Kroll estimates he spent 15 to 17 hours on the painting during his Drawing II class at WHS. Just finding the right shade of blue for the background took a whole hour.
"I've been drawing for a very long time. It's something I've been doing since I was a little kid," Kroll said.
He plans to study animation at Huntington University, Indiana, after graduation.
