Portraits for Whiskey Maker Buffalo Trace

all images, c. Kevin SproulsSeveral years ago, I was hired by the whiskey maker Buffalo Trace https://www.buffalotracedistillery.com/legendary-people/blanton.html to create portraits of their founders. It was fun to take historical photos and translate them into the graphic, hedcut style that I pioneered for The Wall Street Journal. The following are a few examples of the work I turned in...Portrait of "Pappy" Van WinkleAlthough most of these illustrations were drawn from decent historical photographs, one of them had to be created from a crude sketch:Here is the finished portrait art...I don't see this character on the Bufffalo Trace website, so I'm not certain of his name. This is an instance of what can be achieved with a little imagination.Orville Schupp -- note the wavey pompador hair treatment. The link above will bring you to the full portrait line-up.William Larue Weller -- I presume the whiskey brand "Old Weller" is derived from this dapper gentleman.Albert B. Blanton  -- a rather young-looking character from the last century. He rose to great prominence at the distillery and kept it going through some serious setbacks, including prohibition.Col. Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr. -- the founder of the company. Looks like quite a stern character. I draw your attention to the dent in his tophat.I really enjoyed drawing these colorful figures from the Buffalo Trace distillery. I hope you enjoyed this brief selection, too, Dear Reader. Cheers!