Jack Payne and his Band

Blog written by: Fabian Musto | Written on: Monday 13th-Tuesday 14th September 2021

Drawn from: Saturday 7th August, Friday 10th to Sunday 12th September 2021

Artist: Fabian Musto | Inspiration: Jørgen Myller | "Jack Payne and his Band"

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A week after I finished my drawing of Jack Hylton's orchestra, I decided that drawing Jack Payne's band next would be a good idea. The photograph I referenced was a photograph of Jack Payne's band from the mid 1930s, and it presumably dates from 1935. The inspiration of this drawing is the work of Jørgen Myller, obscure Danish cartoonist and animator that lived from 1910 to 1995; he caricatured many British dance bandleaders during the 1920s and 1930s, one of which was Jack Hylton.

7th August: At 3:00pm, I opened the second page of my new A3 sketchbook, and I began to draw Jack Payne to the centre-right. I was amazed that I drew him without errors, but the Art Deco style steps behind him took me many attempts to redraw; I gave up after I drew the microphone, situated to the centre-left.

Mid August: During this time, I added Bob Easson in the centre of the drawing. He was the longest serving member with Payne's band, as he played reeds in the band from 1925-33 and violin from 1933-36. I redrew Bob Easson three times, because setting the proportion for him was tricky; this also marked the first time I drew people sat down facing the camera, but my final attempt made me think he looked decent. However, the drawing was left unfinished for some time because the death of my third cat, Harmonie, made me and my family mourn for many weeks. Harmonie died on 2nd August 2021, some days after I completed my drawing of Hylton's band.

YouTube link: Tribute to Harmonie (c.2009/11-2021) - YouTube

Picture (right): Jack Payne, 7th August 2021

10th September: I came back to draw the two violin players next to Bob Easson, and I drew the upper part of Billy Scott-Coomber (the guitar player situated below the violin player to the left) before calling it a day.

11th September: After I uploaded my Warner Bros. Animation Logo History - YouTube video, I went back to complete the drawing in the evening, and I added more people that day.

12th September: I had room to fit in the string bass saxophone players to the right, as well as the vibraphone and right section of the Art Deco style background. I later coloured the band members with golden tuxedos, so they could match the gold Art Deco background (I coloured this with a golden metallic marker). As evident on the picture to the right, I used a fine liner to thicken the depth of the drawing.

The band members were given diagonal stripe ties except Jack Payne, and I gave him a blue dotted tie (from a guess in the original photograph). Colouring the instruments was a lot of fun, especially the violins and string bass. I used shadows on certain parts of the drawing, as seen on the double bass and object behind the brass bass player. I used colouring pencils to infill the curtains and band members' tuxedos, and the effects look nice. ===================================

REFERENCES:

1. Jack Payne (director of Payne's band, August 1925 to 1946)

2. Sidney Fearn (trumpet player with Payne's band, September 1933 to February 1938)

3. Jock Mclean (trumpet player with Payne's band, November 1935 to November 1936)

4. Bert Bullimore (trumpet player with Payne's band, February 1933 to July 1940)

5. Jack Jones (trombone player with Payne's band, September 1933 to February 1936)

6. Jesse Fuller (trombone player with Payne's band, June 1926 to November 1936)

7. Sid Millward (saxophone player with Payne's band, September 1933 to March 1936)

8. Stan Osborne (saxophone player with Payne's band, February 1933 to November 1936)

9. Phil Trix (saxophone player with Payne's band, March 1931 to February 1936)

10. Arthur Birkby (saxophone player with Payne's band, May 1935 to February 1936)

11. Ralph Silvester (saxophone player with Payne's band, May 1935 to November 1936)

12. Dave Stephenson (saxophone player with Payne's band, September 1933 to November 1936)

13. Bert Powell (viola and violin player with Payne's band, June 1929 to November 1936)

14. Bob Easson (saxophone and violin player with Payne's band, August 1925 to November 1936)

15. Jimmy Dunlop (violin player with Payne's band, September 1933 to July 1940)

16. Norman Warren (piano player with Payne's band, February 1935 to March 1936)

17. Billy Scott Coomber (guitar player-vocalist with Payne's band, March 1931 to February 1940)

18. Ronnie Genarder (banjo-guitar player with Payne's band, September 1933 to February 1938)

19. Charlie Asplin (brass-string bass player with Payne's band, March 1930 to July 1940)

20. Bert Groves (string bass player with Payne's band, September 1933 to November 1936)

21. Joe Wyndham (percussion player with Payne's band, July 1935 to February 1938)

TRIVIA: This is the first drawing I've made of a dance band that features musical instruments, and I coloured them in unlike the drawing I made of Jack Hylton's band in early February 2021.

-The drawing was left unfinished for a month, and the drawing consisted of Jack Payne, Bob Easson and the Art Deco steps for a month.

-This marks the first Art Deco style dance band drawing I have made.

CONCLUSION: This is another favourite drawing I have made this year, and it's nice that I'm making more drawings on A3 paper, especially that I'm beginning them with British dance bands. Next time, I will draw Ambrose and his Mayfair Orchestra (picture from 1931). Stay tuned for that!

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"Jack Payne and his Band" by Fabian Musto

Written from Monday 13th September, 23:30-50 / 11:30-50pm,

Tuesday 14th September 2021 14:10 / 2:10pm -17:00 / 5:00pm.

TR3X PR0DUCTI0NS