{"id":9920,"date":"2005-05-15T17:10:47","date_gmt":"2005-05-15T21:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/?p=9920"},"modified":"2018-07-24T17:23:36","modified_gmt":"2018-07-24T21:23:36","slug":"sz-exclusive-sly-artist-bill-pruitt-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/2005\/05\/15\/sz-exclusive-sly-artist-bill-pruitt-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"SZ Exclusive: SLY Artist, Bill Pruitt Interview!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/h5>\n

Bill Pruitt<\/a><\/b>\u00a0is a\u00a0talented<\/b>\u00a0artist<\/b>\u00a0who also happens to be a huge\u00a0Sylvester Stallone<\/b>\u00a0fan. What’s really cool is that\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0is also a fan of\u00a0Bill<\/b>‘s art and owns several of his paintings. We’ve profiled\u00a0Bill<\/b>\u00a0before here at the\u00a0SZ<\/b>, but felt that it was time to check in with him again now that he’s providing art for\u00a0Sly<\/b>magazine.<\/p>\n

Craig<\/b>: Could you briefly give us your background?<\/p>\n

Bill<\/b>:\u00a0I was born and raised in\u00a0Kansas City, Missouri<\/b>\u00a0and have been always been artistic since I can remember. I studied art all through school and in college and recieved my\u00a0BFA<\/b>\u00a0in\u00a0illustration<\/b>from the\u00a0University of Missouri<\/b>. After about 5 years of living in\u00a0Kansas City<\/b>, I decided to move to\u00a0Los Angeles<\/b>\u00a0in 1991 to pursue my art and have been here ever since.<\/span><\/p>\n

Craig<\/b>: How did you get the gig with\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0magazine?<\/p>\n

Bill<\/b>: I got the gig with\u00a0Sly Magazine<\/b>\u00a0Issue 2 because there is a history with my artwork and\u00a0Sly<\/b>. He is very familiar with my work.\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0first purchased a painting of mine back in\u00a01987<\/b>\u00a0when I was still in\u00a0Missouri\u00a0<\/b>and has collected several others since then through the years. I was first contacted by\u00a0Neal Boulton<\/b>,\u00a0Editor-in-Chief<\/b>\u00a0of\u00a0Sly Magazine<\/b>\u00a0back in\u00a0December ’04<\/b>\u00a0about doing work for the premier issue but unfortuneately, for what they wanted and the detail style work I do, there simply wasn’t enough time. I let them know I would be available for anything in the future.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I paint outside this restaurant\u00a0Cafe tu tu Tango<\/b>\u00a0in\u00a0Universal City<\/b>\u00a0right next to\u00a0Universal Studios<\/b>. I paint there on occasion just to get out of the studio and be outside around people. It’s a nice atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Well, one\u00a0Friday<\/b>\u00a0night in\u00a0February<\/b>\u00a0of this year, I was there and\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0went walking by with a group of people (one being\u00a0Sugar Ray Leonard<\/b>\u00a0– they were going to the\u00a0Hard Rock Cafe<\/b>\u00a0nearby for this basketball event) and I got his attention and said, “Hi.”\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0was very gracious since we’d met before and he knew me and my work.\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0told me he wanted me to do work for his magazine.<\/p>\n

Sure enough, he kept his word and less than a month later, the\u00a0art director<\/b>\u00a0of\u00a0Sly Magazine<\/b>\u00a0called me and asked if I was interested in the job. Of course, I didn’t hesitate in saying yes I am interested and I’m available. Even if I didn’t see\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0that night, I am sure I would’ve have gotten the job anyway since they contacted me<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/h5>\n

Craig<\/b>: How closely did they work with you? Did you have to do revisions?<\/p>\n

Bill<\/b>: The art director\u00a0Willy<\/b>, worked very closely with me. We communicated by phone or email almost every day till the job was done. He was in\u00a0New York<\/b>\u00a0where the\u00a0Sly Magazine\u00a0<\/b>office is located. The job actually started on\u00a0March 5\u00a0<\/b>and was completed around\u00a0March 18<\/b>. Specifically, my job was to do\u00a0three illustrations<\/b>\u00a0to accompany the section of the\u00a0Rocky 6\u00a0<\/b>screenplay in the magazine. Since the work had to do directly
\nwith\u00a0Rocky 6<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0Sly<\/b>‘s vision for it, I spoke to\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0through the art director. They first sent me the script and told me pretty much what they wanted. They asked me to read the script to give them any input. Which I did. On the copy of the script, there were very
\nrough sketches that\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0did with his ideas for the illustrations.<\/p>\n

It was very interesting.<\/p>\n

From there, I did some\u00a0preliminary sketches<\/b>\u00a0for the\u00a0three illustrations<\/b>\u00a0and did a few revisions on each one. All the revisions were sent as email attachments after I scanned them so that made things very easy.<\/p>\n

Once the drawings were approved, I then got started on the paintings around\u00a0March 7<\/b>\u00a0and decided to work in\u00a0acrylics<\/b>\u00a0to ensure the paint would be dry in time. I normally work in\u00a0oils<\/b>\u00a0so I had to adjust, plus you are forced to work faster with\u00a0acrylics<\/b>\u00a0since they dry faster.<\/p>\n

I might add during this whole creative period, I had to rely on photo references that I found in my vast collection of\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0stuff. I ended up using several different photos and combined them, since of course, there are no photos yet of\u00a0Rocky 6<\/b>. I also even used the\u00a0Rocky DVD’s<\/b>\u00a0as references by putting a scene on pause and taking a picture of the screen for a certain expression, etc. I did this a lot for an illustration of\u00a0Paulie<\/b>. I even went so far as to take pictures of myself by pushing my face in on one side to somewhat simulate a face being punched and how distorted it would be. So, in a sense, that is my face being punched by\u00a0Rocky<\/b>\u00a0in the painting. As you can see, I am a stickler for detail and accuracy. I did the full page opener (fight scene) first and would send\u00a0Willy<\/b>\u00a0photos (from my digital camera) of my progress so he in turn would show\u00a0Sly<\/b>. I would get all kinds of input from\u00a0Sly\u00a0<\/b>for things to change or add. Like for instance, in the opener,\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0wanted more blood and sweat flying with more cuts and bruises on each fighter to make it look like these guys have been through a real battle. The other\u00a0two illustrations\u00a0<\/b>consisted of\u00a0Rocky<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0Paulie<\/b>\u00a0in one and the young\u00a0Champ<\/b>\u00a0who\u00a0Rocky<\/b>\u00a0fights in another. They are both half page illustrations in the magazine. It was all a very fun process but hard work at the same time because of the time frame and me being a very detail oriented artist. Having good communications with\u00a0Willy<\/b>\u00a0was a plus too.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/h5>\n

Craig<\/b>: Will you be doing future work for\u00a0Sly Magazine<\/b>?<\/p>\n

Bill<\/b>: Yes, I will be doing more work for\u00a0Sly Magazine<\/b>\u00a0for\u00a0issue 3<\/b>. They just contacted me and we will begin discussing it tomorrow (May 4th<\/b>) after I receive the script. As of now, I
\ndon’t know any details. I very much look forward to working on it again. I let them know I am available any time should they want my services. This is like a dream job for me. Something I have been working my whole life towards it seems and I am very grateful for the opportunity\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0has given me.<\/p>\n

Craig<\/b>: What else does the future hold for you?<\/p>\n

Bill<\/b>: As far as what my future holds, I will have\u00a0two paintings<\/b>published in an art book of\u00a0Marilyn Monroe<\/b>\u00a0called\u00a0Marilyn<\/u>\u00a0in\u00a0<\/u>Art<\/u><\/b>\u00a0in\u00a0November<\/b>. It is a\u00a0coffee table book<\/b>\u00a0and is the second edition of one already published in\u00a0England<\/b>\u00a0during the\u00a080’s<\/b>. I want to keep painting of course and have more\u00a0shows in galleries<\/b>\u00a0and also have\u00a0limited edition prints\u00a0<\/b>made of more of my pieces to sell. I want to work out something with\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0so he can sign the prints too and maybe have part of the money go to one of\u00a0Sly<\/b>‘s charities. I’ll keep you posted.<\/p>\n

I am currently working on a painting from\u00a0Rocky 6<\/b>. It is a big\u00a036″x48″ oil<\/b>\u00a0and was very much inspired from working on the illustrations for\u00a0Sly Magazine<\/b>. I can’t remember being this excited about working on my own project. It is a very original idea with a\u00a0spiritual edge<\/b>\u00a0having to do with important people in\u00a0Rocky<\/b>‘s life dying. That being\u00a0Mickey<\/b>,\u00a0Apollo<\/b>\u00a0and especially\u00a0Adrian<\/b>. They are like angels on\u00a0Rocky<\/b>‘s shoulder (referring to a great, very moving scene with\u00a0Mickey\u00a0<\/b>in\u00a0“Rocky 5”<\/b>). I’ll keep you posted on this too. It should be a couple more months.<\/p>\n

Craig<\/b>: Are you available for commissions? Prices?<\/p>\n

Bill<\/b>: Yes, I am available for\u00a0commissions<\/b>\u00a0and also sell\u00a0canvas prints<\/b>\u00a0of most of my work from my site. They range in price from\u00a0$20 – $250<\/b>\u00a0and are\u00a0exact duplicates<\/b>\u00a0of my originals. My commissions for a simple one person head and shoulders portrait start at\u00a0$1000<\/b>\u00a0for\u00a011″x14″<\/b>. They can go up to\u00a0$5000<\/b>for a\u00a036″x48″<\/b>\u00a0for one person. I add\u00a040%<\/b>\u00a0of the original cost for\u00a0each extra person added<\/b>. I do\u00a0commissions<\/b>\u00a0of anything else someone may want. The\u00a0prices will vary\u00a0<\/b>depending on the detail and size of the piece.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/h5>\n

Craig<\/b>: Any other info that you want to add, please feel free!<\/p>\n

Bill<\/b>: As I mentioned before I have been\u00a0artistic<\/b>\u00a0since I was very young. That set the foundation for the kind of painting I do today.\u00a0 I believe my\u00a0artistic skills<\/b>\u00a0come from a combination of a\u00a0natural gift<\/b>\u00a0and years and years of\u00a0JUST doing it<\/b>\u00a0to hone my craft kind of\u00a0like\u00a0Michael Jordan<\/b>\u00a0with basketball.<\/p>\n

I studied art all through school and college and received a\u00a0BFA\u00a0<\/b>in\u00a0illustration<\/b>\u00a0but again, I credit most of my\u00a0ability<\/b>\u00a0from\u00a0JUST doing it\u00a0<\/b>all the time. It also helps to have\u00a0very supportive parents\u00a0<\/b>(two people to whom I am forever grateful) who encouraged me in all my\u00a0artistic endeavors<\/b>. I also believe I learn something from each\u00a0painting<\/b>\u00a0to become better and better. I also think over the years my eye has become conditioned to see things more accurately. That is evident from my paintings today compared to ones\u00a015 years ago<\/b>.\u00a0My sense of lighting, everything is enhanced.<\/p>\n

Also, regarding\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0and my relationship with him, it really goes back to\u00a01976<\/b>\u00a0after I saw\u00a0“Rocky”<\/b>. To this day, I have never felt better leaving a movie theater as I did with\u00a0“Rocky”<\/b>. I was only\u00a012 years old<\/b>\u00a0and it\u00a0 had a very strong impact on me. So inspiring. I was so pumped up after seeing\u00a0“Rocky”<\/b>\u00a0that night, I\u00a0went home and did several one handed pushups. Maybe not as graceful as\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0but I did them.\u00a0“Rocky”<\/b>\u00a0literally got me into working out with weights and is something I still do on a regular basis and will always do. Even to this day, when I watch the training montage and the fight scenes in the\u00a014th<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a015th<\/b>\u00a0rounds of\u00a0“Rocky”<\/b>, I get chills. Plus the music by\u00a0Bill Conti\u00a0<\/b>is incredible. Later on I learned about\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0not selling the script unless he played\u00a0Rocky<\/b>\u00a0which was even more inspiring. I also believe\u00a0“Rocky”<\/b>\u00a0and its sequels are a big reason a lot of my subject matter is\u00a0patriotic<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0“American”<\/b>\u00a0themed with themes of strength, victory and triumph being a common thread in a lot of my work.<\/p>\n

Jumping ahead, in\u00a01986<\/b>, still living in\u00a0Missouri<\/b>, I did some\u00a0drawings<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0paintings<\/b>\u00a0of\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0and sent pictures of them to the owner of this gym called\u00a0The Santa Monica Bodybuilding Center<\/b>. His name was\u00a0George Pitasik\u00a0<\/b>and\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0worked out there at the time. All this information was obtained from an article on\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0in the\u00a0October 1985\u00a0<\/b>issue of\u00a0Muscle & Fitness<\/b>\u00a0magazine. In a separate letter, I asked the owner to please give the enclosed contents to\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0when he comes in to work out. I didn’t hear anything for about\u00a03 months<\/b>\u00a0and frankly didn’t think I ever would.<\/span><\/p>\n

I then received a letter from\u00a0Sly<\/b>‘s office from his\u00a0personal assistant\u00a0<\/b>saying he was not interested in any art at that time but they would keep my photos in their files. Also, they enclosed an\u00a0autographed photo<\/b>\u00a0signed to me from\u00a0Sly<\/b>. So from there, I had a direct contact to\u00a0Sly<\/b>‘s office.<\/span><\/p>\n

Craig<\/b>: What a great story!\u00a0Bill<\/b>, I want to\u00a0thank you<\/b>\u00a0for taking the time to catch us up on what you’ve been doing. It’s crazy how your admiration for\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0inspired your art and how that has led you back to working for his magazine. Please do keep us posted on your progress on\u00a0issue three<\/b>\u00a0as well as your\u00a0Rocky 6\u00a0<\/b>“spritual painting.”\u00a0Thanks again!<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
–\u00a0Craig<\/b><\/div>\n

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Bill Pruitt\u00a0is a\u00a0talented\u00a0artist\u00a0who also happens to be a huge\u00a0Sylvester Stallone\u00a0fan. What’s really cool is that\u00a0Sly\u00a0is also a fan of\u00a0Bill‘s art and owns several of his paintings. We’ve profiled\u00a0Bill\u00a0before here at the\u00a0SZ, but felt that it was time to check in with him again now that he’s providing art for\u00a0Slymagazine. Craig: Could you briefly give us […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,25,76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-66","category-sly-fan","category-sly-magazine"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3r2Pe-2A0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9920"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9921,"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9920\/revisions\/9921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallonezone.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}


\nI then did a nice painting (“Stallone Montage I”<\/a><\/b>\u00a0on my site) of\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0at the end of\u00a01986-early ’87<\/b>. I sent a nice big photo of it to\u00a0Sly’s office<\/b>\u00a0as a gift to him not expecting anything. About a week later, the phone rang and I answered it. The woman said she was\u00a0Sly’s personal assistant<\/b>\u00a0calling about the painting. I remember my heart pounding when she told me who she was. She asked me all kinds of questions about the original and if it was for sale and if so, what the price was because\u00a0Sly<\/b>\u00a0was very interested in it. I said yes it is for sale and just quoted some price off the top of my head. She said “is that your firm price?” I said, “yes”. I was totally caught off-guard not thinking anyone would call. She called back the next day and told me “you sold a painting!” I couldn’t believe it. Right out of college I sold a painting to someone who has inspired me so much. He admired my art like I did his. The rest, as they say, is history.<\/span><\/p>\n