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PrintArtist Spotlight: Marshall Harris
From the Gridiron to the Chisolm Trail
Marshall Harris was heavily recruited as a high school senior, but when he chose to attend Texas Christian University, it wasn’t the football that drew him — it was the fine arts program. After earning a B.F.A. in graphic design, Harris was drafted by the New York Jets and later played for the Cleveland Browns, the New England Patriots, and the former New Jersey Generals. But despite his success as a defensive tackle, the art world continued to beckon, so, in 1985, Harris left pro football for good.
After earning his master’s degree at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Harris moved back to his childhood home in Fort Worth, Texas, and returned to an old love: drawing. He began with nudes and, after a trip to a local Westernwear and gear shop, saddles. “I love investigating,” Harris says. “Before I begin a figure drawing, I conduct an in-depth interview. I want to know that the scar on their knee was caused by a fall from a swing set when they were 7. I approach saddles the same way; they can’t talk, but I can read the wear on the leather and it tells their story and the story of the cowboy or cowgirl who used it.”
The result of his investigations are intricately detailed life-size saddles that include every boot scrape, elaborate tool mark, and stitch. How does Harris achieve this level of detail? “I draw on Mylar, then, with a Q-tip, I move the graphite around. Later I add highlights with a kneaded eraser. I’ve been told my drawings look more like paintings because you can’t see the pencil marks.”
Harris is currently drawing saddles on commission in addition to drawing 25 historic saddles for an upcoming book. “The saddle series will follow the development of the Western saddle, as well as the cattle industry, along the Chisholm Trail all the way to Calgary.”
ABOVE: Saddle Sketch #2, M.L. Leddy, graphite on Mylar, 54 x 57.
GALLERY: Marshall Harris Studios, Fort Worth, Texas, 781.704.3083, www.marshallharrisstudios.com.
