Romance of Wonder Woman and Abe Lincoln. 9x12 Ink on Bristol Paper.
Continuing the theme I started years ago- here is another installment of the Romance of Wonder Woman and Abraham Lincoln. This is my Valentine's Day post.
Small Portrait of Abraham Lincoln. 9x12 ink on Bristol Paper.
Yesterday was Lincoln's Birthday. I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday, so I'm doing it a day late. The story goes that a young girl wrote Lincoln and suggested he would look better with a beard and that prompted him to grow his iconic goatee. This is based on a younger Lincoln probably a newly elected Lincoln.
Small Portrait of Ruby Aldridge. 9x12 ink on Bristol Paper.
Ruby has such an interesting face. Her features are very elegant and slightly uneven which gives her the grace of a ballerina but the dreamy look of Pre-Raphaelite painting.
Small Portrait of Hanaa ben Abdesslem. 9x12 ink on Bristol Paper.
I took some quick snap shots of Hanaa in casting and what a beautiful women she is. Comfortable with her strength and that hair of hers looks amazing. She has a kind of Isabella Rossellini presence about her that is very magnetic.
Rodin Brancusi Noguchi. 9x12 Ink on Bristol Paper.
I always admired these three men. A legacy of modern art that also relied on a tradition of apprenticeship. Brancusi was the apprentice of Rodin, and Noguchi was the apprentice of Brancusi. What fascinates me about this relationship of art, generations, and modernism is how distinct each artist is, but reading about their thoughts on form, abstraction, and movement you can see how ideas were passed down to each artist. I find that this relationship is slowly disappearing in the teaching of art. I learned my craft from mentors, but never in a full emersion apprenticeship. Maybe this is nostalgia speaking.
Soon You Will Become The People You Laugh At. 9x12 ink on Bristol paper.
I remember my brother telling me this when I was just out of high school during one of many rants about some point of view of mine. My brother then said, "one day you will become one of the people you laugh at". This becomes truer the older I get.
Small Portrait of Hyun Yi Lee. 9x12 Ink Wash on Bristol paper.
I only met Hyun Yi very briefly, but I took some shots of her while she was waiting for casting. The thing that stood out was how effortlessly cool she moved.
The studio is funny space. It's safe, private, and has room to act out fantasies. Emotions run high and low. I often think about the scene in A League of Their Own in which Tom Hanks yells- "There's no CRYING in Baseball!". There is crying in fashion. 9x12 Ink on Bristol Paper.
Small Portrait of Juju. Ink wash on 9x12 Bristol Paper.
Juju is very fun girl to photograph, I have plenty of out takes of her clowning to the camera. A joy to work with. I love that her eyes slightly turn down, which gives her a subtle mysterious presence.
Ink Wash Portrait of Kristina Salinovic From Feb 2011. Ink on 9x12 Bristol Paper.
I only met Kristina for about 10 minutes, but I really loved her look for casting that morning. She reminded me of a character from Streets of Fire or part of New Romantic band from the mid 80s. She modeled in a beautiful editorial shoot by Paolo Roversi for Italian Vogue last September. (See the behind the scenes video here). I doubt she has the same length of hair, since my inspiration for this image was from a year ago, but I think she has a great talent to transform herself.
Ink Wash Portrait of Samantha Gradoville. 9x12 ink wash on Bristol paper.
Samantha is very down to earth girl with a just an amazing casual confidence. This is from casting and fitting during February of 2011. We spoke briefly and I learned she is from San Diego CA and as a Southern California boy myself, and there something to the laid back cool attitude that embodies Southern California. She walks the delicate line of sweet, whimsical, and tough.
I have drawn Bonnie before and I must admit her beauty is hard to represent. I believe this candid portrait reveals more of her beauty than my first drawing of her last February. She holds herself with grace and strength. Surrounded by beautiful women in a line for casting she emitted casual cool that commanded attention.
