I started my blog today with a photo of the opening scene from Breakfast at Tiffany's. (As I work on a text painting, I like to immerse myself in the character, sort of like Stanislavski's method actors get inside their characters.)
I read recently that Audrey Hepburn is regarded by many to be one of the most naturally beautiful women of all time. She is on the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame, and last but definitely not least, a noted humanitarian. With regard to beauty, Hepburn says, "The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows. The beauty of a woman grows with the passing years." Seen below, is Hepburn in her role as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
I read recently that Audrey Hepburn is regarded by many to be one of the most naturally beautiful women of all time. She is on the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame, and last but definitely not least, a noted humanitarian. With regard to beauty, Hepburn says, "The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows. The beauty of a woman grows with the passing years." Seen below, is Hepburn in her role as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
I am painting Audrey Hepburn based on a black and white photograph, and I have been trying to decide whether to paint it in B & W or color. I have only painted one text piece in black and white. It is a portrait of one of my former students, Jaquellyn Braden, and the book I used to create it was The Dictionary of Film Quotations: 6,000 Provocative Movie Quotes from 1,000 Movies. The painting was recently featured on the cover of THEMA magazine. (Click on the image below to go to the website for the publication.)
While the people parts of the painting above are colorless, the background and scarf are brightly colored. The scarf is made up of hundreds rolled paper beads. It has become my custom to have some type of three-dimensional element in each text painting. On the Audrey Hepburn piece, the 3-D part will be the ruffle on her dress, as is evident in the lower left corner of the photo below showing today's progress in my studio.
It is obvious that I have decided to add some color, having chosen to paint the background Tiffany Blue. I am leaning toward adding some color to the subject's face as well, because the black and white image is perhaps too cold. Creating a work of art is always a series of such choices. For example, as I worked on this piece , I realized that I did not have enough text from Breakfast at Tiffany's, since it is only a novella, to create the entire portrait. It was printed, however, in a volume along with a couple of other short stories. I decided to use the entire book, partly because I didn't want to buy another copy, and also because I really like the short story titled, "Christmas Memory." It is likely, therefore, that the viewer will recognize lines from this well-known story when engaging in a close inspection of the text.
It seems appropriate to close today with a paragraph from "Christmas Memory." (I suggest reading it aloud while listening to "Moon River"... I have added a link to the orchestral version by Henry Mancini.)
"I've always thought a body would have to be sick and dying before they saw the Lord. And I imagined that when He came it would be like looking at the Baptist window: pretty as coloured glass with the sun pouring through, such a shine you don't know it's getting dark. And it's been a spooky feeling. But I'll wager it never happens. I'll wager at the very end a body realizes the Lord has already shown Himself. That things as they are' - her hand circles in a gesture that gathers clouds and kites and grass and Queenie pawing earth over her bone - 'just what they've always seen, was seeing Him. As for me, I could leave the world with today in my eyes.” --Truman Capote, "Christmas Memory"
"I've always thought a body would have to be sick and dying before they saw the Lord. And I imagined that when He came it would be like looking at the Baptist window: pretty as coloured glass with the sun pouring through, such a shine you don't know it's getting dark. And it's been a spooky feeling. But I'll wager it never happens. I'll wager at the very end a body realizes the Lord has already shown Himself. That things as they are' - her hand circles in a gesture that gathers clouds and kites and grass and Queenie pawing earth over her bone - 'just what they've always seen, was seeing Him. As for me, I could leave the world with today in my eyes.” --Truman Capote, "Christmas Memory"
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