Film Noir

The last 10 days or so i've been on a big Film Noir jag and figured i'd post some stuff in tribute to this great movie genre. I've still been working on my art almost constantly in my off-work hours but now i'm in the midst of rearranging and cleaning up my little studio room which has been sorely needing it for far too long! Anyway i got my little Tee-Vee hooked back up and "D.O.A" is just starting, woo hoo!!! Here's a few images from "Out of the Past", "Force of Evil", "The Big Heat" and "The Dark Corner", all stellar examples of the Noir style and simply just damn good films! More to follow soon!

Olivia and Bella - Finale

Here's the final posting of my Olivia/Bella tribute . . . 5 more gems, my favorite by far being the one titled "Postmark Bhutan", done with the splashes of gouche and water. One can only imagine how incredible that piece must look in person! I had the very good fortune of seeing an Olivia exhibit several years ago at the now defunct "Words and Pictures" museum in North Hampton Massachusetts (Owned by the "Ninja Turtle" guy, Kevin Eastman) and it was indeed a treat to see some of her best work hanging there on the walls!

Olivia and Bella - Part Three

And still a few more paintings of Bella Schol by Olivia DeBarardinis. I especially love the ones where she used that very "loose" watercolor/guache technique. Bella seemed to inspire a streak of fearlessness in Olivia when she painted her! Really amazing work!

Olivia and Bella - Part Two

A few more fantastic paintings of Bella Schol by Olivia DeBarardinis

Olivia and Bella - Part One

Pinup legend Olivia De Barardinis has used many models over the years but to me, none have inspired so many striking and interesting images in her art as Bella Schol. Bella is almost a total enigma! I can find nothing about her on the net and in fact know nothing of her other than what is written about her in Olivia's books! So here are a few edited quotes:

"Bella is a tattoo artist and cartoonist from Amsterdam. We met when she was passing through L.A. on her way to Mexico to study bullfighting. She was a terrific model and became my muse for at least a year."

"On the small of her back is emblazoned the French phrase "Nappartiens jamais...", translation: "Never belong"

"I'll always love to paint Bella. She is one of my all-time favorites. I've been painting her so long that i feel she has taken on a seperate life in my work."

Here are a few pieces Olivia has done featuring Bella. More coming soon!

Anita Page . . .

I was poking around on the net reading about some silent films and i read that Anita Page passed away on sept. 7th of this year at the age of 98! That is a bit weird because it's the same date my father passed away in 2001, yikes!
Anita is not known much today but she is in some first rate films, was quite a good actress and very easy on the eyes as well! "Speedway" with William Haines, "Our Dancing Daughters", "Our Blushing Brides" and "Our Modern Maidens" all with Joan Crawford, "Night Court" with Walter Huston playing an absolutely despicably corrupt judge, as well as her most famous film "Broadway Melody" with equally adorable Bessie Love, which was the first talking film to win the best picture Oscar, are all well-worth seeing!
Here are a few pics of Anita, the first was taken by George Hurrell . . .

Star Wars weekend . . .

This blog will be pretty much about anything i feel like, hence the title.

So I'm chained to my art table again (self-imposed exile i call it) this weekend and I decided to play all the Star Wars films (in order of course!) while I was working . . . Episode III is more than half done and I am struggling with rendering a leather jacket in colored pencil, all the while the rain has been pounding down on my metal roof . . . good times, good times!

anyway, I thought i'd share a piece of my own artwork so here's a portrait of silent film legend Louise Brooks I did earlier this year. All colored pencil on museum board. Brooksie was a mesmerizingly beautiful and gifted actress, a fascinating personality and certainly posessed a magnificent profile! I've been a fan of hers for about a decade now but this year I really have become borderline obsessed with drawing her or, at least, attempting to!
The whole time I worked on this I had the old Kino video version of "Diary of a Lost Girl" playing on my little Tee-vee next to my art table over and over for inspiration. A really great silent film, although certainly not the "Feel Good" picture of 1929! I love the score on that older version so it's great to listen to even when i am immersed in my work.