Two Hours Tops

Finale

2011-07-23T05:01:00.001-07:00

On the last day of this project I discovered a revelation about this musical. Fairy tales are often self contained, and Sondheim introduced familiar characters to us. Familiar, except for two--the Baker and his wife. These are two characters who spend the first act trying to have a child, and the second act protecting it. When the Baker's wife dies, the Baker is left to raise the child alone. The final song brings back every dead character to speak to the audience. The Baker's wife speaks to her husband. "Tell him the story of how it all happened"... She's inside those stories, and the folk tale tradition, which, like a game of telephone, changes and grows with each telling, is planted like a seed. It had never dawned on me the significance, in this musical, of parents telling stories before!

My composition is meant to straddle two worlds and perhaps three. The mom remains in the book while the husband remains to continue on and grow in the real world. They still share the sky. I learned a lot doing this project. I'd work and refine each image forever if given the chance. Most would just get tighter, not better. I think starting and finishing an image is the best practice for achieving a quickly realized finish. Still working on that.

No One is Alone

2011-07-23T05:00:00.001-07:00

The Baker's wife has been killed by a giantess. Jack's mother is dead. Red Riding Hood's family, too, is gone. Cinderella has left her prince. Together they're bound together to kill the giant's wife because she is wreaking havoc on the land. They are not alone, even having lost so much. No one is alone--not even those people you are fighting against. Life is not black and white.

So many characters were repeated for this image. I almost wish I'd made the different trees slightly separate color, but I'd decided to make a mass of leaves at the top of the page. Now they remind me of the cotton-y plants in Horton Hears a Who. I wish some of the tar receded a little better, but I'm still not sure how to achieve that. The colors here were a challenge, but on the whole I'm pleased. Perhaps the leaves up top are a bit warm in tone? On the whole, however, I'm pleased.

No More

2011-07-20T00:55:00.000-07:00

Are we here to correct the mistakes of our parents? A curse has been placed on a baker and his wife. They cannot bear children because the baker's father had stolen magic beans from a witch's garden. The witch took the father's unborn daughter, Rapunzel. The father abandoned his son and wife. Once the Baker gets his wish and has a child, he loses his wife and runs away. He has a chance not to repeat some of the mistakes of his father. Will he take it?

I continued ingraining the figure into his environment here. It's not perfect, but the Baker's legs feel much more germane to the ground here than it might have been previously. I was trying to match the character's costume colors and profiles. The father could have been mossier and the Baker could have been less heroic, but I like the trees and vines in the background.

Agony

2011-07-20T00:47:00.000-07:00

The princes, Charming run through the woods seeking their damsel in distress. In the first act, one brother chases Cinderella night after night, dance after dance. The other tries his hardest to break Rapunzel free from her tower. Agony. By the time the curtain falls before the intermission, they've both reached their goal and have married their prizes. In the second act, however, the thrill of the chase has waned and now each has discovered a new quest. Cinderella's prince has discovered a sleeping maiden guarded by seven dwarves and Rapunzel's husband has found sleeping maiden high in a tower surrounded by brambles. Agony again.

I can't believe this painting took the full four hours. I think I struggled to make it cohesive, and the fighting jabs their fists are meant to portray could have been better rendered. I like the faces, but I'm not sure they fit in with the style of the other images. The colors in the illustration are good, tho. There's always more to criticize, right?

On the Steps of the Palace

2011-07-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

Cinderella attends three dances over three nights during a festival. Having run away every evening at midnight, her prince gets smart and spreads sticky black pitch on the palace steps the last night. While she's standing there stuck, she tries to decide if she wants to be caught or not. Eventually she decides not to decide, leaving one shoe behind. It's out of her hands if she's found, but she's still findable.

One of the challenges of painting a single show is that I had to design recurring characters. You'll notice my under-drawing looks nothing like the finished character--this is because I hadn't opened up my first night's drawing again for reference. I remedied that in the first few minutes of black and white painting.

I have to admit I had an image of N Asencios' stuck in my head as I started this painting. It influenced me too much, maybe. Also, looking back, I question the warm yellow light behind the prince. Perhaps a more glowing blue? I'd definitely redden up and lighten that background, especially behind her head, but... hindsight is 20/20.

Stay With Me

2011-07-16T21:39:00.000-07:00

Rapunzel has found her prince and the evil witch she considers her mother has discovered the truth. At first she threatens Rapunzel not to leave, then she begs. "The world is dark and cruel, stay here where I can keep you safe" she sings.

I'm not sure how much this painting feels like night time, but aside from that, I'm mostly pleased. The witch was a LOT of fun to paint. And I think I loosened up on Rapunzel because of the weird contortions a witch's face needs to reflect. I'm starting to blend some of the edges of the layers too. I'd do that during the black and white stage if I didn't have to keep the photoshop layering separate for color. Rapunzel is a little, well, she's more than dumb in Into the Woods, she's blank. Her whole life has been spent hidden away in a sheltered existence. Because of that , she doesn't have a lot to add to the play as a personality. The drawing of my maiden became more vacant as I went along.

Giants in the Sky

2011-07-16T21:28:00.000-07:00

There's not a lot to describe about the story here. Jack climbs the beanstalk and steals the hen (yes, it's a hen in this version) that lays golden eggs.

I thought it would be a little funny to have the hen very stressed, laying and dropping eggs on the way down. The song describes how much bigger life can be when you explore things beyond your front yard. They can also be scary, of course.

I like the red in Jack's face. I wish the clouds were a little more solid towards the top, instead of becoming a feeble attempt at atmospheric perspective, but for the most part I'm pleased.

I finish the painting and it looks okay. I open it the next day, just to glance at it, and I see all the flaws--for example, that bean stalk is very unrefined. Then two weeks later, it all looks okay again. I suppose a month from now I'll really know what this thing looks like.

Hello Little Girl

2011-07-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

Little Red Riding Hood is wandering through the forest on her way to Grandma's house when she's stopped by the Big Bad Wolf. Okay, we know this story. The song is a seduction for Red to pay attention to the flowers and venture further from the path.

I wish I'd spent a little longer making the colors in the foreground meld a little better with the background. Almost all of the action in this story takes place at night, and though the values can still reach bright white without confusing anyone, the warm colors distract me now. It is nice having the time to explore and finish a drawing, however. Some of the modeling is still rough, and some of the bushes in the back are left undone, but hands look like hands and baskets have threading. It was a revelation. If only I'd blended the wolf's tail and feet into the scene a little better. I learned more about that as the days progressed, however. Keep reading!

Cinderella at the Grave

2011-07-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

My intention was always to change the rules of the game after finishing the first 90 images. The ultimate goal, as always, was 99, and after a brief hiatus, I'm returning. These final 9 images will all come from the same show-- Into the Woods, Stephen Sondheim's take on the Brother's Grimm. I also wanted these last paintings to feel more finished. To get around my two hour rule, I broke up the project into sections. I spent two hours on the black and white painting, which I'm posting next to the underdrawing (with which, as ever, I could spend as much time as I wanted) and two hours on the final color.

The first image has Cinderella crying on her mother's grave, which her tears have watered into a giant tree. The spirit inside the tree grants her her wish-- a dress for the festival.

Someone in a Tree

2011-04-27T00:04:00.000-07:00

Day 90. Easter. So of course I decided to go with Pacific Overtures, Stephen Sondheim's account of the westernization of Japan. It makes perfect sense.

Someone in a Tree describes the moment a treaty was signed between the opposing Japanese and American soldiers. No one sees the event the same way. A young boy watches the action from a distance, up in a tree. A peasant listens to the action from underneath the floorboards of the meeting house, and a soldier waits outside. Each person's memories are faulty and half-informed. But they all know that the experience was important...in retrospect.

I think some of my lights got a bit bright, and I might desaturate a shade or two, but I like the tree. And I'm glad I left all the people hidden.

A short hiatus comes now. I'll return with nine new paintings, each from the same show. I'm not sure if I will keep the two hour rule, or instead, learn how to push through to a more finished image. I will have missed a number of great shows-- Gypsy, West Side Story, Mystery of Edwin Drood, Brigadoon, On the Town, Wonderful Town, Chicago and more. Lots more to learn, yet, however. Stay tuned.

Over the Moon

2011-04-26T23:52:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it took me eighty eight images before I got to Rent? Can you believe I decided to paint the cow?

A young group of hipsters can't afford to pay the rent on their NYC Village apartment, and want to complain about it. The premise of the show is an updated retelling of the opera, La Boheme. Maureen is a performance artist, and to draw attention to the loss of her public performance space, she sings a song about a cow in cyberland with a dream. She doesn't want to hurt anyone, she just wants to jump over the moon. A bulldog tries to stop her.

That is one hot moon. And I decided the 'edge' of Rent might be represented with an earring. I didn't forget the possibility of a nosering, but I didn't like it. I don't know if the cow is blue in the show, but I think that adds extra edge too.

River in the Rain

2011-04-26T23:42:00.000-07:00

I'm not as familiar with Big River as I'd like to be, but I love this song. Jim and Huck, from Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, sing country song in the rain as they travel down the Mississippi.

I wish I'd dealt with the rainfall more intelligently. They seem to be in front of a waterfall, more than in the midst of a deluge. Perhaps more mist? More edges lost? Reference might have helped me here. I was so surprised by the song choice, however. I have a long-ish list of shows I've yet to paint, but I was still hoping for something unusual and full of imagery. I remembered this show at the last minute.

Huck and Jim are happy. They love the rain. They love the freedom. They love the night. I love being so close to achieving my goal.

Move On

2011-04-26T23:30:00.000-07:00

Sunday in the Park with George is Sondheim's musical about artistic creation. George Seuret connects to life through his painting, but real people baffle him. He's in love with his model, Marie, but she needs more attention than he's able to give. She becomes pregnant and marries a baker, leaving France (and George) for America. She is forever held in esteem in his famous painting, Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grande Jatte, however. And in act II she returns to tell George's great grandson, a modern artist, to keep creating.

I think this might be the first image I really had to pull reference out for. I needed a part of the painting for the illustration to make sense. George looks a little too reminiscent of Van Gogh, and I completely avoided pointilism, but I still like the finish here. It's obvious I spent more time on faces than anything else, but laying forth for myself unfavorable comparison to a masterpiece might intimidate anyone.

I Want to Be a Producer

2011-04-26T23:21:00.000-07:00

Unhappy. Unhappy. Very, very, very, very, very unhappy. Mel Brooks has come to Broadway and it took me a while to come to him. The movie of The Producers is not wildly lauded--it's a direct transplant from the stage and the performances have not taken the advent of closeups into account. It's still good, tho. I probably prefer the musical to the original. And the original is hilarious.

Leo Bloom is an accountant who has discovered that a producer could make more money from a Broadway flop than from a success. He and Max Bialystock set out on a mission to mount the worst musical ever created. They find it, but still miscalculate.

This song comes at the beginning of the show. Leo hates accounting and feels trapped. I like the cropping for two reasons--he's getting pushed out of his own picture, and the top of his head is cropped. It's a major plot point that a producer isn't really a producer until AFTER he produces a show. Once that's accomplished (midway through act II) he gets to wear the Producer hat....literally.

It's a Maze

2011-04-24T03:38:00.000-07:00

For the first time, I've started leaning on shows I'm not strongly familiar with. I found The Secret Garden in a thrift store several weeks ago, and I know that it's an show many people praise. I like the story--I've seen several movie versions, but I was resistant to learning something new just now. I may have been biased by it abbreviated highlighting at the Tonys many decades ago. I think I was probably rooting for something else that year, and decided I wouldn't like this show. Once on this Island, likely, seemed a stronger showing. I've listened to the music several times this month, and tho it hasn't grabbed me the way Superman, most recently, did. It's good. I'll give it a few more go's.

I thought I'd totally botched this image. The background and middle ground DO work better than the foreground. What I wouldn't give to lush up those silhouetting tree leaves--perhaps pushing them much cooler. But it's not as bad as I remember. It still passes and I learned some.

Before the Parade Passes By

2011-04-24T03:32:00.000-07:00

Dolly Levi is ready to be remarried. Widowed for years, and matchmaker for others since, she's set her sights on Horace Vandergelder. But before pursuing him, she wants permission from Ephram, her dearly departed husband. She sings for a sign to show that he's willing to let her go so that she can rejoin the living human race--before the parade passes by.

I'd been reading a little of jewelry that day, and was looking for a song that might involve a diamond. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes occurred to me first, but this song from Hello, Dolly felt more emotional and right. I've painted a number of images centering around the wedding ring. It's potent imagery. I'm pleased I was able to keep so much of her face in shadow. My inclination is to draw every detail in and highlight it. This is one of my favorite images, I think.

The Tornado

2011-04-24T03:25:00.000-07:00

Several times I've considered drawing something to accompany The Wiz, but it never felt right. Home, came up most often, and I considered No Bad News. When it came time, The Tornado, a short instrumental piece meant to accompany dancing, felt most right. I'm pleased to do another piece that feels like an actual illustration and not just a study. I've said before that most of these images are studies for other pieces. This one feels more complete. My only regret is that I did not find a way to incorporate an african american sensibility. Or something that feels like 70s funk. Those elements are integral to the genesis of the show....and in the movie as well. I seriously considered turning the house into a tenement, but in researching, I realized that the original stage production was a more earnest adaptation of the Kansas farmhouse, and was not set in NY the way the movie (brilliantly) was.

His Love Makes Me Beautiful

2011-04-24T03:19:00.000-07:00

It took nearing the end of this challenge to finally reach Funny Girl. Fanny Brice is not a beautiful woman, but she's asked to round out the highlight of Flo Ziegfeld's closing number, singing as tho she were gorgeous. Afraid she'd get the wrong sort of laughs, she stuffs a pillow under her wedding gown and sings about how her lovers' love makes her gorgeous and glowing. Hilarious.

Halfway through the composition, I decided the image looked much too much like Barbra Streisand, who starred in the musical and in the movie. I pushed the likeness more toward Ms. Brice, but I'm afraid now that she's a little too reminiscent of Princess Leia. It's the curly buns on the side of her head. There's a certain charm to that too, I suppose. It would still get laughs, anyway. The right sort?

Fugue for the Tinhorns

2011-04-24T03:13:00.000-07:00

Some days you're just tired. I don't think this is a bad composition, or a ridiculously bad idea, but man I was exhausted. Two hours went very fast and I still had a lot more I'd hoped to do. I'd been to the racetrack to draw and view horses a day or so previous, and I was looking for a good song that might reflect that good experience. I also was well aware that I hadn't worked out a composition for Guys and Dolls yet. It's a great show (and a mediocre movie). I went with the song bit that talks broadly about gambling. I'm not so sure the guy in the red is wearing a very cartoon-ganster style hat, but I like the other guys okay. It's not my most original composition, but you'll find in these final weeks that a simpler composition has been smartest. Those giant crowd scenes are fun to do and compose, but look horrible in just two hours. Still, I tried to create more than just character designs, and put together an illustration.

Wouldn't it be Loverly?

2011-04-19T18:07:00.000-07:00

We're in the homestretch for my 90 in 90, and some of the big names have been left undone. And not on purpose. Somehow I try and relate what I paint to my day. Some days that's easier than others. My Fair Lady has almost been painted several times. In fact, once I started a drawing, and then got pulled onto another project briefly, where inspiration struck.

I like this painting. The character reminds me of the sorts of figures I like to compose most. There's something archetypical about this stage show, and I love characters who are well rendered, yet paper-thin. I've heard that description of Dickens' writing as well. Humorous and broad, yet true. I don't know how true I'm being, but I did enjoy her expression. It's tough to imagine this woman dominating a gala event, but...that's the point, right? I bet we all have untapped resources of charm when forced to smile. That will make all the difference.

There's Been a Call

2011-04-19T18:01:00.000-07:00

Back in high school I discovered the musical of Sunset Boulevard even before I'd had a chance to see the movie. I much preferred Patti Lupone over Glenn Close. Maybe Close was the better actress, but on audio, Lupone had a much, much better voice. Of course, considering the fact that the role of Norma Desmond describes a woman shunned by TALKING pictures. She doesn't have to have much of a voice, I guess.

A friend and I used to sing this song together. She was unfamiliar with the show, but I taught her the few lines anyway, and when we couldn't think of anything else to say, I'd start...'There's been a call" and she'd answer "What did I say". It was fun, and stupid.

I like the color scheme here. I didn't get much chance to get the Joe Gillis character married into his environment very well, but I didn't forget to give him a farmer's tan. Priorities.

There's been a call. What did I say? They want to see me right away. Joe, Paramount, they love our child. Mr DeMille is going wild! But it was some fool assistant. Not acceptable at all. If they want me, then Cecil B. himself must call."

We're In the Money

2011-04-19T17:52:00.000-07:00

I had to refresh my knowledge of 42nd Street. I'd seen the movie, and I knew the general story, but I also was aware that the stage production differs greatly from what made it to the screen. In the 30s, musicals didn't suffer from too much plot. Lots of divergent musical numbers were added in as pure entertainment. They weren't integral to understanding story, but they were well known. And they became famous. Apparently this song is sung during the big show, onstage. Four beautiful chorus women, dressed as tramps find a dime on the street and sing about how their fortunes have changed. Cheery.

The image is a bit mushy. I started playing around with the gradients tool, so I learned more about how that works. I've since learned a bit more about drawing straight lines, and that cityscape could use a couple. I also am afraid the image got over saturated. I'd like to desaturate the background and refine a few faces more. Then we'll talk.

Mountain Duet

2011-04-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

I'm fairly new to the world of Chess. In fact, it took Josh Groban and Idina Menzel for me to get curious enough to really spend some time with it. ABBA is still considered to have done quality work in music circles, and one of the male lead singers, whose name eludes me, wrote this back in the 80s. The American representative of the world class chess champion meets the USSR's champion for coffee. She has come to make amends for her client's bad behavior, in the hopes that a second match can be arranged. I originally planned for a giant, empty silhouette of a chess piece be seated in the empty chair, but it looked silly.

My mountain range could use definition and atmospheric perspective, but I'm pleased with the American's face. I like the table as a chess board too, tho it could be more lovingly rendered.

Nightingale Song

2011-04-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

The classic story of the princess and the pea is retold with 50s charm and mildly irreverrent humor in Once Upon a Mattress. Not only is the pea under all those mattresses, but a bird is brought in to help the princess sleep.

Compositionally, this image came together, but I'd still like to finesse that ceiling, and blur areas of that mattress. I'd also like to play more with the perspectives. That pile of slumber lumber would look better teetering and atmospheric. I spent the last ten minutes trying to rescue the princess' face, which had gotten lost as I'd wrestled with her bedding. There's something about the color scheme that reminds me of the late 90s. Are they Starbucks colors? The yellow, green and burgundy? I've created far worse, but I can't claim this image as a victory. Live and learn. Then live some more.

Carousel Waltz

2011-04-14T10:18:00.000-07:00

Aside from being a carousel, I don't know what this image has to do with Carousel. I'm pleased with the image, tho, so I'm not going to complain. Billy Bigalow is a cryer in a carnival, yelling to draw customers onto the carousel. He falls for a young customer, and they eventually get married. He beats her and she loves him for it. Then she gets pregnant and he dies trying to steal money to support his growing family. Sent back to earth by an angel later, he sees how his daughter grew up to be just like him and how he needs to stop the cycle.

That's my interpretation of the circular carousel, anyway. I was playing around with filters here and continued having fun with the cubist color balance shifts. I'd paint some lights around the edges with ten or fifteen minutes more, and my 'horse' borders on 'dog', but it makes me laugh. That's a success.

Two Ladies

2011-04-14T10:09:00.000-07:00

I don't tend toward the salacious, but if you illustrate Cabaret, how do you avoid it? The emcee is an imp both fun and frightening. In the most recent Broadway incarnation, he's openly homosexual and unapologetic for his shenanigans. The new staging describes a threesome; the emcee is having an affair with 'two ladies', one of whom is obviously a man in drag. Pretty risque, even today.

Or perhaps it's risque especially today. Does anyone else think this culture is getting a tad too conservative? I'm not looking for wild, nipple-exposed orgies on NBC, but I'm far more horrified by violence than sex. Fewer explosions with a side of male on male kissing to go, please. Hold the tomato.

I meant to paint the emcee's fly askew, ever so slightly, but I forgot. I think that's my one regret here. I also struggled with this version, or another jpeg slightly more yellow. I'm still not sure.

Wonderful Guy

2011-04-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

I may have done the math wrong here. I finished the first hour and was shocked how far along I'd gotten. I glanced up again, having barely accomplished anything, and the second hour had passed. This piece needs some help. I like the composition okay, but it needs more structure. The ocean was meant to be more like a giant wheel that would be somewhat reminiscent of a pop up. I could have done that if I hadn't gotten so distracted with getting the oranges and blues to jive.

At least I still like the compostion. Nellie Flatbush is stationed as an army nurse on an island in the pacific and falls for a french man in exile. South Pacific deals with the issues of racism and cultural prejudices. Nellie finds eventually sees the light, but not everyone finds their way.

If you have a choice in the version to view, go for Reba McEntyre.

Where is the Life that Late I Led?

2011-04-14T09:46:00.000-07:00

Kiss Me Kate was one of Cole Porter's biggest hits. Based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, it puts in parallel the show within a show and backstage exploits.

It's really hard to see any production of this show, or the bard's, without first thinking of Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepherd. I don't even think I did it on purpose, but these figures are reminiscent of Moonlighting.

This also might be one of the few times I actually painted the show alongside its production. I had the dvd running in a small window while I was working. Usually I'm watching something completely unrelated as I paint. Don't get me wrong, they're still showtunes, but tonight, as I watched a birthday tribute to Sondheim, I was painting a quick, cute song from Sunset Blvd. Not wildly different in tone, but... not exactly the same either.

Being Alive

2011-04-14T06:17:00.000-07:00

All these crazy people keep getting married, and all Bobby does is get older. Sure he's attractive, sure he's well loved, but where does he go from here? He can't be the third wheel forever. Company is Sondheim's look at marriage from the perspective of the unmarried.

I was trying to equate the birthday cake with a bomb's lit fuse. Bobby spends most of the musical wishing he felt different about where he is in life. But honestly, he doesn't want to change. He wants everyone else to change. I'm still playing around with color in the background--very cubist, partly out of interest, and partly because of time constraints. I do think it gives a strange 3-d effect, which intrigues me. I snuck in as many wedding rings as I could. If I'd had more time to refine Bobby, he'd look cleaner, but as a thumbnail, I think these values look pretty good.

I'm Alive

2011-04-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

For those of you keeping score, you'll notice the recent titles have read 'You Were Dead You Know', 'Memory', 'I'm Alive', and a second 'I'm Alive'. This one comes from Next to Normal, a recent musical about a woman with schizophrenia. She's lost touch with reality and the figure of her perfect son is destroying family life.

I was playing more with a style I'd started back with How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying. I like this weird, cubist purple-green light that feels a little over-digital. Her mind is fragmented, so conceptually, it felt right. I only regret that I didn't make her head just a little blockier. She sticks out as though she's in a different painting, not just a different world. I wrestled with whether or not to include even a hint of her lips, but in the end, I wanted that cropping to feel as uncomfortable as possible, so I included it.

I'm Alive

2011-04-09T18:52:00.000-07:00

Xanadu is complete, total and wonderful ridiculousness. The movie is a travesty and the musical translation is more than happy to wink at the silliness of it all. A sign painter is feeling particularly uninspired, and the gods send a muse down to brighten his life. They fall in love. And it's the 80s. Boy howdy is it the 80's. Rainbows and unicorns and roller skates and legwarmers and...

I never did get that column resolved. Compositionally, I'd hoped that it would set further in the background, but I couldn't guess exactly what would happen once I'd included the rainbow effect. I fought most of my two hours to get that thing to 'read' as a column, and I think it does. Lofty goals. Perhaps if it had been a twin column, it wouldn't feel quite so blocky, weighing her down and keeping her frozen. I also might make it symmetrical. Next!

Memory

2011-04-09T18:42:00.000-07:00

After a number of broader scale images, I needed to catch my breath. I tend to pick imagery that relates directly to my day, and I definitely spent some time with some cats last week.

Grisabella, the glamour cat is past her prime and hopes to be picked in moving on to another plane of existance. There is to be a chosen one, and she hopes that it's her. Yes, Cats pretty much has NO plot. It's basically an excuse for pretty people, dressed in tight fitting leotards to dance around the stage, made up like cats.

I wanted to see how far I could push an image, so a very simple design gave me the chance to really concentrate on an area or two. I still would resolve a few edges and try to make things a little less computer-y with more time, but this image was a breather. Also, the longer I look at my cat, the more it looks like an opossum. Maybe I shouldn't mention that?

You Were Dead You Know

2011-04-09T18:33:00.000-07:00

Candide and Cunigunda are childhood sweethearts, reunited after a great battle and many years of travel. She has grown into an innocent hussy and he, a wide-eyed, trod-upon, rube. They deserve each other and they know it. But their travels will pull them apart and push them together several more times before finally settling down for the end of the show.

The musical is based on the famous text by Moliere, and I suspect he kills and returns Cunigunda without explaining her resurrection. This is the song they sing about it. She claims that she'll explain about that later... and of course, never does. This is another image I'd like to take more time to complete. I've done a 'hungry alligators in the swamp' image before, but I might be due for another. I don't know why that silly sort of adventure intrigues me, but it does.

No Time At All

2011-04-09T18:19:00.000-07:00

There's a great big world to explore, and it's hard to find where you belong. Pippin is born into the right family, with great opportunities, and not much wisdom. He visits his Grandmother, a woman exiled from his father's court and is told to make the most of the days he's got. Live in the moment and forget about the future. It's all about instant gratification. Obviously, this gets out of control very quickly and Pippin's life feels more meaningless than ever.

I'd spend more time making this a real painting--I like it enough. Her ever expansive dress really feeds into the weird world I hope to create for my own stories. I designed this page to include stylized faces that wouldn't need much attention. It gave me time to concentrate on the composition as a whole. The day after painting this, a friend and I went to the Arboretum and spotted 1/peacocks and 2/the self-same string of lights I'd drawn. Synchronicity. Easy, baby. You're on the right path!

Dreamgirls

2011-04-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

We're your dreamgirls, boy, we'll make you happy. Did anyone miss seeing the film? Do I really need to describe the thinly veiled history of the Supremes? My original thought here was to have all three women's dresses fade completely into the background, but I didn't like it as much. I also forgot to put in the microphone cords. It's amazing how fast two hours can go when you're trying to get expression on someone's face. I like the thin women, but Effie's still a little unresolved. Looking now, I think she needs eyebrows. At the last minute, I zoomed in from my original composition. Perhaps it should also tilt down a little to the right?

I try not to pick the best known song from any production, instead aiming for something illustrative. But Dreamgirls is all about singing on stage. This is what they have to sing about most. Fortune and fame should make you happy, right? Right?

Repent

2011-04-04T16:50:00.000-07:00

Mrs Primrose is a nut, and we get to discover it before anyone is the cast does in On the Twentieth Century. Lily Garland, the famous movie star is taking the famous rail train cross country, being courted by the man who discovered her for the stage, Max. He needs her for financing, she needs him to drop dead. Mrs Primrose holds the purse strings. In this song, we learn that she's part of an abstract moral brigade, believing that everyone is a sinner. She slaps 'repent' stickers wherever she goes, on whatever she finds, and runs mad through the railcars in the dead of night. The original production starred Imogene Coca in the role. Magnificent.

I'd have liked to have resolved some of the softness that comes with working digitally, but again, I like this image as a comp. the colors are good and the cutaways always please me. I might dissolve more train wall with more time. But I'm pleased on the whole.

No Matter What reprise

2011-04-04T16:44:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to work out more variety in compositions, I've been searching for songs that take place in a broader expanse. No Matter What was added for the stage version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Belle's father is lost in the woods after taking an invention on exhibition. Eventually, he'll find the Beast's castle, but for now, all he finds are wolves.

I wish I'd been brave enough to go darker, with less moonlight. His lantern light shadows would have been more interesting, if tougher to conjure. The wolf's tree, too is overly highlighted. I do like the mass of tree limbs above, and round horses crack me up. I was in danger of pushing the contrast up too high, and making everything look much too sharp. This is a good comp for a real painting later. I'm quickly learning that most of these images would make better comps than paintings. The happy thing is--I need to do comps.

A Pretty Little Picture

2011-04-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a recent discovery. I may have tried listening to it once, about the time I first heard Evita, but the songs really come alive when you know the story better. Some albums tell you what you're listening to, others are harder to follow. The son of a rich master in a Roman household falls for the slave girl next door. In return for the help in winning her hand, the son will grant Pseudolis, his personal slave, freedom. When doubts are cast, Pseudolis, desperate to be free, encourages his young master to look to the future and picture how wonderful everything will be once the fruits of his labors develop.

After finishing this, I threw a couple of filters on top, in areas, to blur and soften the image. It improved it greatly, but, being so far outside my alotted 2 hour promise, I forced myself to throw those files away. It looked so much better, that it's still a little painful to see it like this, but... I have my pride.

Good Night and Thank You

2011-04-04T16:20:00.000-07:00

Evita Duarte has come to Buenos Aires to make her way in the world. Along the way, she makes her way with just about anyone of note. Good night and thankyou, whoever, she sings, as she climbs the ladder of success. Eventually she makes her way to the bed of promising man of the army. She'll push him all the way to the office of president.

This may be a favorite piece, thus far. In fact, I may very well have chosen Evita many years ago as a first attempt at an illustration piece. The style of the show is dark and foreboding. Evita's story is a cautionary tale. Don't get greedy. And if you rise too far too fast, you're likely to fall and fall hard.

This is also the piece in which I discovered that I paint an awful lot of face closeups. I've making an attempt to use that more sparingly. The close up is for impact. But then, the wide shot is for atmosphere. No hard and fast rules, of course, but on the whole, I'm aiming more cinematic, and that means a wider variety in composition.

My Husband Makes Movies

2011-03-30T07:17:00.000-07:00

Nine is a horrific movie, but it's a great stage musical. Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of 8 1/2 either, which is its source material. I respect Fellini, but I haven't felt the need to spend a lot of time there. Maybe if he sang more...

Louisa is married to Guido, a film maker, and laments the days when she had her own identity. Now she is wife to a famous, and famously philandering, icon. She's not sure where he ends and she begins anymore. I tried to reflect that in the composition. In the sketch, I tinkered with the idea of giving her no mouth, but her features are still somewhat ghostlike. The husband and wife share an arm. It's a little sophomoric, but while he's framing the world for an imaginary camera, she seems to be holding up a very, contemporary 'loser' sign. Instead, let's just assume she's assisting, helplessly. I don't believe they used the loser sign in Italy 40 years ago.

I Hope I Get It

2011-03-30T07:05:00.000-07:00

The opening song from A Chorus Line cuts its cast in half from the get-go. All the dancers work their asses off for a chance to make it into a show within a show and our entire evening as an audience is spent with performers desperate for a chance to do what they love to do--dance.

I've been trying to find ways of making the close up on a character's face more interesting. In the show, some dancers rest on the side of the stage before jumping in to participate in a combination. A cinematic approach is to throw lots of information in the foreground. I cannot tell you how daunting it was to attempt painting a mirror in behind this nameless actress so quickly. But I like the results. Also, at the same time this was painted, I was fighting for an illustration job. I chose the song on purpose, obviously.

Chava Ballet Sequence

2011-03-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

Even more closeups! Fiddler on the Roof has been a long time coming. It's a favorite musical, but as I've combed through the possible shows each day, no song from it has ever felt quite right. On stage Tevye says goodbye to his daughters one by one; each having selected a husband he did not get the chance to pick. He forgives his first two children, but the third daughter leaves with a man he can not accept--someone not jewish. He is insanely angry, and yet he also is sad, mournful and yearning for the young daughter he's losing.

I paint to movies and I had Giant running in the background while putting the painting in here. It's an interesting juxtaposition as some of the same themes run through each. I wish my Tevye looked a little bit sadder, or more hurt, but I think it's strangely appropriate that what he seems to give off more than any other trait is love. That theme probably dominates this song, and this show more than any alternative.

Tell Me Why

2011-03-30T06:46:00.000-07:00

Alfie Bourne is a theater-loving, middle-aged, unmarried and homosexual bus driver. He has an impossible crush on one of his co-workers and lives in Irish Catholic misery. He lives with his sister, a spinster who, after Alfie's first major indescretion, yells at her brother for not telling her sooner, setting her free. He endures her pain, wallows in his own and misses the last intention in her song-- "You must have known I'd have loved you anyway". A happy enough sentiment for the early 90s.

You'll notice I needed a lot less atmosphere after Camelot. I like this image, and fought to keep the sister from looking too man-ish. I wish Alfie resembled Uncle Fester less, but we can't have everything. The show is A Man of No Importance. The piece may not be of importance either, but I learned some stuff. It had a value for me.

What Do the Simple Folk Do?

2011-03-30T06:39:00.000-07:00

I'd venture to guess that most musicals are sung by human beings. The temptation to design close-ups of characters belting songs gnaws on me with every image. I'm afraid I'm getting a bit repetitive with my imagery. Sometimes it feels appropriate to focus on one or two characters, and sometimes I'm not anxious to give myself a two hour headache by designing the huge, and wonderful, production number. I avoid the large scale, and that is not to my credit. With a wide angle view there's so much to juggle and I don't have a lot of time for details. And once you add in a little bit of detail, the lack of detail elsewhere becomes very, very apparent. Still, I'm here to learn and, thus, I'm making a concerted effort to push further.

Camelot focuses on the love triangle between Guinivere, Arthur and Lancelot. The royals have saddled themselves with a lot of drama, and they just can't help but wonder about, and pine after, a simpler, poorer life. Don't we all?

Around the World

2011-03-23T05:21:00.000-07:00

I have a special connection to Grey Gardens. Not only is it one of my favorite films of all time, but I saw this show under distressing circumstances. After a surprise ice storm, and a miserable 17 hours at JFK airport, I was trapped in NY after a conference for an extra three days. Sure, sure. New York is beautiful, and who minds staying longer, right? But it's expensive. I'd been meaning to see Grey Gardens, but feared it might not be all that good. On my first extra night, I had the choice to leave the city for Philadelphia, in hopes of an easier flight out there, sooner, or attend the show and take my chances with the reservation I'd made for a few days later. I stayed, and it was one of the best evenings of theater ever. I had fantastic seats, an enjoyable conversation, and internal tension that did nothing but enhance the drama of the show. No regrets.

Grey Gardens follows the aristocratic Beales, cousins of Jackie O, and their financial descent into squalor. The documentary does a better job of showing how lovable Big and Little Edie are. But the show is worthy of attention too.

It's Been a Long Day

2011-03-23T05:10:00.000-07:00

For How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying I was looking for a very cartoonish feel. In fact, I think I harkened back to my earlier Superman painting, since the shows come from the same era. I wish I'd gotten a brighter combination of colors, as it would be appropriate, but on the whole, I'm pleased here. The figures aren't quite married into the environment yet, but 20 minutes and that would have happened. I was playing around with quick key commands and basic geometric tools. Fun two hours!

It's Been a Long Day comes at the end of J Pierrepont Finch's first day of climbing up the corporate ladder. On the elevator down, he and an office secretary, Rosemary, pretend not to be interested in one another. They're courting, despite reservations, and the song describes what is said vs. what is meant.

I've Got a Lot of Livin' to Do

2011-03-23T05:01:00.000-07:00

Conrad Birdie is musical theater's answer to the Elvis Presley phenomenon. Rock and/or Roll is sweeping the nation in the 60s and teenage girls are going crazy with excitement. As a PR stunt, one lucky girl will be kissed on air at the Ed Sullivan Show. Bye Bye Birdie is light, fun and candy coated. It was also Dick Van Dyke's introduction to mainstream limelight.

I'm still working at pushing in color within color. I was hoping for a simple approach this day and left the background ambiguous. Some of the characters in the foreground probably should have had a little more reflected light instead of being silhouetted out completely. There actually is a little modeling in there if you look closely, but I adjusted values at the last minute, and much of that was lost. I still like some of the looseness of the figures here. And though it's not quite working, The green in his shadows is more of what I hope to push for.

He Calls My Name

2011-03-23T04:53:00.000-07:00

Leo Frank, a Northern jewish man living as an outsider in the South, is accused of killing and raping one of his young factory girls. In flashback, during one of the other girls' testimony, we see the evil he was accused of perpetrating. Other employees claim he used to stand around, lear, and call them into his office one by one. He's painted as a demon, but as the show progresses, we learn that the testimony isn't true. The story, however, is, and in real life Leo Frank went to prison. He stayed there until a strong wind from the North set him free. Horrified, and in contrast to the evidence in favor of his innocence, he was lynched and killed anyway.

Perfect subject matter for a musical, right? Jason Robert Brown is fantastic, and I hope he has the opportunity to get more shows seen. 13, The Last Five Years, soon The Bridges of Madison County, and this, Parade. Cross your fingers for more success.

Here in Eden

2011-03-23T04:36:00.000-07:00

The Apple Tree comes to you from the same team that created Fiddler on the Roof. It's a three storied play with the first section an adaptation of Mark Twain's Adam and Eve. It moves into a musicalized version of The Lady or the Tiger? before presenting Passionella, an update of Cinderella. If, within yourself, you even detect the tiniest whiff of curiosity about Barbara Harris as a musical performer, check this out. She's brilliant.

I was trying something new this go-round. Usually I work in black and white before pushing the image into color, but this time I started everything out in a simple blue. I don't know that it helped or hurt much. Naked human beings take time to paint, and happily I got to push in some color I've not played with since college. Overall, the effect is still a bit gray and unrefined, but it could still make a fun painting later. Ten more minutes and I'd have broken out the 'saturate' sponge tool. I'd feel better about it if I had.

I've Gotta Crow

2011-03-18T05:42:00.000-07:00

My sleep schedule often gets kicked off kilter. I'm a night owl, but the rest of the world just won't agree with me. When I decided to do an illustration a day, I got confused as to what a 'day' might mean. Some of my days are super long--30 hours or more. Some of my days, because of the lack of sleep, are much shorter. To help off-set that, I did half of this illustration on the days I completed other illustrations. I plan to do at least one more with this setup.

BUT... because I didn't warm up at all with drawing first, the painting quality here is rough. Those are some scary Darling children. I'm actually a little afraid Wendy might eat me. The overall values are a relief, tho. I was working hard to save that the last ten minutes of painting. I have to admit that 'two hours tops' sometimes works out to 'two hours, ten minutes tops'. I try to stop, but I get lost in a painting and forget. I do force myself before it gets too late. Two hours, twenty minutes wouldn't have hurt Peter Pan much.

The Phantom of the Opera

2011-03-18T05:31:00.000-07:00

I've loved musicals since I was very young. I think I was first introduced to showtunes through The Muppet Show. I was taken to community theater productions of Cinderella and Li'l Abner and Once Upon a Matress. Early on, I discovered the movies of Annie and the Music Man. But I didn't really start buying cast albums until I found The Phantom of the Opera.

Today, I consider the show somewhat hokey. It sounds like the 7th grade. But I did enjoy dusting off the cd before deciding on this composition--a literal memory of pictures I've seen from the production.

This was something of a turning point in my photoshop illustration as well. I hope that I'm less afraid to silhouette figures out now in favor of mood. I'd lighten the highlights a touch, yet. But I like the theatrical quality here. That's what I was fighting for. The movie version of the show stripped the story of its magic. This is a musical made to stay on stage. And boy howdy, has it. It's still running on Broadway more than 20 years later!

Yes

2011-03-18T05:20:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts of doing this project is rediscovering musicals I haven't listened to in ages. I forgot how much I enjoyed A New Brain. This is not a well known musical, and this is not the tune from the show most people would pick. In the production, a composer, working for the kid's show 'Mr Bungee', has to draft a song about saying "Yes" for a tyrannical boss in a frog suit. The writer is about to undergo brain surgery and is desperate to create something important people will remember once he's gone. The song, written for kids, devolves into moral lessons about who in life you should avoid having sex with. Wildly inappropriate. William Finn, the composer, is both overrated and underrated. But I love this show. He should have more success, AND he's not as oddball as he'd like to be. I'm judgemental. On a final note, if I could be wearing that pink frog suit in the background at this very moment, I would be.

See, THAT's oddball.

Everything's Alright

2011-03-18T05:01:00.000-07:00

I'm fighting every urge in my body to open this image in photoshop and adjust the values ever so slightly. It's dark, and blogger seems to darken images even more. This was another image that crashed on me. Or, rather, it froze. Happily, I was able to take a screen shot of it, and save that for our purposes here.

Everything's Alright comes from Jesus Christ Superstar. I like the Jesus design here, and Mary Magdalene is a surprise, but Judas could stand some neck work. Perhaps he needs a smaller head. With the time constraints, we also lost a back hallway filled with out of focus apostles. I hate when that happens. Let me end by saying 'Everything's Alright' is one of the best running songs ever. It's perfect for keeping an exercised pace. Apparently the song is unusual in that it's in 5/4 time. Um...that or 4/5. Ironically, considering this project, I'm not very musical.

Defying Gravity

2011-03-18T04:53:00.000-07:00

Some days you're inspired, other days you're making marks and hoping for the best. This looks better to me now than it did at the time. It was created at the end of a long day and it started off the beginnings of an even longer night. I now wish I'd put some magic sparkle glitter in the air. I do like that the witch looks vaguely teenager-y and I'm rather pleased with her braces. The stuffed lion feels right too. Should her shoes have been silver?

Full disclosure-- I only sort of know what Wicked is about. I've read a Gregory Maguire book or two, and I've not loved them. That's why, until recently, I avoided the musicalized version. Once I gave it a listen, however, I was more impressed than I thought I would be. I've revisited the score several times. I'm under this impression that this song describes the moment Elpheba discovers she can fly. I think my witch seems to live in Halloweentown and not in Oz, but I'm not sure how to Oz it up a little. More art nouveau, maybe? Next time. After more sleep.

The Museum Song

2011-03-13T23:31:00.000-07:00

It was a week of museums as I finally made it to the Museum of Jurassic Technology. I keep raving about the experience, but I think it's so wonderful that such a weird concept could be so well executed. In its introduction, it calls out PT Barnum's famous museum as a recent example of the off-beat collection of objects. I immediately thought of this song from the show, Barnum.

The whole thing could use some polishing and adornment, but... experimentation. More ideas build from here.

Quite a lotta
Roman terra cotta
Livin' lava from the flanks of Etna
Statuary
Ride a dromedary
See the Temple tumble and the Red Sea part.

McNamara's band
The fattest lady in the land
A pickled prehistoric hand
A strand of Pocahontas' hair
Crow and Sioux
Who're going to
Be showing you
Some rowing through
A model of the rapids on the Delaware

It goes on, and happily so.

Hair

2011-03-13T23:11:00.000-07:00

Finally, a little nakedness. I've missed drawing from the model, and though none of these figures came from any particular person, it was nice to explore a clean and healthy bit of anatomy. Oh sure, it sounds pervy, but no. I promise I'm above board here.

If you like the show, I congratulate you. If you enjoy the movie, you have better taste. I recently saw a production, and what's mounted on stage is good, but much more amorphous. There's a plot in the movie--one that breaks your heart and puts the Vietnam War into perspective. The musical is a bit more salacious, and free, but less biting.

I originally wanted everyone to be slightly obscured on a flesh colored backdrop, but then I realized you couldn't do a show of this nature without some cultural diversity. A warm neutral background won.

Castle on a Cloud

2011-03-13T23:04:00.000-07:00

I've lived with Les Miserables for nearly 15 years, so it felt a little run of the mill to illustrate. Plus, my ideas felt a bit bankrupt when I started. Now I like that the clouds look like dust, and the houses seem war torn and destroyed. That's not a mess this girl can clean up alone.

Sometimes it's funny to look back at an illustration and remember what was playing in the background as you did it. I'd checked out a documentary on Gene Kelly from the library and that was running in full swing while I worked on those clouds.

I think Cosette is probably a good companion piece to Pirate Jenny. They're both sweeping and imagining. The girl hopes for beauty, the hardened woman, to kill. I've been painting a lot of mops here lately. Is it merely a good prop, or a message from the heavens to clean my floor? Perhaps I'd be wishing for another life in their position too. I'm sure I would. We all would.

Out of My Dreams

2011-03-13T22:54:00.000-07:00

Out of my dreams, and into my heart. I try and relate the showtune I work on to the day I'm living. This day I went to the Autry museum of Western...um...Culture? The long and short of it is that the exhibits were wonderful and I was desperate to think of a good western-themed show. Oklahoma was the natural. It's such a landmark in musical theater.

This isn't a scene, specifically from the show. I always remember the Dream Curly's because When Pigs Fly, a second musical, pokes fun at them. Dream Curly stands in for the actor playing Curly during the dance sequence. It's hard to find those triple threats--someone to dance, sing and act. Martha Graham got around this, when choreographing Out of My Dreams, by casting ideal dancers for this song. In someone's world, I've illustrated an ideal Curly. But I think I love the horse.

Greased Lightnin'

2011-03-13T22:42:00.000-07:00

Is anyone unfamiliar with Grease? Really. Anyone? I was all set to illustrate Beauty School Dropout when I happened across the idea of drawing out Greased Lightnin's garage. Cars are not easy to draw for me and I'm looking for a safe challenge here. Making up and cartooning a car is a beast.

Ideally, there should be about 7 kids working on this contraption, but with two hours, two characters seemed about what I could handle. I wish I'd had a better idea of who the guy standing behind the auto was, because his generic quality left him harder to finish.

From a technical point of view, I'm playing with color balance within the layers. This leaves the image looking a bit color tinted, unfortunately, but it's a quick way to build the base layer of composition. Time would improve. And will improve.

You've Got Possibilities

2011-03-08T10:28:00.000-08:00

My perspective on some of these newest images may be off. Until now, I've been writing about paintings I'd completed weeks ago. But this image, from It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman! was finished two nights ago. A reporter at the Daily Planet develops a crush on Clark Kent, in spite of his shabby taste in clothes and awkward appearance. She can tell 'there's just something underneath'. It's a wonderful song and my newest obsession. Linda Lavin performed the version I've been listening to back in the 60s. There's all this talk about the new Spiderman musical being a ridiculous idea, and Peter DeSeve did a brilliant take on the ridiculousness of a Batman musical back in the 90s. But Superman was done for an audience that grew up during the heyday of the character's popularity. And it spoofs the best aspects of the old Saturday matinee serials. Comic, ridiculous fun.

Try the Priest

2011-03-08T10:19:00.000-08:00

Sweeney Todd is pure brilliance. A murderous barber, seeking revenge for the loss of his wife and child, pairs up with a malicious baker to murder people in London and serve them in meat pies. Try the Priest is the darkly humorous song in which they come up with the idea for the savory snacks and then laugh about what people might taste like.

I prefer the original Angela Lansbury version to most any other. And that's definitely the Mrs Lovett I painted here. Sweeney has his razorblade at the ready too. In the play, and during their suppositions for this song, the characters pantomime pies. And so, while they pretend there is food in their hands, what they're really looking at is their exposed flesh--delicious and ready to be eaten. I'm pleased with this image. It may not be perfect, but there are enough surprises, both in color and in design, that an illustration like this make these efforts worth pushing further. We'll see how I feel a week from now.

A Part of Us

2011-03-08T10:08:00.000-08:00

Finding a showtune at a thrift store is something of a rarity. Not only aren't they popular, but they don't really go out of date. The people who buy them, keep them. I still listen to some of the shows I was listening to in junior high. This one, for instance, was one of my favorites during my formative years-- Once on This Island. I played the audio tape over and over. But until this weekend, after a trip to the local Goodwill, I didn't own it on cd.

Ti Moon is a peasant woman praying for something more. The gods send her forbidden love when a rich aristocrat crashes his car near her beach. She follows him to his palace and after time, discovers he has been promised to another woman. She throws herself into the ocean and the gods, taking mercy on her spirit, turn her into a tree. A tree that physically breaks down the wall between the peasants and the aristocrats. It sounds odd, but the whole story is told as a simplistic folklore fable. My tree is a bit literal, but I like its sprawl.

Willing to Ride

2011-03-08T09:54:00.000-08:00

Steel Pier is not Kander and Ebb's best known show. But I was very much in the mood to paint a ghost story, and this, aside from Carousel, was the only production I could think of that most earnestly fit the bill. Steel Pier is a mixture of the movies Always and They Shoot Horses, Don't They. Our ingenue is a ringer for a marathon dance contest, haunted by a stunt airplane pilot with only three weeks left to make up for the life he lost. Willing to Ride comes at the opening of the show and describes the life changes coming around the corner.

As for technique? I'd need another hour and different plan of attack to make that ferris wheel sing. But I like the faded color scheme, which is purposeful as I continue to experiment. Also, I was aiming for a wider scope, compositionally. I'm wanting to emphasize variety in subject matter and not just create variations on a theme.

Movin' Out

2011-03-08T09:34:00.000-08:00

The imagery is changing as my approach changes. The next several images are gaining in value composition, and lacking in color quality. I've decided to spend a little longer on painting in black and white before moving into color. Aside from that, however, I really like this piece.

I have a long and turbulent history with squirrels, and yet they still seemed a natural here. This is the first musical I'm not actually familiar with. I had been wanting to try something new, and when it came time to do this piece, Billy Joel came up casually in conversation. Movin' Out is a collection of Joel's songs strung together with a minimal plot. I must admit that I'm not a huge fan of the jukebox musicals. The idea of a rock ballet taking place underneath the band, who sings instead of the actors, strikes me as bizarre. Perhaps casting squirrels gave it depth. I've heard tell that the dancers were hot, tho. Bright eyed and bushy tailed. We'll give it that.

Mu-Cha-Cha

2011-03-07T13:44:00.000-08:00

If Racing with the Clock hadn't already won for most mistakes, this image from Bells Are Ringing would be a strong contender. Do not rely too heavily on 'color balance' and 'levels'. And if you're tired and staring at an image for too long, walk away for a minute or two. Don't power through.

The woman's is a character design that I like. And there are parts of the wall behind them I can stand. But after 8 layers of drawing, I still didn't have a good composition, and I knew it. I'd struggled mostly with wrapping the two characters together in a dance, and, having solved that problem for the most part, I neglected the setting. In Bells Are Ringing, the lead character is getting ready for the big party, learning to dance from one of her friends. He isn't a major character, and barely factors into the plot. That didn't help my interest in him. More stories to tell. Let's keep moving. Nothing to see here.

Growing Up

2011-03-07T13:36:00.000-08:00

My freshman year of college, a production of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along was mounted. It was such a dark experience and a play that hurt. The promising lives of a successful songwriting team and their writer friend unfolds backwards. Each scene is followed by the scene before it, a little like the movie Memento (only 20 years earlier). Things start out horribly wrong and get progressively better. The effect is still depressing. "Growing Up" has Gussie, the slightly aging stage star hitting hard on her married, future husband. I have her untying his tie. I wish I'd had him caressing his ringed finger, instead of pointing to the jewelry he will no longer wear, but if this is a color comp, I have my first revision. The second is that intense color blue--I was pushing for cold, but I pushed too far. The room of mirrors they're standing in was an alright idea, but as I write this, some other plans of attack occur to me.

As We Stumble Along

2011-03-07T13:23:00.000-08:00

For a short period of time, I'd wondered if I should paint every show I'd seen on Broadway in person. Then I realized that I had already painted a few out of order. I've also seen one or two I'd rather forget. The Drowsy Chaperone is a favorite, however. I don't know that it has very many great songs, but the lead character, a lonely old man keeping his inner life alive through his cherished collection of old showtunes, resonates more than I'd care to admit. Sure he's lovable, but also a bit pathetic. He introduces us to one of his favorite albums, a lost gem from the 20s, titled 'The Drowsy Chaperone'. The plot is loose and light, and running commentary comes from our host as his apartment slowly changes into the settings of the play within a play.

I like how this illustration turned out. Originally I thought I might need something more showy to describe his passion, but the vibrant record player was enough. The set up is very similar to a botched painting I learned from in college. Atonement.

Don't be the Bunny

2011-03-07T13:14:00.000-08:00

I didn't believe I'd be able to sneak any animals in clothing into this project, and Urinetown seemed hardly the most likely candidate. The show is about a dystopian universe where you have to pay exorbitant amounts of money to use the restroom. The mayor of the city sings about being the hunter, not the hunted and describes all the different types of bunnies, or suckers, there are in the world.

I like the color palette here. Paying to use a toll road of death also appealed to me, conceptually. Originally it was going to be a two way road with one lane and another car approaching through the tunnel, but then I was reminded of Mr Toad's Wild Ride. If I had it to do over, I'd add something in the foreground so that the tollbooth didn't look so stark, but on the whole, I'm pleased. I like the car and the yellow-y mountains. Urinetown was the first production I ever saw on Broadway-proper!

I Still Believe

2011-03-07T13:06:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure why some musicals age better than others. I Still Believe comes from Miss Saigon, a mega blockbuster from the early 90s. It's famous for the full scale helicopter that lands on stage. The plot is transposed onto the Vietnam war from the opera, Madam Butterfly, and in my opinion, music aside, I find this more palatable. I generally just want to shake the poor woman in Madam Butterfly and tell her to wake up!

The song comes at the point where we discover Kim, Chris' Vietnam bride still holds a torch for the soldier who flew back to the states. He's since remarried, and his new wife wants to know why her husband has nightmares about the loss of a woman who he's never mentioned when awake.

The painting was inspired by a Sweet n'Low ad I saw at a bus stop. If I had had more time to plan, the transition between the cities would have had more distinct color coordination.

I Whistle a Happy Tune

2011-03-06T15:32:00.000-08:00

As I play with the color balance in Photoshop, characters keep changing ethnicity accidently. I just go with it. This is particularly disconcerting when it involves a musical about a character from real life. Anna actually taught in the palace of the King of Siam. And she was white and English. Color blind casting--I guess there's nothing wrong with that, yes? The King and I was one of the first musicals I discovered which I did not love. The music was dated and the movie, the only version I had access to, was faded and strange-looking. I'm no fan of the Uncle Tom's Cabin ballet either. Although, remembering it now, it adds dimension with my casting choice.

Anyway, the musical AND Rodgers & Hammerstein have grown on me over the years. They have more of my respect, and a certain, simple beauty. The movie has also been restored and I think it's gorgeous now too.

Beethoven Day

2011-03-06T15:05:00.000-08:00

This is one of the riskier images I've done. I try and avoid drawing other people's characters unless I bring my own perspective to their world. I tried for that this time, but I'm afraid it just looks like I'm bad at drawing Schultz's characters. I didn't pull reference for them until the very end--I couldn't remember what Lucy and Schroeder's hairstyles looked like. I also hoped to bring some dimension into the Peanuts tradition--the musical is performed by grownups in a sparse, stylized, but very much three dimensional space. The comic strip, is purposefully very flat.

I will say that I like the color scheme that came about. And snoopy is still a pretty good, different, yet recognizable design. I'm not sure I should have given Schroeder shoulders, but you live and you learn. Beethoven Day--I just don't want to see it commercialized. You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

Pirate Jenny

2011-03-06T14:55:00.000-08:00

Pirate Jenny is a fantastic song from The Three Penny Opera. Kurt Weill wrote the original with Bertolt Brecht in German and I highly recommend, once you're familiar with the general story, to listen to it in deutsch. When I first discovered the music, I was not aware of its having been translated. I knew the music was excellent, but the words were kind of dumb. For this one reason, I now wish I spoke German.

The song is most famously sung by Lotte Lenya, Weill's wife. Jenny is a maid in an inn, tired of her work and angry with the people who abuse her. One day, she imagines, her true people, the pirates will come, rescue her and kill everyone else. This is her childish fantasy. I wanted a different color scheme for the boat and the water. I do wish I'd been able to transition the warms from the port city into the background ever so slightly. But, as a color comp, I'm pleased.

I Do Miracles

2011-03-06T14:45:00.000-08:00

Kiss of the Spiderwoman is the adaptation from a film about two prisoners in a Argentine prison. Molina has been imprisoned for being gay and Valentin is a revolutionary. To escape the horrors of his situation, Molina has delusions of Aurora, a famous movie star known for playing 'The Spider Woman'. Her kiss brings death.

You'll notice a theme running here. I was surprised again by the Spider Woman's ethnicity. And again, I think it adds an element of surprise. The prisoners, also look black to me. This is another image I like. I wish the spiderweb at the bottom of the cage were clearer, but as is, it also reminds me of a bulls eye. I'm not sure the cots were a necessary addition, but I think they emphasize the conflict. Valentin is definitely afraid of Molina.

A Little More Mascara

2011-03-06T14:37:00.000-08:00

La Cage Aux Folles is another Jerry Herman score, based on the French movie, The Bird Cage. A Little More Mascara sings of how the lead drag queen, whose name I've forgotten, deals with the harshness of life.

I have to admit, I didn't originally intend for this queen to be ethnic. I sort of think she looks black, but she also looks a little hispanic. It's unusual casting for this musical, so I kept it. Since the original production has its roots in France, perhaps she's creole. Mme. is meant to be blowing a kiss, but I think the thumb is up too high for that to make sense. I'm still working on making up hands w/o reference.

All in all, I was pleased with this illustration. She looks like she might better belong in Dream Girls, but...seal of approval here.

Ol Man River

2011-03-05T22:23:00.000-08:00

Showboat is the grandfather of all musicals. It's the first great show with a book or a plot. The Showboat is a floating circus of theater, but the ex-slaves who work below decks are less than enamoured. Time keeps rolling forward, and the river keeps flowing against them.

This was another painting I regarded as a failure. Looking at it now, I hate it less. I think that I forgot how painful the song 'Ol Man River' is meant to be. Instead, I was originally going for...well, I'm not sure. That's the problem. I think I wanted to see what my boat might look like--which is hardly justification enough for the picture's existance. The sky reminds me of the muddiness I used to get out of my prismacolors in high school. All in all, I'm pleased to have this one behind me. "Colorizing", for all of its benefits, has started to gray my pallette. I'm still working on that! But I did luck into a certain kind of celebratory somberness. That's a happy accident.

Ya Never Know

2011-03-05T22:09:00.000-08:00

Little Shop of Horrors is such a great show. I love Howard Ashman and all of the fairy tales he created for Disney. But it's his edge I appreciate most. Ya Never Know is the song about Seymour's success with the weird plant in the window. I wanted something dark, moody and greenhouse-ish. I sort of got it. I think I felt like this painting was going better while I was doing it than I do now. It seems far too gritty and the blacks have lost most of their detail. I am pleased with the plant's upper lip--considerable time was spent there, refining. If I'd had time, the rest of the image would at least be brought up to the same level. That said, however, I do like the overall color scheme, and I wouldn't call the experience a zero. A little more concept would make me more forgiving. This set-up seems too straight-forward. My brain seems to be calling out: Feed me.

Yes I'm dumb. :)

Little Bird, Little Bird

2011-03-05T21:58:00.000-08:00

More experimentation today. Little Bird, Little Bird is a song from Man of La Mancha that taunts our lead female character, a whore in a little inn. Don Quixote confuses her with a beautiful princess, and she's pleased for the comparison. Life is hard. The other people at the inn find the entire ordeal very funny and egg Dulcinea, as she is called by her hero, on, without mercy.

I'm still playing with colorizing the image here. For several weeks I'll continue with this practice, painting the image in black and white only before adding local color overall. Then I'll finish the painting with specifically mixed shades. I'm also pushing the color balance quite a bit--sometimes too far.

You should see the under-drawing for this one--this composition is passable for what it is, but the other might have made for a better finish. Time.

Movies Were Movies

2011-03-05T21:50:00.000-08:00

Movies Were Movies comes from Mack and Mabel. Mack Sennett, the great silent comedy movie director loves one of his earliest stars, Mabel Normand. Alas, their love cannot be. But movies were movies...when you paid a dime to escape, cheering the hero or hissing the man in the cape. It's a cute song.

Since I could play with my value system a little more, I planned to try some new tricks with color. I'd heard tell of the 'color' option on the brush menu in Photoshop, but had never tried it. I figured a mostly black and white image would be the best place to start in experimenting. This is a bit awkward, of course, but happily the plan hides some of my mistakes. The theater-goers are little more than frozen cardboard cutouts, but they're definitely sitting in reddish seats. I say's it's a go.

Moonshine Lullaby

2011-03-05T21:41:00.000-08:00

Finally, the first image I was not afraid to show someone else! Completed in the wee-hours of Valentine's Day, I sent it to my sister in lieu of a card.

Moonshine Lullaby comes from Annie Get Your Gun. While traveling on a train from show to show, Annie sings her siblings a lullaby about why their dad can't be with them-- he's busy creating moonshine behind the hill. They're together in spirit. You'll note that the smoke converges eventually.

From here on out, my values improve. That navigation bar makes a huge difference. I still bomb on occasion, but I'm no longer flying blind. Now starts my battle with color. And, of course, I'm still racing the clock. Only not Pajama Game's Racing with the clock. Thank God!

Speed Test

2011-03-04T09:43:00.000-08:00

This was a watershed moment. Halfway through painting this image, I discovered the navigation window. Oh sure, I knew it existed, but I always figured it was unnecessary and a waste of desktop space. Little did I know that it would be the key to keeping an eye on values. Evidence really can't be displayed in this image. Sure, I started implementing better placed lights and darks immediately, but here, it was an afterthought. I'd still call this image poorly organized. But I learned a lot for future images.

Thoroughly Modern Millie is vastly different from its early incarnation as a movie. The basic plot is similar, but only two or three songs remain. Millie is a modern jazz-age working woman, applying for a job as a secretary with a boss she plans to marry. He is oblivious, and his 'Speed Test' is vaguely, if innocently, sexual.

If I Were Gay

2011-03-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

After the previous night's offenses, I decided to go with subject matter more fun. I LOVE the muppets. I'm passionate and I'm obsessed with them. When Ave Q came out, I made sure not to miss it. Happily, a friend and I lucked into front row lottery seats the year it debuted. For some shows, the front row sucks--it hurts your neck and the singers might accidently spit on you. This was a great spot. As far as design goes, I tried to have the puppeteers look just a little bit more like Bert and Ernie than the puppets could--for legal reasons. These don't look like the original puppets from Ave Q either, but they'd fit the roles.

The value structure is still way off, and I think the negative space around the characters is not greatly organized, but I liked the designs and the colors well enough to continue after bombing on The Pajama Game. Rebuilding confidence.

Racing with the Clock

2011-03-04T09:09:00.000-08:00

At last we come to my benchmark for failure! If anything could have gone wrong in painting this, it did. And I don't mean computer issues. I bit off more than I could chew and tried to chew like hell. Hell is what materialized. Racing with the Clock is exactly right. Two hours to paint a factory is insane. I could do a better job today, but six characters and a room full of 'stuff' would be a headache for most anyone. The musical is The Pajama Game and the song is manic and relentless. Too much to do in too little time.

I bombed on some other images later, but this is the one I'm most embarrassed to show. What's sadder, still, is that the underlying composition isn't all that bad. I got lost in brick and lights and machines and faces and no value structure. Learning process.

Rhythm of Life

2011-03-04T08:58:00.000-08:00

Sweet Charity follows the story of a dance hall girl named Charity, desperate for another life. Ten years later and maybe Charity would have been written as a full fledged prostitute--the implication throughout the musical. She meets a nice, respectable man outside of work and he takes her to his free-spirit church. That's when the hippies sing about the rhythm of life.

The movie had Sammy Davis, Jr as the minister, and I'm sure that that influenced my casting a little. His dance pushed the design a little too close to Fame, however and Sammy's Davis-ness disappeared. I do like the design of Charity and tho I ran out of time in painting her date, as a dancehall escort, her johns were pretty anonymous.

As an image, things got a little soft and digital. But I like some of the colors happening in his skin and shirt.

Maybe

2011-03-04T08:39:00.000-08:00

Annie was the first movie musical I was obsessed with, and the first soundtrack I owned. Well, I guess we owned the Muppet Movie soundtrack, but Annie still holds a special place of distinction. Maybe is the opening song sung at the orphanage. I recently downloaded a grown adult male version and it pleases me to no end. I've limited this experiment to broadway shows, and so I should mention something about the original production. If you haven't seen 'Life After Tomorrow', you should. It interviews so many of the grown up little girls who starred in the stage production. I don't envy the hoops they had to jump through or the pain or rejection they faced just by growing up.

The setup here was made simple on purpose. I wanted to spend time on her face and not feel so rushed. This was a breather.

Love Can't Happen

2011-03-03T08:19:00.000-08:00

Grand Hotel the musical is based on Grand Hotel the movie. The lives and loves of a group of guests staying the night in a fancy Berlin hotel converge. It's a classic in cinema, and as a show it has some brilliant moments. David Carroll originated the role of the Baron and sang "Love Can't Happen". He died from AIDS-related complications trying to record the soundtrack. In fact, I believe he got sick at the studio and had to leave. One track remains, and wow. The man had a voice!

I didn't pick a specific scene from the show. I just wanted to pull in a nice character study and play with the idea of a rich hotel. I thought that perhaps the young valet could be impossibly in love with his mistress, but mostly I just liked the design. Still struggling with values and the like, here. The dogs are cute and the woman, tho wildly angled, would be fun to sculpt.

I Wish I Could Forget You

2011-03-03T07:43:00.000-08:00

Stephen Sondheim's "Passion" is underrated. Fosca is an ugly, crippled woman who is very sick and very selfish. She lives with her brother in an estate where military maneuvers are headquartered. She falls in love with a handsome commander and demands his full attention, even though he is involved in a long distance affair with a married woman. The music is incessant and lilting--dreamlike as it sweeps from one incident to the next. Many people find the show offputting, but repeated viewings help reveal its richness.

Back in school I was working on an image with several infirmed geriatric characters stuffed in a bed. The instructor kept wanting me to push my perspective and raise the mattress in two different directions. I'm not sure I've accomplished what he wanted here either, but I had fun. And about the execution? Another hour or two and It would be MUCH cleaner. I learned a lot. Not a fail.

That Old Devil Moon

2011-03-03T07:28:00.000-08:00

That Old Devil Moon is my favorite song from Finian's Rainbow-- a classic era Broadway musical about an Irish pair of immigrants stealing away to Texas with a pot of gold. They're followed by angry leprechauns, who will cease to exist if they don't recover their treasure. Wishes are made, couples are bewitched and racist southerners get their due.

Plain and simple, I wanted to paint the pot of gold buried under a tree. I was playing around more and more with 'color balance' and 'levels' in Photoshop throughout the painting process too. That truck changed positons about 5 times and I still wish it were a little larger, and darker within the frame--more of a foreground element to help give depth. I like the couple, however... and although the tiny leprechaun isn't exactly correct for the story, he still pleases me. Day 13, which this was, called for the devil. My moon should be more romantic.

You're the Top

2011-03-03T07:16:00.000-08:00

"Anything Goes" is a Cole Porter classic I've never actually seen. I equate the song 'You're the Top' with Ethel Merman and Kermit the Frog on the Muppet Show. The show takes place on a steamer ship and it is something of a farce. There are musicals I'm passionate about, and there are scores that I enjoy. This is the latter.

Here I was still trying to juggle a lot of elements without ever coming up with a cohesive whole. It's not long after this that I discovered a secret or two. At this point, I was working on about 18 different layers, which just got confusing. I was also trying to paint each image, keyed to color, individually. From that standpoint, this turned out alright. But value should win over color, and here it doesn't quite yet. I do like my "Mermanesque Reno Sweeney"...and her daft love interest makes me laugh. But they look better suited for an episode of The Love Boat.

What Did I Have That I Don't Have?

2011-03-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

Saving and saving often didn't save this image from 'On A Clear Day'. I got mired down in faces again here, losing track of the image as a whole. I also never really had a clear vision of what I hoped the drawing would be. The final results remind me of something I might have drawn in junior high. Still, these are experiments and I get to show my warts here alongside any jewels.

The story is about a woman with clairevoyant quirks undergoing hypnosis to quit smoking. While in a trance, her analyst discovers personalities from her former lives, one of whom he falls in love with. This is the song in which the patient realizes why she's been getting special attention. She wishes the doctor had fallen for her instead of the her she can not be. Heady stuff.
Okay, silly stuff. But there's some good music.

He Plays the Violin

2011-03-02T06:50:00.000-08:00

From 1776, 'He Plays the Violin' has Thomas Jefferson's new wife, after a long weekend of...ahem...honeymooning, describing to John Adams and Benjamin Franklin the ways her husband thinks and relaxes.

I got very lost in time here, but I did master the 'save and save often' mandate sent from computer heaven. I still like the composition, and I think there are some good character designs displayed too. The overall composition is too sparse, and an extra hour would have greatly affected the finish, but I'm pleased with the over-large window and tiny door no one would fit through. My favorite Maurice Sendak book is Hector Protector, because I LOVE how the queen lives in a castle too small for her. The image is not a success, but also not a failure. I bet you didn't know John Adams had cankles. See, we all learned something.

Climbing Uphill

2011-03-02T06:43:00.000-08:00

This is another image I'm so glad to have behind me. The song comes from "The Last Five Years", a two person show about a relationship. Her story runs backwards as his moves forward. They meet, briefly, in the middle. You'll notice that my composition features three people--two of whom aren't actually in the play (the two in the foreground). Again, I'm going to blame Photoshop's incessant crashing for this obvious conceptual gaffe.

Climbing Uphill describes the humiliation of auditioning. The image comes from the lines:

When I walk in the room
There's a table of men
Always men - usually gay
Who've been sitting like I have
And listening all day
To two hundred girls
Belting high as they possibly can

Be Back Soon

2011-03-02T06:29:00.000-08:00

I am quite tempted to blame this failure on the constant crashing of photoshop. And a case can be made. The next few paintings were days ripe with computer drama. What a nightmare. Also, at this stage I still hadn't figured out a great way to gauge my values. And worst of all, I didn't have a great idea for Fagen.

Oh yes, this is meant to be Fagen from Oliver! After the loss of the previous night's painting, I was hoping to keep this composition relatively simple. I also was trying for a certain kind of dark moodiness. There are parts of this character's face that actually work if you could enlarge the image to show his eyes and lips at full screen. And what a pleasant experience that would be for you! But, aside from the experience, this painting was a mis-step. If I had Oliver! to do over again, and excusing the constant crashing, Oom Pah Pah would have been a better choice.

The Wells Fargo Wagon

2011-03-02T06:17:00.000-08:00

This piece began a new headache. The song, from The Music Man, was a lot of fun. Busy, but fun. My Trouble (with a capital T) began when photoshop started crashing on me. This is the painting from which I learned to save and save often. I was at the two hour mark and poof... everything was gone. I hadn't saved in well over an hour. This is what is left. BUT it's been the experience and not the results I've savored, so... up it goes. And I don't have to re-do it.

This is an opportunity to discuss the underdrawing, however. I do not include the plans for composition into my two hours. Instead, I come up with a very loose sketch, then refine it for 8 layers. In general, this has taken about an hour and a half. I miss this painting and I'm sorry it's lost--especially the horse. But I bet my memories of it are better than its reality.

Plant a Radish

2011-03-02T06:08:00.000-08:00

Plant a Radish comes from The Fantastiks, a very sparse musical that ran off-Broadway for 40 years. Two fathers pretend to war in order to fool their children into rebelliously falling in love. This song has to do with raising children and the ways you control genetics. You plant a radish, you get a radish. You grow a child, who knows how it'll turn out to be?

This painting exhausted me. The play has virtually no scenery, but there is a constant allusion to the wall dividing each father's property. I decided that a composition full of walls would be most fun and, boy howdy, I was right--joy. But man, I had to move fast! My kingdom to redesign the dad in the middle. I had about 15 minutes remaining in order to paint both fathers and although the top dad is pretty good for the time allotted, that middle dad is compositionally awkward. Values, too were also a battle. Still, I'd do it again.

The Lonely Goatherd

2011-03-01T06:12:00.000-08:00

This song from The Sound of Music just pleases me to no end! Who doesn't like yodeling?

As I worked up this image, it was the first time I felt like I'd started a real illustration. Character, setting, composition, story--at long last I was doing more than just creating a character study.

Also, it should be noted, I learned how to mix computer color in Illustrator many years ago, and so I rely heavily on CMYK slider bars. This was a refresher course. Yes, the values are horrible--it took me a few more weeks to gain better perspective in that department, but this piece was a benchmark featuring: many characters, a full scene and a story. They probably are difficult to see, but the Maiden with 'pale pink coat' is surrounded by round little chickens I had the greatest time painting.

Open a New Window

2011-03-01T06:03:00.000-08:00

I paint to movies and Auntie Mame is on Netflix currently as an instant watch. I remember checking the Rosalind Russell movie out from my library as a kid and thinking it was the longest thing I'd ever seen in my life. I enjoyed it, and watched it twice, but I'd never seen a movie that spanned so much time in one person's life. The little boy grew up! ...completely! I was shocked.

I'm more of a Johnny-come-lately to the musical, Mame. I discovered it five or six years ago. Jerry Herman gets called to task for simple songs, but I enjoy them. They're upbeat, up tempo and brash. So is Mame.

My painting could have benefited from an extra hour. We'll call this a character study and assume Mame re-emerges in a different light.

Those Were the Good Old Days

2011-03-01T05:50:00.000-08:00

Damn Yankees. Eventually I started choosing musicals that somehow related to my day, but this image came because I LOVE the imagery in the song and it popped up on my ipod. "Yankees" is about a NY baseball fan who sells his soul to the devil in order to become a great slugger for his favorite team. He leaves his wife, his life and his home and in the end has to find a way back from purgatory. This song has the devil singing about how much he misses the great times he had at the plague and the spanish inquisition. "I was bursting with pride the day Bonnie met Clyde." Heee-larious. Well, I like it, anyway.

I got a little preoccupied with the devil's jacket and never did get that baseball stadium finished. I guess the details were in the devil (HA!).

Jubilation T. Cornpone

2011-03-01T05:39:00.000-08:00

Jubilation T Cornpone comes from L'il Abner, one of the first productions I ever saw. When I was a little kid, it was produced at our local small town community theater. I loved it. The song is about Dogpatch's town founder, a general flounderer. I believe Jebediah Springfield, from the Simpsons owes a debt to Jubilation, although I'm not familiar enough with the Abner comic strip to know if he featured prominently.
I tried a second approach in my second day of two hour paintings--layer brush strokes with lowered opacity. I managed my time better here too, finishing the full composition in values. This is something one terms as 'beginner's luck'. There are some real stinkers ahead. I still kind of like this one.

Could I Leave You

2011-03-01T05:10:00.000-08:00

This is where I started. Could I Leave You comes from Follies, a musical by Stephen Sondheim which centers on a group of geriatric performers reminiscing about their showgirl pasts and the lives they've led since. I still like this woman's face and that's where I spent the most time. I'm beginning to post these at about day 35 and I know the habits I've developed have changed, even in just one month. Much of this image was left completely undone because I had no idea what was possible in 2 hours. I still get distracted, but I can manage my time better now. I'm still figuring out how far outside the musical's setting I should travel--the characters, in the musical, are at a party. The song discusses a marriage that has soured, but the stuff they own together still ties them as one. Passionate love has died, but companionship still survives. All in all, she asks, "Could I Leave You? Yes. Will I Leave you? Guess".