Saturday, September 1, 2007

Amy Winehouse


Amy Winehouse has such descriptive features--great eyes and full lips that distinctively and uniquely curve upward at the corners, punctuated with a Monroe -- not to mention her wild mane of hair. Her back-story is a bit troubled and she's been in the news recently canceling shows while they try to make her go to rehab.

I wanted to capture her edge and accentuate her lines to create something interesting. I exaggerated the posture, giving extra sway in her back, letting her left arm hang straight down. The bold energetic strokes and color are two things I'm experimenting with at the moment, and I think they compliment her.

After doing the monotone "underpainting" with acrylic, I take the art into the computer where I adjust my tones, apply color, and refine detail. This process lets me hang on to the spontaneity of the underpainting and affords me the ability to experiment with anything--color, tone, texture--without fear of losing any of that energy and spontaneity. I think it's a process that's added a dimension to my work, provided me greater flexibility, and allowed me to complete my illustrations quicker. This piece was uncommissioned.

Maybe the best quote I've heard so far about her Back to Black album, from itunes:

"This album is so good it makes me want to punch somebody."

(an AMAZING song)


face detail

2 comments:

try-harder- said...

I really like you work, the bold colours and lines work so well, and the fact that you use a modern style aswel as a traditional one. I'm searching for artist to use in my uni work and I just thought you would like to know im going to use you as one of them. Thank you for inspiring me.

Allan Burch said...

try-harder -- Thank you for your comment. I'm glad I could be of inspiration to you. Best of luck with your uni work.