If you haven't heard, Amy Winehouse passed away.I am a huge fan of her work. She injected the type of emotion into her music that I aspire to with my own art. After you read this post, look for a particular video of her singing "To Know Him is to Love Him," live in the studio. It was a heartbreaker on July 22. She was found dead on July 23rd.
Much like my Lady Gaga piece, seen elsewhere on this blog, I wanted to paint her as an individual, like anyone you might see on the street. Someone you, the viewer can relate to, rather than a celebrity who lives on another plane of reality from you and me.
There are the hallmarks, present, that make her Amy, such as the dramatic eye treatment, tattoos, monroe, and mane of hair, but it's also just a beautiful human face, not far removed from you or someone you know.
I felt black and white was an appropriate palette, for its starkness and the way it forces one to consider the forms and marks without the added variable of color.
Plus, her style was very noir, dark, and moody. I thought black and white would reflect this, nicely.
A portrait of Amy wouldn't be complete without alluding to her troubled ways. I chose to do this through a sense of raw energy as well as fragility within the brush strokes.
A distant look in her eye rounds out the story.
RIP, Amy.
Allan Burch is an award-winning illustrator and portrait artist, providing solutions for editorial, book, advertising, and institutional projects.
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