Movies move people in much the same way as artwork. They are personal and create very strong impressions and associations in our memories. If you talk to a new acquaintance about his or her favorite movies you can find out a lot about that person. So I thought it would be interesting to create some artwork based on some of my favorite movies. I have special memories associated with them and that usually translate into good artwork. I guess that these are my equivalent of fan art.
In the Mood for Love (Watercolor, 2017)
The first artwork I created was a very impressionist style watercolor based on a scene from the Hong Kong movie "In the Mood for Love" (2000). The movie was visually breathtaking and the main character's numerous gorgeous Chinese style dresses were truly memorable. Really, her dresses qualify as characters in themselves. The mood of the movie itself was melancholy and definitely no Hollywood happy ending. Still, even after all these years it is one I would recommend to people who like visually beautiful movies.
Strictly Ballroom (Watercolor and pen, 2017)
Strictly Ballroom work in progress
The second artwork I created based on a movie was the Australian movie "Strictly Ballroom" (1992). It was an unusual movie and gained some cult following over the years. I saw this movie when I was a young teenager and really fell in love with the idea of learning ballroom dancing. Later in college I did take ballroom dancing and swing dancing lessons. I was good but never got into competitions like in the movie. I always thought Fran was wonderful because she was brave enough to step outside her comfort zone. The scene where they practiced their dance in front of the giant Coca-Cola sign was again visually memorable, so that was the scene I based my watercolor on. I liked the micron line drawing I did first. The watercolor turned out all right, but I think the line drawing in itself was more striking. Artwork can be like that, sometimes too much work can detract from the finished work. But overall I enjoyed creating this piece, and to me I will always remember watching the movie for the first time and being mesmerized by all the dancing and crazy costumes.
Arrival (Pen, 2017)
And in honor of the Oscars I did an image related to the only nominated best picture movie I saw in the theater this year: "Arrival." I chose to do a micron pen drawing as the photo reference I used had strong contrast and I felt a more stylized approach would be interesting. As for the movie itself I was moved by the deeper meaning within the story, and it raised some strong questions regarding mortality that I am still pondering. Basically it was much more meaningful than your average alien movie. Hopefully next year I will get out more and actually get to see more Oscar nominated movies in the theater.
I may do a few more movie based artwork in the future. Possible choices: "Lost in Translation" and "Bridget Jones's Diary" (please don't judge me for my silly chick flick choices). Do you have any favorites movies that you would watch over and over again?