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By now you all should know that I'm a sucker for a reference with dramatic lighting, so you can imagine my delight with this one. So many photos from events like this one are either poorly lit potato quality pixels distorted by the phone being tilted at an angle to the subject, or they're so well lit by the flash from a proper camera that they end up feeling flat. It's unusual to find lighting this dramatic even in a portrait shoot of him these days, and I'm almost certain it was simply a happy accident, one where the photographer had the presence of mind & skill to snap this and have it work even though the flash very clearly didn't go. Double and triple serendipity!
In addition to the drama of the lighting there's the drama of Adam's features, heightened by how lean he was at that point in time, playing the sinewy Henry McHenry in "Annette" and embodying the scentaur for Burberry's Hero commercial. The swell of his cheekbones is even more prominent than usual, the sleek padding of buccal fat below them absent, making the folds in the skin from his dimples even more prominent, and the razor sharpness of his jawline is evident even when obscured by shadow.
Favorite little details I found while painting this one include the creases of his crow's feet fanning across the swell of his cheekbone, as well as the small scars on his cheeks, just below, that are highlighted by the angle of the lighting. There's a shadow from a hollow just under the cartilage at the bridge of his nose, another indicator of just how lean he was then. And, of course, there's the shy peek of the shell of his left ear between the strands of his hair.
Photo used for reference was taken on 7 Sep 2019 by Ryan Emberly at the Hollywood Reporter party at TIFF 2019.
About 5 hrs of painting time. It's nice to know that, even though a lot of my pieces take a long time, I can, in fact, actually get something done quickly, now and then.
In addition to the drama of the lighting there's the drama of Adam's features, heightened by how lean he was at that point in time, playing the sinewy Henry McHenry in "Annette" and embodying the scentaur for Burberry's Hero commercial. The swell of his cheekbones is even more prominent than usual, the sleek padding of buccal fat below them absent, making the folds in the skin from his dimples even more prominent, and the razor sharpness of his jawline is evident even when obscured by shadow.
Favorite little details I found while painting this one include the creases of his crow's feet fanning across the swell of his cheekbone, as well as the small scars on his cheeks, just below, that are highlighted by the angle of the lighting. There's a shadow from a hollow just under the cartilage at the bridge of his nose, another indicator of just how lean he was then. And, of course, there's the shy peek of the shell of his left ear between the strands of his hair.
Photo used for reference was taken on 7 Sep 2019 by Ryan Emberly at the Hollywood Reporter party at TIFF 2019.
About 5 hrs of painting time. It's nice to know that, even though a lot of my pieces take a long time, I can, in fact, actually get something done quickly, now and then.
