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It's curtain call on opening night and Adam is basking in the warm applause of the audience, eyes still a bit awash from his closing moments as Strings McCrane in "Hold On To Me Darling". His hair is showing the signs of having been flopped forward by the sincere depth of his bows, and then being flipped up and pushed back haphazardly by the fingers of Adam's right hand running through it in that gesture we all know so well, leaving a halo of flyaways and a stray lock curling forward over his left cheekbone instead of back over his ear.
There may be tears misting his eyes, but Adam is clearly happy; that smile is so wide it's pulling at the corners of his nose, widening the base and curving the tip downward a bit. He's preening under the praise being offered up by the audience, with his chin tucked a little, sternum lifted, and shoulders down; clearly he's proud of what he considers a job well done. There's a hint of exhaustion in the slant of his eyelids, but that's to be expected given that his character is in every scene of a play that ran for three hours with one intermission.
What I find so wonderful and remarkable about this moment, and the reason I chose to paint it, is how at ease he is with accepting the enthusiastic approval of the audience. In any other setting, including at the stage door, Adam accepts praise graciously but awkwardly at best; he has a tendency to deflect, diminish, or otherwise demur if given half a chance, physically rocking back or folding inward as he murmurs his sincere thank-you's.
But not during the bows! You can tell he isn't discomfited at all by the intensity of the standing ovation being given; he's standing proud, completely grounded, centered, serene, and soaking up the applause like a garden under a gentle rain.
Photo used for reference taken during the curtain call for "Hold On To Me Darling" at the Lucille Lortel Theater, by an unknown to me photographer on an unknown date, but based on other very similar photos it was almost certainly taken by John Lamperski (or someone standing immediately next to him) on 16 Oct 2024, which was the official opening night for the play.
About 25 hours of painting time for this one. I got a little lost in all the curls of his beard and the lovely texture of his neck; je ne pas regrette rien. This was painted while listening to Erik Satie's Gymnopédies & Gnossiennes, played by Stéphane Blet, on a continuous loop.
There may be tears misting his eyes, but Adam is clearly happy; that smile is so wide it's pulling at the corners of his nose, widening the base and curving the tip downward a bit. He's preening under the praise being offered up by the audience, with his chin tucked a little, sternum lifted, and shoulders down; clearly he's proud of what he considers a job well done. There's a hint of exhaustion in the slant of his eyelids, but that's to be expected given that his character is in every scene of a play that ran for three hours with one intermission.
What I find so wonderful and remarkable about this moment, and the reason I chose to paint it, is how at ease he is with accepting the enthusiastic approval of the audience. In any other setting, including at the stage door, Adam accepts praise graciously but awkwardly at best; he has a tendency to deflect, diminish, or otherwise demur if given half a chance, physically rocking back or folding inward as he murmurs his sincere thank-you's.
But not during the bows! You can tell he isn't discomfited at all by the intensity of the standing ovation being given; he's standing proud, completely grounded, centered, serene, and soaking up the applause like a garden under a gentle rain.
Photo used for reference taken during the curtain call for "Hold On To Me Darling" at the Lucille Lortel Theater, by an unknown to me photographer on an unknown date, but based on other very similar photos it was almost certainly taken by John Lamperski (or someone standing immediately next to him) on 16 Oct 2024, which was the official opening night for the play.
About 25 hours of painting time for this one. I got a little lost in all the curls of his beard and the lovely texture of his neck; je ne pas regrette rien. This was painted while listening to Erik Satie's Gymnopédies & Gnossiennes, played by Stéphane Blet, on a continuous loop.
