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Left to its own devices, Adam's facial expression tends to default to "forbidding." It's especially true when he's really deep in thought or listening to someone very intently; he stops putting any energy into the blandly pleasant public persona he puts on to deal with other people, and THIS happens. I call it his "resting Hades face."
(For what it's worth, I don't think it's an indicator of his temperament, per se; some of the sweetest women I know have terrifyingly severe resting bitch face.)
This is not, for lack of a better description, his public face. Sure, he's IN public, backstage at the 2019 NYFF, waiting to head out front for the Marriage Story Q&A, but it looks like he's momentarily lost in his own world. It's absolutely a thinking face, but whatever thoughts he's having are completely shuttered behind those half closed eyes, his facial muscles completely relaxed.
You might be tempted to say he's smiling, since we can see the valleys of his dimples, but his lips are in a neutral curve, and the corners of his mouth are in line with the crease at the base of his nostrils, not pulled back at all. This was fall 2019, when he was so very lean for his role as Henry in "Annette"; without the more usual fullness in his cheeks the folds and smile lines that time is slowly etching into his face are more prominent. Add the angle of the lighting, as well as the fact that we're viewing him in profile, and the topography of his face is exceptionally exaggerated.
Photo used for reference taken by Julie Cunnah on 3 Oct 2019 backstage at the NYFF Marriage Story Q&A.
9 hours of drawing time.
Ironically, PangeaStarseed and I had just settled on each painting this reference of Adam, in all of his Henry-esque glory, in our own style when we got walloped by the wonderful surprise of the release of "Annette" trailer. That promptly derailed me into TWO vividly colored portraits of the energetic but enigmatic Henry, which weirdly mirrored the colors present in this photo. The lessons I learned in painting those had direct implications for the techniques I used in this one, which was a lovely bit of synchronicity.
(For what it's worth, I don't think it's an indicator of his temperament, per se; some of the sweetest women I know have terrifyingly severe resting bitch face.)
This is not, for lack of a better description, his public face. Sure, he's IN public, backstage at the 2019 NYFF, waiting to head out front for the Marriage Story Q&A, but it looks like he's momentarily lost in his own world. It's absolutely a thinking face, but whatever thoughts he's having are completely shuttered behind those half closed eyes, his facial muscles completely relaxed.
You might be tempted to say he's smiling, since we can see the valleys of his dimples, but his lips are in a neutral curve, and the corners of his mouth are in line with the crease at the base of his nostrils, not pulled back at all. This was fall 2019, when he was so very lean for his role as Henry in "Annette"; without the more usual fullness in his cheeks the folds and smile lines that time is slowly etching into his face are more prominent. Add the angle of the lighting, as well as the fact that we're viewing him in profile, and the topography of his face is exceptionally exaggerated.
Photo used for reference taken by Julie Cunnah on 3 Oct 2019 backstage at the NYFF Marriage Story Q&A.
9 hours of drawing time.
Ironically, PangeaStarseed and I had just settled on each painting this reference of Adam, in all of his Henry-esque glory, in our own style when we got walloped by the wonderful surprise of the release of "Annette" trailer. That promptly derailed me into TWO vividly colored portraits of the energetic but enigmatic Henry, which weirdly mirrored the colors present in this photo. The lessons I learned in painting those had direct implications for the techniques I used in this one, which was a lovely bit of synchronicity.
