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reflections {art}
Feb. 14th, 2021 09:36 pmI've found that it's only on the second or third time through a movie-- when I'm familiar with the characters and their arcs, and less concerned with plot-- that I can start to consciously identify other more subtle elements to the storytelling and really dig into them. The big themes I found in Paterson, about creativity, artistic identity, and finding joy in the small things of ordinary life, were easy enough to spot early on. This time I was more conscious of a visual element; reflective surfaces.
Paterson does a lot of reflecting; his poetry arises out of his reflections on what he's seen and heard. A lot of the movie is dedicated to us watching him do that, and in just about every shot where he's reflecting, there's a reflective surface-- the mirrors by his desk in the garage, above the sofa, on the wall in the dining nook, the windows of his bus, and the water in the river, to name the ones I noticed. I'm sure there's more. There's no mirror at the bar, which is unusual enough that I'm certain it was a narrative choice, but I wonder if his single glass of beer, either the glass itself or the beer in it, is his reflective surface there.
This particular moment is full of reflections. Not only is Paterson mentally reflecting on the day's events, but his eyes are physically reflecting the waterfall, itself a reflective surface. Even the light on his face is a reflection; he's sitting with his back to the sun, so his face is actually in shadow, lit only by the light bouncing off what's in front of him.
Photo used for reference was a promo photo for "Paterson" provided by TheAdamDriverFiles; this was created as a commission for their Valentine's Day event.
13 hours of drawing time, during which I listened to the original score for Paterson on repeat. Beautifully atmospheric, it has all those same reflective elements represented, with lots of reverb and a sense of echoing space, the sound of the notes being reflected instead of light.
The reference I used for this piece is one of those photos that I find hard to look away from, and it's not just that Adam is looking especially delicious in all his wet, bedraggled glory.
This is a very large man folded carefully into a small space, but he's not withdrawn or hiding. No, this pose is ENGAGED; Adam's leaning forward, chin tucked a little so that his head is in line with his spine, as opposed to relaxed to loll back a little and expose his windpipe. His impressively wide shoulders are rolled forward so that he can drape his forearms over his knees, arching his back a little, like a territorial dog or cat. That carefully neutral expression is rendered intimidating by the way he's tipped his eyes up to stare at us from under his brows. And take a look at his hands.
The left is inoffensive enough, laying gently over his right forearm, fingers tucked under his upper arm. But his right hand! Instead of the fingers being draped over his bicep, Adam has it curled into a tight fist, you can see how the muscles in his forearm are thrown into sharp relief from the tension.
Put bluntly, he looks like he's quietly thinking about how he's going to end a fight before it's even really gotten started. And that sense of subtly coiled not-quite-menace is a big part of why I don't want to look away. I'm waiting for him to blink first.
Photo used as reference was taken by Steven Klein on 1 Nov 2016 for an article in Interview magazine dated 28 Nov 2016.
13-ish hours of drawing time for this one. It took a while to render those arm hairs of his, which remind me strongly of a tiger's stripes. This was another one where I let the background grain show through by painting in black over the white of the background. I like the feel of that technique, but it is less flexible when it comes to making adjustments down the line. I decided that discretion was the better part of valor when it came to those arm hairs and used my resources by putting them on a separate layer where my fussing and smudging of them wouldn't affect all the hard work I did on getting his hands and arms to look right.
