prince of players and paper dolls ~

[lookingland]

i don't understand why no one's made a movie about Edwin Booth. maybe that's a good thing knowing the tendency to turn amazing historical stories into rubbish, but i think America has enough perspective at this point (and enough talent and technology) to do it up right. and what a story! maybe it's just too depressing. i admit i get depressed when i think about him. but so far as pathos goes, his life's got it all: deep dark tragedy, true love, lost love, fame, fortune, dereliction and despair.

anyway, i drew this for a project i am working on that has nothing to do with anything else that i have been working on, but which may actually be an actual submission to actual people. scary, that. we'll see. if i can finish it this weekend, i will share more. there's a july 31st deadline and i am notoriously slow at these things sometimes.

the painting is by j.s. sargent and was done in 1890. for my own picture, i made booth younger and gave him his "Hamlet" hair (and will draw a Hamlet costume to go with this), though the hair is not as long as he occasionally kept it. i am still working on the face, etc., so i may yet lengthen the hair.

ComicCon stuff is finally officially all done (whoohoo!!!).

Dark Knight tomorrow. can't wait!

happy thursday all!

Comments

[gwyn-hwyfar.livejournal.com]

Those Booth men had such pretty eyes. I don't know much about the family other than that they were artistic and troubled and lived in Maryland.

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

their eyes were prolly their best features. funny how standards of beauty change over the ages. Edwin seemed an upright sort of guy (when he wasn't falling down drunk). he certainly seemed to have inherited the better parts of his mother and lesser crazy of his father.

if you ever have time or interest, check out Kimmel's Mad Booths of Maryland</> ~ theirs is an inneresting story indeed.

[bachsoprano.livejournal.com]

A submission???

Yay for that! *eyeballs ready and waiting, should they be required*

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

well don't get too excited, it's not a writing submission, alas.

: o p

nevertheless thank you for the eyeballs!

[bachsoprano.livejournal.com]

Not a writing submission? That's intriguing...

Sharesies?

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

mebbe!

hahahahahaha ~ it's no biggie. if i finish it this week, i will tell all.

: D

[jdalton.livejournal.com]

But a submission for what, pray tell? Hmm.

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

it's a secret!

well, not really, but since i haven't decided to actually submit, i thought i would wait to see whether i finish the darn thing first (thereby actually having something for said submission).

: o p

[faynudibranch.livejournal.com]

Your Edwin Booth is beautiful. I could already tell that you'd shifted his age down, before I read what you wrote, so you must have done it right ^^.

I think there was a movie, based off of Ruggles' stupid book, but I could be wrong.

[faynudibranch.livejournal.com]

yeah, here it is:
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E03E4D9123AE53BBC4A52DFB766838E649EDE

Richard Burton. I'd forgotten. I've never seen it.
Alas the review is to interested in its...colorful...language to be very convincing.

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

hahahaha ~ well, i can't imagine it was very good (consider the source and the era it was made).

: D

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

thank you!

you're right about the movie. i looked it up afterwords. it looks perfectly wretched (as expected). it's out of print though (maybe for good reasons).

i still think they ought to take a fresh approach to it.

p.s. this project was almost edwin and adam playing dress-up (from badeau's account), but i managed to restrain myself.

: D