Alanna

My third gouache is another singer tribute — this time, to Alanna Quinn-Broadus, vocalist for the band Alanna Royale. I decided on a different approach for this one, because the lighting on my reference pic was very bright. This washed out much of the photo. so that there was very little in the way of forms being modelled by colour and shade. Instead, it was largely flat shapes defined by contour, with a few linear details. But I particularly liked the contours in that pic, which is why I chose it as my reference anyway. So I kept the painting small, forcing me to streamline those details, and emphasized the flat graphic-arts nature of gouache: converting the background to a flat black shape and stylizing the hair, in a manner which I admit makes it rather similar to my cartooning work.

Once again, I didn't manage to nail a photographic likeness, but I think as a graphic work in and of itself, it holds up not too bad.



UPDATE: I also posted this to my Instagram... and received a comment on it from Alanna herself:

OH. MY. GOD. i am BEYOND impressed and honored you would pick up a brush with my face in mind. i truly love this. may i share?

How swell is that?

underdog albums

I am a fan of numerous movements and eras in rock music, but I recently noticed an oddity about my fandom:

Each movement has its major figures, innovators and leaders, and landmark albums. But, very often, my personal fave album in the movement is a more obscure one by a lesser light. Just something about that particular collection of consistently good songs and performances that speaks to me more — it happens more often than I'd expect.

British Invasion
Major figures would include The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and The Who. But my fave British Invasion album is Shake Some Action by Flamin' Groovies.

punk
Major figures would include The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, and The Clash. But my fave punk album is (I'm) Stranded by The Saints.

Madchester
Major figures would include The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets, and The Charlatans. But my fave Madchester album is the self-titled debut by Ocean Colour Scene.

shoegaze
Major figures would include My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and Slowdive. But my fave shoegaze album is Against Perfection by Adorable.

Britpop
Major figures would include Suede, Blur, Oasis, and Pulp. But my fave Britpop album is the self-titled debut by Rialto.

Go figure, eh?