This collage painting commission of Christian Bale as Dr. Michael Burry in ‘The Big Short’ represents a highly collaborative work between yours truly, and collector Thane Stenner. Our 40″X40″ canvas illustrates the thoughts, ideals and predictions of Mr. Stenner… essentially, he played the poet, and I executed his poem — visually.
If you’d like to see the entire process transpire in just over a minute… this video will deliver the goods. And now… for a deep-dive…
Our source image was bold… in tight, larger than life… the ear piece was a must… drowning outside influence for clarity of thought is paramount in Dr. Burry’s process.
It took us four rounds of headline and image revisions… but it was totally worth it. Ultimately, this became a passionate work of poetry, written by Thane Stenner…
Red background, red eyes… the darkest darks and off we go.
Working the secondary shadows next… the cheekbones became a major player in this painting. I continually squinted at the work, to ensure the composition worked dynamically in abstract.
Two more rounds of tones…
Somehow, I ended up with a purple hue… here, I realized it was time to modify the background and address the highlights.
Our initial idea of money green would change… but this shift was critical in identifying the appropriate skin tones.
Striking contrast with light.
From there, I was able to work backward, back into the shadows… a ‘reverse commute’ of sorts.
With, a wash over the hair, and the white of the eyes addressed… it was time to make some decisions. Oh, yes, this painting isn’t freestanding — not pictured, Coraline is serving as a beautiful human easel.
A major move… the blue background really brought this piece together (good idea Thane).
And here is the final work… you’ll notice in the picture immediately above, the colors feel completely different in direct sunlight. This is the beauty of art… ever shifting with the world around it. Thank you Thane! It was amazing working with you on this. And…
Added bonus? We recorded a detailed, behind-the-scenes video… coming to a theater near you, Winter 2016!
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