Done! If I were a Better Person, I would keep on trying, but OMG, my eyes are swimming.
There are some problems (the sword blade is at the wrong angle!), but I chose the photo recreation with the emotion in Judith's stance that I like best.
She's unnamed in the original story, but by tradition, Abra is the name of Judith's maidservant and helper. "Abra" is Latin for maid.
Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head of Holofornes
BELOW: On the left, Oil painting by Artemisia Gentileschi, Italy, c. 1623-35, view it at the DIA.
On the right, another girlette version, where you can see the sword. Abra is better too-–her colors!
But in my first version (above), I see Judith start with alarm––"What's that?"–– rather than cocking her head to listen––"Do I hear something?"–– in my second (below), and that's the most important thing.
Also, the draperies and Judith's hair ornament show up better in the first.
I didn't use the Edith Mode (Edith Head) doll for Holofernes's head after all. She introduced an element of humor that, in the end, I didn't want. I think any toy would have added some unwelcome cuteness or discomfort.
Instead, I used a black and red glass rock (I'd photographed the glass in my windows a while ago). It doesn't show much, but I figure you can fill it in, right?
The girlettes say they chopped off the head all by themselves, and won't hear otherwise. "We are heroines!"
Well, so they are. But there are some things girlettes just cannot do, not being fully articulated.
This recreation took longer than any others, but it was worth it. I like it very much.
Actually, I love it.
But the mess. The mess! I wouldn't mind, but I'm having three people over for dinner tomorrow...
That lighting!
ReplyDeleteMICHAEL: Thank you, yes--the lighting is the star of the show. I thought when I started, if I can get that right, the details won't matter so much.
ReplyDeletePerfect and fussy fiddly trying to get the girlettes to pose as if they could bend in certain ways, which they can not. Well and truly worth the work that it did take! The mess looks like a lovely place for three to feel inspired enough to take on another painting? Shove everything in a box , put under bed- my housekeeping tip of the day!
ReplyDeleteLINDA SUE: Thanks, I agree it was worth the work---and the mess.
ReplyDeleteHeh heh, thanks for the "shove it under the bed" tip.
Yes!
An artist I once knew had special "hide-a-cloths" she kept--big pretty scarves-- for the purpose of tossing over piles of Art Projects.
P.S. LINDA SUE: I am sooooo glad you played along too! You know how the girlettes are...
ReplyDeleteHow lovely.
ReplyDeleteWren is enjoying our Christmas decorations this year! I'll have to get a photo of her to show you.
I had your girlettes calendar up in my office at work, and it made me smile every time I looked at it.
Merry Christmas to you, my friend, and Happy New Year. :)
I guess that, again, Edna's comment was: "Well, I told you so, darling...
ReplyDelete.............................
... there can be only one star in the show".
JENNIFER: Hi, nice to see you! Merry Holidays to you and yours too!
ReplyDeleteTORORO: That is... EXACTLY what she said. LOL
I love this too. The lighting, as you said, is indeed the star of the show. But somehow you have created magic with those girlettes. You have created and crafted the intensity and tension of the painting with these simple dolls. You have turned them into actors in this world you have made and oh, how they shine!
ReplyDeleteMS MOON: Oh, thank you--you helped me see my re-creation with new eyes. I was thinking (and had just blogged) that it was "expectable"---
ReplyDeletebut I am not giving me and the dolls enough credit--they really DO carry "intensity and tension" in their simple forms, and that does, I admit, take some doing...
Thank you.