#adam driver art

artocello:

Adam Driver #102 (L’Uomo Vogue Jan 2016)

Adam, ears peeking, forelock swept low over an utterly smooth brow above a wide-eyed light-struck gaze, unsmiling mouth held in gentle, characteristically crooked, repose, bearded chin slightly tucked, neck framed by the upturned collar of his motorcycle jacket.

Captured staring straight at the camera, we’re captured in turn by the intensity of his gaze. Mesmerizing. 

At first blush, angles and lighting like this, where we’re looking at Adam’s face straight on with a strong light source directly in front, seem like they’d be uninteresting. But the strong foreshortened shadows cast by the flash emphasize his jawline and the tendons of his neck, even as the intense brightness flattens our perception of the depth of the set of his eyes and the height of his nose, leaving us better able to appreciate the sturdy base from which the impressive bridge of his nose juts without the distraction of the shadows his features usually cast. Add in that almost startled, wide-eyed gaze, the acute sense of him being backed up against a wall, and the compositional elegance of the sweep of that jacket collar and his shoulder, and you can consider me well hooked. 

And, of course, his irises catch that light in spectacular fashion, making his trademark intense gaze even more striking. 

Photo used for reference taken by Terry Richardson in 2015 for a January 2016 article in L'Uomo Vogue. When I started this painting, the best quality version of this photo that I’d ever been able to find was helpfully shared by @louthecuteone, but it was still pretty small and a lot of details weren’t very clear. Still, it was a compelling pose, so I decided I’d just make this an exercise in quick, unfussy painting as a way to loosen up after having spent so much careful time with the details for AD #101. But a few hours into working on this, @adamdrivercentl rocked up with a beautiful 4k version, and it was too good to resist. Being me, I switched metaphorical reference horses mid-gallop and ended up spending a bit more time than I had originally thought I would, rendering some of those spectacular details that make his face quite so extraordinary. 

About 7.5 hrs painting time. I meant it to be shorter, but je ne regrette rien.