Specializing in detailed pencil illustrations and watercolor paintings of people, pets and places. To “Consider An Original” contact willstom01@gmail.com for current pricing.

Friday, April 26, 2019

No. 437: Putting Jamie Lee Together

Jamie Lee Curtis by Tom Wills, pencil, April 2019.
Sometimes I take a break from drawing dogs and cats to keep in practice for drawing people. Usually that means a musician of some note, but occasionally it's just a figure that catches my eye.


These now include Jamie Lee Curtis, Elizabeth Taylor, Barbara Eden, Patsy Cline, Judy Garland, three Marilyns and a barely-dressed woman over my drawing table -- 45 rpm records stategically placed to keep it Rated PG.


Interestingly, most of these pieces have sold, and were purchased by women.
I wasn't going to write about Jamie Lee Curtis, planning to put the picture up on Facebook and that's that. But it turns out that I really like this image.


Jamie Lee has a body, and a body of work.  We met her first as scream queen Laurie Strode in the Halloween horror films. There have been awards fore Trading Places, A Fish Called Wanda and True Lies. My kids and I loved her with Arnold Schwarzenegger. And there are many more awards and nominations.


A daughter of film stars Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, she’s also a writer of acclaimed children's books, and quite a philanthropist.  An inventor -- who also washes her own car.


Younger people may know her as the comfy Activia probiotic yogurt lady, and her role with the product makes perfect sense considering how she’s embraced the gray and avoided plastic surgery.


She told Good Housekeeping in 2018:  “I don’t know if men wake up, look in the mirror and hate themselves. Most women do. So I have a big secret: I don’t look in the mirror. I’m a 60-year-old woman. I am not going to look the same as I used to, and I don’t want to be confronted by that every day! When I get out of the shower, I have a choice: I can dry myself off looking in the mirror, or I can dry myself off with my back to it. I turn my back to the mirror, and I feel great! I don’t want women to hate themselves, because I think women are extraordinary.”


Here's a peek at the drawing as it came to life. I paid particular attention to the various blacks and grays in the dress. Five pencils were broken during the making of this piece. They just don't make 'em like they used to!