Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Barrie




J.M Barrie... 1860 - 1937 ... Scottish journalist, playwright, novelist and dramatist...

...his father, a handloom weaver... his mother, the daughter of a stonemason...
...Barrie was 9th of 10 children...

..........Exploring the eye.......




...He became world famous with his play "PETER PAN"... 1904..... and the narrative story ... 1911... an exciting adventure and exploration of growing up....... originally called Peter and Wendy... the magical world of Peter Pan had also been presented in Barrie's The Little White Bird... 1902...

....interesting to note... Barrie stopped growing when he reached five feet in height, he suffered migraines and rarely smiled...

........Exploring facial composition..............





...He appealed to both adults and children... adults for the symbolic sub-text... children for the ripping good story...

........Examining an ear........




He was made a Baronet in 1913.... Sir James Matthew Barrie received the order of Merit in 1922... He was elected Lord Rector of St. Andrew's University and in 1930 Chancellor of Edinburgh University..


"When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies." (from Peter Pan)


I worked this in watercolor, india ink, colored inks... with brushes and crow quill dip pen...

approx. 4" x 6" on CP 140 lb WC paper

9 comments:

Jazz said...

Wow. Damn you're talented!

Ruth said...

This may be my favorite work of yours. I am a sucker for old illustrators, like Arthur Rackham. The media of pen and ink, with subtle washes of watercolor, just take me into another time, and that in turn takes me into the fantasy world they illustrate. So this is just a perfect rendition of a story teller from another time. That ear!!! I agree with Jazz, you are incredibly talented, Gwen.

And the story you told here, the bits of him that you shared. The first outburst of laughter, after knowing he rarely smiled, with the headaches. Oh my goodness, to translate his own experience into the legacy he did astonishes me.

Thank you SO much for sharing this. For drawing and painting this. It just fills me up.

sandy said...

That is SOOOOO good. And love the mediums you used with this. I agree with Ruth, my favorite!!

sandy

Anonymous said...

I so love your art. I really do....

Anet said...

This is fantastic, the details are amazing!
I love to learn... Thanks Gwen.

Sharon said...

I just love the quote about the laughter breaking into fairies! And ditto on everything everyone has said about the painting, especially so since portraits (to me) are about the hardest thing to render.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Ruth to ever be as good as Arthur Rackham would be a dream come true... Oh to have all the time to practice that one would need.. that would be a dream come true... Thank you so much for describing your thoughts.. I really appreciate them...
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Sandy, Asti, Anet and Jazz... that is so kind of you to leave me a comment on my work... you are all so encouraging
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Thank you Sharon.. when I read that visual quote about the babies laugh... it made me smile and the second and third time, it did too...
He had a way with words!!

Anonymous said...

You mean he didn't look like Johnny Depp?

It's an extraordinary portrait, Gwen.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Thank you mamaS... But I have to admit... I don't watch many movies...and I wasn't familiar with this one till I looked it up on wikipedia!.. I didn't even realize Depp played Barrie...

how's that for being a hermit and being out of the loop!!!