The Cast of "Oliver"
 

I recently was involved in a project for our local theater that proved to be a wonderful promotional project for my work. I was influenced by forum member, Debra Jones, who posted her works from the cast of Much Ado. Since I live in a small town and know the director of the theater, I felt it would be a fun project. The charcoal portraits are of some of the cast members of "Oliver". I took my own photos, albeit in some difficult lighting situations, but tried to make the best of what I had to work with.

The cast finally got their costumes two weeks before opening night so I did all of the portraits in less than two weeks including my own matting, framing and hanging the show (this is where my lovely husband earned alot of brownie points for his help!). It was a marathon of long days and nights drawing, drawing and redrawing to capture the likenesses.

I sold three of the pieces and have been contacted by several people who saw the show and already recieved commissions for an oil portrait and a mural. I had brochures on display featuring my work.

There were 900 tickets sold over the two weeks of the show so it was a great way to have a lot of people see my work. The theater has a nice little gallery area in their annex. This is where the tickets are sold and also where they have refreshments during intermission.

All of the pieces (except one) are 23 in x 17 in on Canson Mi-Tientes, Pearl (warm gray). They were matted with white and hung in simple black frames.

A special thank you to Debra Jones for sharing her great idea!


Cynthia

Here are a few more portraits. I must say that I have not worked in charcoal for quite some time and really fell in love with it during this project.

Cynthia,

These are fabulous, fresh and genuinely delightful to see!

I hope this continues to be a successful marketing project!

Chris,
Thank you for you comments. These certainly were a delight to draw.

Here is one more that I forgot to post.

Cynthia

PS I have been missing from the forum for quite some time due to some large, time intensive projects. I hope to catch up with everyone and post more often. It's good to be back!

Cynthia,

Wow, what a lot of hard work to finish all these--but you must have enjoyed the process. Your enthusiasm really comes through. Not only did you portray the characters well, but also you offer glimpses of the people behind the characters. Thank you for posting these and for describing how and why you took on this project. It's a treat to see these drawings!

Cynthia, these are wonderful! I have to echo what Alex said, you've really captured personality in these. I'm so glad you've sold some and gotten commissions too!

Thank you Alex and Debra. It was interesting to hang out at the theater during rehearsals and watch the characters. I took alot of photos and found consistencies in the poses and mannerisms of each person and a uniqueness in the way they held their hands or stuck out their chin, etc. I wish I could have drawn them from life but every one was pressed beyond measure to be ready for opening night. Such a flurry of activity! I was hardly able to pin them down to get a photo.

Although I work primarily from photos, I have been trying to do more studies from life. This past spring I was visiting my daughter in Colorado (I live in Pennsylvania) and we attended an open studio. It had been years since I worked from life. I returned to Co. in the summer and we took a 5 day workshop with Dan Schultz entitled "painting the clothed figure outdoors". This was through Cottonwood Artist School in Colorado Springs. Alex, you may know Dan. He recently was awarded an honorable mention in the PSOA outdoor portrait competition. Alex, a belated congratulations to you too!!

Cynthia

Beautiful!
I love charcoals and these ones are great!

Cynthia, your work is an inspiration.

How did you propose your project orally or written and what were the exact benefits you received?

Well done!

.
Ngaire,
I know the Theater Administrator because her son attended my art classes. The theater has a small gallery space and they like to find local artists or photographers to display work, preferably something that will fit with the theme of the play. In the past I displayed artwork of my school aged students for their kids summer productions. When I got the idea to do the cast I called and asked what upcoming play would be most suitable with enough cast members and good costumes. I was very fortunate for such a great cast and play as Oliver. If you are thinking about doing this I suggest that you call and schedule a meeting in person if you have never met the Administrator (or whoever is in charge). Bring a small portfolio of photos of some of your work.

Be prepared to work under a tight deadline. Typically costuming is the last priority. Even after photgraphing the cast I had to return due to some major changes in costumes plus some characters needed make up to be fully in character. That did not take place until just days before at full dress rehearsal.

I believe this was a benefical project. I recieved great exposure (approx. 900 tickets were sold). The administrator submitted an article to the newspaper with a photo of "the Artful Dodger" and info about me. I sold two of the drawings and recieved a commission for another one of the cast members.

The artworks displayed at the theater do not have price tags. This is not a sales venue per say but simply a space to showcase your art. I did have business cards and brochures on hand and also recieved a commission for a mural project as a direct result of someone seeing my brochure. I also donated 10% of my sales to the theater as a thank you.

In retrospect, I wish I would have been able to go each evening and just hang out before the show and during intermission but I had a pressing deadline for another commission I was working on. I did recieve feedback later from alot of people that word was around that the drawings were not for sale. Apparently someone that knows me was telling people that I wanted to keep them. Hmmm..... :(
I did attend one evening. It was great listening to everyones comments.

I am already scheduled to do the Dec. 2008 production of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". Oh what fun!!