The Saddest Music in the World

This piece was created as a gift for one of my friends after we watched Guy Maddin's 2003 film The Saddest Music in the World, one of my personal favorites. I decided to capture one of my favorite moments from the film, where Isabella Rossellini's double amputee character is gifted prosthetic glass legs filled with beer.

I painted most of this with watercolor and gouache, but to capture the glisten of beer I experimented with gold leaf for the very first time! I love how much it pops against the rest of the image.

Overall, this is one of my favorite pieces I've ever created! It was very challenging to capture the life and joy in Isabella's face from this angle, but with some patience I was able to get exactly the expression I wanted.