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A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #6

How many times have you said to yourself, "this is a bad idea,"- then went ahead and did it anyway?
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Night and the City



Placing that call (or hitting "send").
That second drink.
Saying yes (or no).
A scheme. A move. A journey. A purchase.


How many times have our worser impulses lead us into misadventure?
This is the essence of the typical male protagonist in film noir. A guy who is presented with a choice, and even though it is a bad idea, he goes forward with his instincts, his craving, his desire, his compulsion, his desperate need, instead of what we know would be the right choice. He must live, or die, by that fateful decision.

We watch the drama unfold, unable to look away.
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©lesliepetersonsapp Backlight 38x48

Men have their own particular burden to carry. They are supposed to do, to achieve, attain, and win. But the world does not have a level playing field. Additionally, he knows that when the going gets tough, he's the one who is expected to run into the fray, stare it down and fix it. But what if it is unfixable?

The strive to win against all odds is often what motivates Antihero- or the giving up is what fuels his self-destruction.
The Homme Fatale
Not all Fatales are Femme.⁠ Any androsexual will tell you so.

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A fatal attraction to the “bad boy” is the plight of many an otherwise prudent woman. Many are compelled to “fix” or heal a wounded man.

The bad boy seems like a shiny, bright apple on the tree of life, just out of reach. Women tell themselves, “If only I could reach him, hold him, heal him. Then he would be mine.”

But this is an illusion. Another cathartic mechanism in the fantasy world of film noir.

In the real world, such men are exasperating at best- dangerous at worst.
The simple fact is, in our society, men suffer from emotional isolation and alienation. This is no cakewalk, and should not be in any way romanticized.

Yet, the figure of the bad boy, the homme fatale is as romantic as they come.

There is a type of strength that we associate with the quiet suffering we associate with masculinity. The lonely man, isolated and aloof has great dramatic and sexual appeal.
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©lesliepetersonsapp Look Out 30x24

But here we must ask the age-old question; is the catharsis we gain from art worth the messaging it perpetuates?
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©lesliepetersonsapp The Boxer 30x40

Why Noir? is a series! Read 'em all.
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A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #5


First, let us examine the word Femme.⁠ Merriam-Webster:⁠

Femme: ⁠
1. an adult female person⁠
2. a lesbian who is notably or stereotypically feminine in appearance and manner⁠

⁠Its French, you know? It comes from the French word for woman.

Next, let us examine the word Fatale.
⁠
⁠Another French word. It means "fatal”.

Merriam-Webster:
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©lesliepetersonsapp Queen of Diamonds 30x20

Fatal:
1. a. causing death
b. bringing ruin
c. causing failure

2. a. determining one's fate
b. of or relating to fate
c. resembling fate in proceeding according to a fixed sequence
Put them both together, and it becomes:

Femme Fatale:⁠
1. a seductive woman who lures men into dangerous or compromising situations⁠
2. a woman who attracts men by an aura of charm and mystery⁠


The Femme Fatale is like a fairy tale princess turned on its head. She is the anti-princess. Her nemesis.

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The word “nemesis” is often used to refer to an arch enemy or polar opposite, or, as my friend Merriam-Webster sez, “a formidable and usually victorious rival or opponent”.

But I like to think of her in astrological terms.

Astrologically, nemesis is a theoretical star that may have once been a twin star of our sun. A Femme Fatale is a mysterious dark star, a nemesis to the bright, sunny fairy tale princess of my childhood.
But if she is so evil, why do we love her so much?
Be good, be patient, look pretty and maybe the prince will come and save you. I was taught that as a girl, it was the foundation of my world view and identity. I had no examples of powerful, non-domestic women in my life. Into this vacuum stepped the only example of feminine power available to me: the Femme Fatale.
Classic film noir emerged during a time of immense social upheaval. Women had gone out into the working world during WWII, then were abruptly required to get back to the home and be nice. The Femme Fatale was an expression of this anxiety, an attempt to vilify powerful women and shame them back into the kitchen.
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Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity

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Gloria Grahame in The Big Heat

Though she is usually regarded as a destructive force of evil, in actuality she is often portrayed with layers of nuance- if you care to look. It is often clear that she is a woman who doesn’t have a lot of choices. She is trying to flip a bad situation to her advantage, perhaps turning the tables of power back on the men who use and control her. For me, the Femme Fatale is often infused with a tragic quality: a resourceful gal, just trying to make the best from a bad hand dealt.
In the course of my personal maturity, I am finding my way to a healthier embodiment of power.

It has taken most of my adult life to build up some understanding of how to be an entrepreneur, which is essentially what a professional artist is.

I’ve had a lot of catching up to do.

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©lesliepetersonsapp Blue Room 40x40

But all the while, I still rejoice in the cathartic glorification of my dark princess, the lost twin star, our nemesis, the Femme Fatale.
For Extra Credit!
A fabulous article: In Defense of Villainesses, by Sarah Gailey- so much fun!
Why Noir? is a series! Read 'em all.
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A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #4

Any artist will tell you, the key to artistic maturity is to discover one's own unique, consistent language. I seek to find a balance of representation and abstraction.

Modern Art, and design in the Modernist period dealt with this specifically.
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Italian travel poster, Mario Puppo, 1948

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Italian travel poster, Mario Puppo, 1941

While experts say Modernism died with the onslaught of WWII, I think it was a part of the cultural zeitgeist well afterwards, especially in popular culture.
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Blind Minotaur Led through the Night by Girl with Fluttering Dove, Picasso, 1935

My style is evocative of the painting and graphic arts that were contemporary with the hey-day of film noir. So, not only do I learn from films noir directly, I also love the style of the era, and let this inform the way I choose to depict the subject.
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The Little Fish, Max Beckmann, 1933

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Charles Sheeler, Canyons, 1951

Much like how I engage with the subject of film noir, I like to find the essence of what I am seeing and try to express it with forthright simplicity.
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©lesliepetersonsapp Glass Houses 30x28

Why Noir? is a series! Read 'em all.
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A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #3

Many film noir aficionados know that American film noir was born from German Expressionism,
an art movement that started at the turn of the 20th century, and encompassed painting, theater, music, literature, and the brand-new medium of film.
It sought to express emotion and subjective experience by using symbolism, exaggeration, and distortion. In painting, the elements of design were used to support a narrative.
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"M" 1931 Fritz Lang

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"The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" 1920

In cinematography, the techniques used included deep focus, extreme camera angles, dramatic lighting shone from raked angles, and chiaroscuro (which is a painterly technique developed during the Renaissance where use of deep variations of light and dark is used to enhance mood and create dramatic effect).
I consider the masters of film noir my teachers as well as my inspiration. By studying their cinematographic virtuosity, I have become a better narrative painter.

Because the noir aesthetic is so specific, I am obliged to narrow my focus and deepen my decisions, which has honed my skills.
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"Crossfire" 1947

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©lesliepetersonsapp Lamplight 40x48

I have become better at marshaling the elements of design, such as value, arrangement, and scale. I believe these skills transcend any specific style and will translate to other subjects as my creative interests evolve.
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©lesliepetersonsapp Exit 28x18

Why Noir? is a series! Read 'em all.
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A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #2

Begin the béguin
bé·guin|\ bā-gaⁿ \ noun \ bi-ˈgēn\

Definition of béguin
1. a :infatuation
2. a :a vigorous popular dance of the islands of Saint Lucia and Martinique that somewhat resembles the rumba

Etymology: American French béguine, from French béguin flirtation
How did I start my film noir obsession?
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I was in a state of transition with my art. Unsatisfied with the work I had been doing at that time, I went back to basics and started experimenting, and taking classes from Mark Andres. I was engaging in an exercise to copy a film still in the style of a painter of my choice. My choice was to do a still from The Bad and the Beautiful, in the style of the German Expressionist, Max Beckmann. I entitled it “Lana Turner Lost in the Land of Beckmann” The drama of the subject, matched with the freedom of Expressionist painting was a revelation.

I was hooked.
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©lesliepetersonsapp Fatale 30x36 Collage on panel

At first, I created my art directly from screenshots of films.  They were very altered, but from specific scenes. Gradually, the images kept getting more and more altered, until I started to create my own scenes.

Anticipate was the bridge. This was based on a scene from The Killers, but it was so altered, there would be no way to identify it as coming from that movie.
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©lesliepetersonsapp Anticipate 16x20 Collage on panel

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Blue Room was the first absolute original. I dressed myself up in costumes and took pictures of myself. From those pictures, I stitched together a scene with multiple figures, creating my own movie, as it were.
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©lesliepetersonsapp Blue Room 40x40 Collage on panel

Now ideas emerge from multiple sources. I may be inspired from a film scene or photograph, or I may want to express something from my own imagination. The people I paint are slivers of my own soul, maybe even archetypes of our collective soul.
The scenes in my artwork are presented without irony and are imbued with an immediacy which invites the viewer to step into the scene as a contemporary moment. If we could walk through the picture frame and become part of the action. If this could be possible, what would you see, and who would be there?
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©lesliepetersonsapp Miss Darger II 24x30 Acrylic on panel

Why Noir? is a series! Read 'em all.

​Entry #1: Why Noir?
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A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #1

I am an artist who is inspired by the past. As a narrative painter, I feel compelled to tell a story with my art. For a number of years now, my subject matter has been primarily based on classic film noir imagery.
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©lesliepetersonsapp Passion in the Suburbs


Since I started with this genre, I have engaged with authors, bloggers and social media groups devoted to the subject. I have found enthusiasts out there who seem to know every detail of every film noir; classic American noir, foreign noir, neo-noir- all the noir.

This level of detail and focus eludes me. My mind just doesn’t work that way.

I am an artist. Artists take input and use it as grist to generate unique output.
So, I feel I must ask myself, why noir? Why do I feel myself drawn to this imagery?

I seem compelled to tell a story with my art and create a narrative. For me, the act of telling a story is more important than the trappings of time, place and characters.


It is the essence of film noir that I am after, rather than the specific details. During the jazz age, a composer would write a song, then singers and musicians would perform their own version of it. But the structure of the song remained the same. I seek to take the elements of film noir and create my own, unique rendition.
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Peer 48x24 ©lesliepetersonsapp

Film Noir? Qu'est-ce que c'est?

The hey-day of this film genre is roughly the 1940’s and 50’s. But, the term "Film Noir" was coined by French film critics later, in the 1960’s. At the time, they were simply known as “crime pictures” inspired by American hardboiled crime fiction. They were largely “B” movies with a tight budget.

Many of them were made by European émigrés escaping the Nazis. They brought with them a grounding in what is called “German Expressionism”.

The unique and sophisticated aesthetic was not fully appreciated at the time; crime movies ran under the radar and attracted no critical praise. But the superior film making techniques have made them gain popularity over the decades.
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The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, 1920

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The techniques used include deep focus cinematography, extreme camera angles, dramatic lighting shone from raked angles, and chiaroscuro (which is a painterly technique developed during the Renaissance where use of deep variations of light and dark is used to enhance mood and create dramatic effect).
The term “noir” has since expanded to not just describe a moment in movie history, but to describe a sensibility, that can be infused into any form of expression.
Or better yet!
Check out The Film Noir Foundation, which restores films noir and shows them at their film festivals.

It's founder, the Czar of Noir, Eddie Muller, is also a host on TCM's Noir Alley, which shows films noir every Saturday night and Sunday mornings.
Why Noir? is a series! Read 'em all.
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Yes, I love archeology and ancient history.
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Whenever I want to relax, I turn on the Science Channel to watch Unearthed, or Mysteries of the Abandoned.
 
I have two magazine subscriptions (Archaeological Institute of America, and Current World Archeology) and look forward to them like a kid waiting for his Captain Midnight Secret Decoder Ring to arrive in the mail.
On my last vacation, I brought books to read and some drawing materials. One book in particular grabbed me and wouldn't let go; The Sutton Hoo Story by Martin Carver. I felt moved to produce drawings inspired by what I learned and saw.

I find myself so fascinated by archeology that, at some point, I may create an entirely new body of work. It's all very speculative, but it is very exciting for me, and I wanted to share it with you now.

What is Sutton Hoo? ⁠

It's a burial site in England, with many types of burials, from royal barrows to gallows graveyard, dating from the 6th to 7th centuries.⁠ They appear as mounds on a flat landscape, next to the River Deben.
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There is a really great movie based on a novel, both called The Dig that dramatizes the excavation of Mound 1, where some of the most impressive and beautiful artifacts ever found in Britain were discovered.

But while I like jewels and treasures, it is the dirt and bones that really intrigue me.

My first endeavor was a pencil sketch of the remains in burial Mound 17.
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Mound 17 was an un-looted burial mound whose inhabitant was buried in a tree trunk coffin (how COOL is that?) sometime between 560-650 AD.
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Among other things, there were caldrons, weapons, a comb, and the remains of a bridle. In another mound close by, his horse was interred, along with a bucket of oats.
My next sketch was of another, very different type of grave.
After the region had converted to Christianity, this sacred ground, populated with rich burial mounds for esteemed community leaders, was used as a place to execute convicted criminals. A gallows was erected on one of the mounds, and the site is littered with shallow graves of the disgraced and condemned.
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But the thing that makes it all the more more fascinating, is that there is actually no body there at all. The acidic soil of the area consumes organic material.

But the body that was once there changes the make-up of the soil, making it dark and crusty. When someone excavates it, they can carefully remove the soil around where the body once was, leaving a fragile "sand man".
It's sad, it's haunting and it's beautiful.
The last piece I produced is a pencil sketch of an idea I have brewing in the back of my brain. My impulse is to layer, somehow, images and inspirations from digs. I would like to create drawings of the finds, and layer them with schematic diagrams and maps, along with my imagined scenarios of the people and objects when they were alive and in use. I may need to learn a new medium, such as encaustic, to gain the effect I want.
This is a rough idea of what I might do. It is a composite image of things from the famous Mound 1. Below the sketch are images from the book that I have woven into the sketch.
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Mound 1 was covering a large ship. Within the hull of the ship there was a wooden burial chamber, containing a coffin and body, and many stunningly valuable grave goods. It is one of the most famous archeological finds in history.
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But, like the "sand men", the actual ship, chamber, and body have long since dissolved. But the wood of the ships hull, again, changed the make up of the sand, and what was left was a ghostly impression of a ship, along with the corroded iron rivets, in long, graceful, curving lines.

This is a photograph of Basil Brown, standing in the middle of the ship. He was the self-taught archeologist who excavated the un-looted grave in 1938.



The second image here is a schematic drawing archeologists have made, depicting what they believe the original burial chamber within the ship contained.
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The third image here is a schematic map of the area, with black dots depicting the location of various burial mounds, and the three hypothetical routes by which the mourners transported the ship from the River Deben, up the bank, to the burial site, to inter the deceased.
I'm really not sure where this is headed. It's very exciting and a little scary.
 
I will continue with my current series of art based on film noir until it feels right to commence on this new path.
 
Maybe I never will get to it, or maybe I will start next week.
 
Stay tuned.
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I'm on vacation, and I'm having a wonderful time. It's a paradise. Beautiful room, white sand beach, gorgeous view. 


And yet, I find myself having a difficult time relaxing entirely. I'm relaxing, but not completely relaxed. I find that I am suffering from a case of the "Shoulds".

Here are a list of my "Shoulds":

- I really need to take advantage of my time here!

- I should make a drawing or painting everyday.

- I should keep posting and staying engaged on social media.

- I should NOT post, and disengage completely.

- I should go I to a deep state of contemplation so I can start developing concepts and imagery for my next body of work.

- I should start collecting words and images for my next body of work.

- I should do paintings of the coastline so I can include coastal scenes in my next body of work.

- Furthermore, I should barely eat anything, so I will still feel okay in my bathing suit.

- I should drink less/more.

- I should swim in the ocean. 

- I should go for a hike/sample authentic local cuisine/learn to paddleboard...

Get the idea? So much to ponder and worry about.

I heard a while back that the word "should" can be very toxic. It is a good exercise to replace it with the word "want" and see what happens.

Actually, I have done a number of my "Shoulds", because they seemed like fun at the time.

But what have I done mostly? 

Mostly, I have gone on a deep dive into some really nerdy books on archeology. 

Yes, archeology is my way to relax. 

- I have two magazine subscriptions (World Archeology and The American Institute of Archeology Magazine).

- I am a fan of Patrick Wyman's podcast, Tides of History

- I watch archeology themed shows on TV and YouTube incessantly. (My favorite, which is not exactly about archeology, is Mysteries of the Abandoned on Discovery) 

So I'm on a geek-fest, learning about how the Proto-Indo-European language, a theoretical language that became extinct around 2500 BCE, was the root from which most of the languages spoken in the world today evolved from. 

What can I say? It's what I want to do.


A bibliography of my vacation:

Three Stones Make a Wall, by Eric H. Cline

The Horse, the Wheel, and Language, by David W. Anthony

Tales of Valhalla, by Martin and Hannah Whittock 

Beowulf, translation by Seamus Heaney

The Dig, by John Preston

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It came from Out of the Past-  from 1947, to be exact. This scene from the famous film noir inspired images in my head that I couldn't shake.

 

 

So, in April 2021, I took a video of myself in costume walking down the stairs. Then I created a large drawing from that video. From that I developed a painting... But, like many worthwhile endeavors in life, there were twists, turns, and backtracks along the way.


I love working off of colored, textured grounds. So, in early May, I got off to an interesting start by using purple watercolor and allowing it to drip down the panel.


I sized the image of the drawing in photoshop, printed it out on sheets of paper, and transferred a light image of it onto a panel. Then, using the drawing and the photographs as a reference, I started the painting.



I spent a bunch of time creating a wood grain effect on the stairs, thinking the reddish tone would enhance my purple shadows.

It became clear that something was missing. Something needed to be in the upper left of the composition... I searched about on line and found this awesome exit sign. (Here the name of the painting came into being.)

 

I also "closed up" the space, by making sure all walls, stairs and shadows were touching each other, enclosing the figure in with no way to "escape".

Break time.

This all happened from early May to late June. I set Exit aside. I worked on other projects, such as The Hanged Man and Watch.  



There may have been a beach trip or two as well...




 

 

All the while, I kept looking at Exit out of the corner of my eye... June ended... July ran its course... 

I kept thinking... this could be better. 

It's flat.

It doesn't have the glossy dark depth I had envisioned...

It needs...       blue.


Here I am, paintbrush in mouth, glazing a layer of Prussian blue over my painting. 

I also repainted the exit sign and made it larger. 

I changed her shoes from black to white. 

I even painted over the precious wood grain stairs I had worked so hard on.

Then, after all this, I realized the exit sign was no longer needed. In fact, it had become a distraction. Now that I had all my moody blues creating atmosphere, I wanted the woman to be the focus, as if a spotlight were shining on her. So, using a razor blade, I scratched it out. 

But what about my awesome exit sign? Would I have to change the title of my painting?

With a tiny scrap of red paper and a bit of tape, I was able to see where to put my lovely vintage exit sign.



As I write this, the exit sign has been redone for a FORTH time- ⁠
⁠
Will this be my final move? Is the saga of Exit over once and for all???⁠ 

Finally, finally, I believe it is done. It started in May, and ran off and on until September.

©lesliepetersonsapp Exit

We live in a world of expediency, instant gratification and digital wizardry. But along the way, there has been a growing appreciation of the slow. For example, slow foods, artisanal cheese, vintage wine, and hand-made crafts are all important social and financial movements. 

By sharing the process of my art, I hope to celebrate the slow and deliberate. Just like life, many artistic pursuits take a long and winding road. Part of what makes art, art, is that the artist takes the time to follow that road wherever it leads.

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This little book was a staple in my house, as it was in many peoples’ houses. It was a book that was used to gently, or not so gently tease me when I was small. 

 I was a very poky little puppy. 

It was an affectionate and perhaps slightly desperate attempt to get me to look up, to focus, to walk faster, and stop dawdling! The rest of my family seemed to be endlessly charging ahead, onto the next, and the next, and the next activity. 

Later in life, about 40 years of age, I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, Inattentive Type. Much of my middle age has been spent trying to manage my errant mind with new found understanding, and to making up for time lost drifting through my almost rudderless young adulthood. 

Frustrating, yes, but ADD is closely associated with having a creative mind. No one really knows why. I think it is because all that wandering brings one to unexpected shores and vistas. I heard it once described this way; if one doesn’t think linearly, (marching forward along a path), then one tends to think laterally, that is, back and forth and side to side. 

A curious feature in many folks with ADD is called “hyper-focus”. This is when my normally wandering mind suddenly gets into gear, and I become completely engrossed in one activity for long periods of time. This is what happens when I make art. 

I have come to recognize that I am a slow, deliberate artist. Each new attempt takes a long process of conceiving, sketching, drawing, transferring, painting, maybe collaging. When I am “done” with a piece, I will set it aside for weeks, months, and peer at it as it sits in the corner of my studio. I glance at it over the rim of my coffee cup, send it sidelong glances as I work with another piece. Then, often, it hits me. “It needs this…”

I will go back into the painting, and it will transform, like a make-over or a mid-life crisis. It will deepen and mature. Having that time to let it hibernate and incubate will often make a good piece into a great one. 


So it goes to show that life isn’t always about the next thing, and the next, and the next. Sometimes we need to stop and smell the strawberries. 

One such slow transformation unspooled during the creation of Exit, one of my latest pieces of art. You can read about the creation of this painting here, in The Saga of Exit.

Not seeing what you're looking for? My previous blog on blogspot can be found HERE.