Fine Art

White on Black

ERWhittington

Four new images from a recent shoot in Dusseldorf with Klaus Kampert, who booked me recently for his ‘curvy white nudes on black’ project and has kindly sent me some of the results. Klaus is an excellent photographer and known for the precision with which he often requires his models to work. It is difficult and physically challenging to appear through the lens as though one has misplaced particular limbs (or hands or feet), and requires the holding of strange and uncomfortable, off-balance positions while being meticulously directed millimetre by millimetre. But Klaus’s creativity and passion, plus his interest in the musculature, structure and workings of the human body (his route into fine art nude photography is telling), made this shoot inspiring and fun – and his wife made the most delicious blend of green and black tea, which I gleefully devoured throughout the shoot, of course! I really hope to work with Klaus again sometime next time I visit Germany.

Extreme Eiffel Tower Exploits, Etc.

ERWhittington 6 Comments

Hello!

I’m writing this from my hotel in Manchester, where I’m poised for a magazine shoot tomorrow, and taking some time to catch up on lots and lots of things, including reading inspiring blog posts about creativity like these, and writing this blog post, which I’m excited to show you!

I was lucky and spoiled enough recently to be taken again to Paris by photographer J H (see previous entries here and here). It really was a bit of a whirlwind, and since the idea was that we’d spend two nighttimes shooting, we were free to sightsee all day around Paris on the day in between (and although I was free to book further shoots in the area, I thought it would be nice to have the day to wander around and look at stuff instead!!).

On the first evening, post Eurostar, I met J for dinner before travelling around on the metro (to the accompanying sound of the accordian; this is one of my all time favourite things about France; it really is so unashamedly French) towards Montmartre, to revisit a spot we’d worked on before. Voilà:

(Above is J’s shot of le Sacre Coeur, taken on one of many runs up the stairs to check the status of passersby; below, me in le French mac, then less so:)

The plan was basically then to walk around and try desperately to get enough privacy (in the most popular city in the world…) somewhere with an interesting background. I have a thing about cafés (though I didn’t indulge in a macaroon during this trip), and thought we just had to use this place. And I’m bossy. I love the zebra crossing in the frame, too. The staff were just closing for the night, and we had to be quick not to let them steer their wheely bins in shot…

On day two, we went to la Musée d’Orsay to see the current Degas exhibition, which was brilliant! What an amazing place. I bought a really cool poster, plus a set of 6 monet coasters and some Degas/other postcards to boost my, er, coaster and art postcard collections. 🙂

Unfortunately, France hates vegetarians, so what could have been an entire day spent browsing the jaw dropping, inspiring and mesmerising (if there’d been time), with just a quick stop in the cafe there, was necessarily cut short by the urgent desire to eat lunch. Ah well, I hope to go back at some point; and we did manage to see quite a lot!

Next on the agenda, after dinner (yeah, basically day time was spent eating and looking at stuff, and also napping after the late shoot the night before) we went to the Grand Palais, which is currently hosting an exhibition of Helmut Newton’s photography. Lots of food for thought and inspiration! The highlight was the video, made by Helmut’s wife, with behind the scenes footage and some hilarious fly-on-the-wall scenes. Best quote ever comes from Helmut arguing with her (after she notes how fortuitous it is that a model has semi-blinked in one of his images, lending a narrow-eyed, sultry, moody feel to the image): ‘You’re doing it again. Belittling me. I told her to do that. It is my direction that makes her mysterious and wonderful.’ (Or words very similar. Love it.)

After that, aware that Paris is still full of tourists and couples strolling around its streets at 10pm, we went to the Crazy Horse, which was quite an experience!!

And finally, we did some shots in front of the iconic Eiffel Tour. Surprisingly enough, this wasn’t actually planned, but I’m so glad we did it! I think these shots will currently hold my record for ‘crazy things done in the name of modelling’; I am certainly not the first model to have posed there, but it’s still a bizarre, exciting and pressure-filled few minutes (we didn’t have longer than that really; and even then we couldn’t escape the tourists, lazily-strolling locals or taxi drivers, some of whom gave me a thumbs up sign mid-drive… and the pressure was on for J who had to control focus in low (street lamp only) light). We certainly didn’t set out to be seen; we did everything we could not to be, waiting for what felt like hours for those precious gaps in the stream of people, but in the end it just seemed impossible and we had to just go for it or always regret it. I can say that modelling nude in front of the Eiffel Tower (and, to a lesser-but-still-considerable extent, in front of the café the previous night) is a sort of ‘out of body’ experience. It’s a very odd thing to do. But the structure, power and beauty of the Eiffel Tower, especially lit up so majestically (and I have to mention that at night, the tower’s illumination copyright goes strictly to Pierre Bideau), made a wonderful posing partner and some images I’m proud of! And just look at the moon (copyright Moon)!

Tulips and Me!

ERWhittington 2 Comments

OK, supposed to be going out now and running late – I am so busy at the moment, and recent shoots have involved being up tree houses, riding a vintage sit-up-and-beg bicycle, posing in water, being a bride (today!), balancing in trees… I’m definitely feeling at the upper limit of my comfortable level of modelling busyness at the moment, with hardly a day off, but you’ll notice I remain a blogging addict. There are so many beautiful shots coming in my inbox – I love it! But yeah, I’m keeping this post briefer than planned.

On the way to my shoot with Jan Doef in Holland, my jaw dropped at these daffodil fields and Jan kindly suggested we pull over so I could take some photos! Sooooooooo beautiful!!! I’d never seen anything like this before.

Tulips:

Me:

 

I think Jan did a brilliant job on the black and white figure nudes in particular – luscious smooth lighting!

Over and out for now!

Lioness Lightplay

ERWhittington 1 Comment

This was such a fun shoot. Neil Snape‘s photography, specialising in fashion and beauty, is exquisite, and I admit I felt a bit nervous to be shooting with someone whose day job involves shooting world-renowned fashion models for world-renowned products and campaigns, but when in Paris…

Neil is so passionate and joyful about the possiblities of lighting in this mirror project, and was a delight to work with. He has since told me he is having trouble choosing final edits as they are all so special. *ego boost*!! Although a far cry from being a supermodel in height/measurements, apparently I’m alright… 😉 I’ve seen a couple more shots from this session already so far, but will post more another time, as soon as possible. Thanks Neil!

I just find this shot so stunning; the warmth and fiery glow, and the hunter pose…

Fairy Paintings

ERWhittington 3 Comments

I was booked recently at Paul’s Studio by an artist wishing to begin a project he’d had in his mind for a while. Philip Malpass will be painting 4-6 large canvasses by sometime next year, from which prints will be made available through a new site devoted to fairy art. Meanwhile he is making a series of minipanels which will eventually be sold via small galleries. I feel very lucky and happy to have been chosen for this project, and think the two panels below (digital files won’t do them justice, I’m told and can well believe, but nevermind) are absolutely stunning! So magical!

Although Philip has been painting all his life, he has had a six year break until recently, so this project is hugely exciting for him and a creative release! We had a lot of fun in the studio, with me interpreting ‘fairyness’ by way of flitting and jumping, perching and skitting about as though flying and journeying between flowers and trees… 🙂 (I love how my job allows me to indulge myself in utter, utter girliness sometimes.)

As they are completed I hope to be able to show more. Phil tells me that painting with oils on such tiny canvasses (5″ by 5″) is a real challenge, but I think they must look so wonderful and special!

Here’s a file to give an idea of two of the minipanels created so far. I can’t wait to see and show more as they are painted! (You can click the image to make it slightly bigger, but remember, the intention is that it’s a small work of art!)

How beautiful!!

Postcards – an exhibition

ERWhittington 2 Comments

As some of you will know, I am in love with the ‘Zen Habits’ blog, and when writer Leo Babuta featured the quote

~‘Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.’~

at the top of today’s post I couldn’t help but scribble it out and add it to the mounted collection of phrases and art postcards (picked up from galleries/museums) hanging above my desk. One of my all time favourites is ‘Creativity is unexpected connection’ – I think it applies so well, and so surprisingly, which is fitting, to many different areas of life! I also have ‘The big secret is the ability to stay in the room’ above Holbein’s Erasme écrivant.

My board of postcards was originally inspired by a similar one which hangs in the bathroom of a painter I spent a year modelling for, who is exhibiting later this week (9th-26th May) at Messum’s on Cork Street in London.

You can find information about Robbie Wraith‘s show here and browse the artworks which will be on display here. I will definitely be going once I’m back from Scotland to look at some I haven’t seen before – over the course of a year, there amassed quite a few!


It seems a fitting time to reflect on my first ever experience of art modelling when I am, three years later, busier than I’ve ever been, being sent booking enquiries so frequently I can hardly keep up, and so incredibly lucky that I am offered work in different countries across the globe that I am able to travel and see so much. I am so grateful! Upcoming trips include Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Paris, Cornwall/Devon, Stockport and more, plus a possible booking in a part of the world I would perhaps never have the opportunity to visit otherwise (but I won’t mention before it’s confirmed just in case), and from October onwards I am planning some international travel that will take me to some exotic locations, similar to last year (but different places!). I’ve updated the ‘travel’ gadget on the right hand side of this blog, to let anyone interested know about a few forthcoming trips.

Anyway, back on topic, I really fell on my feet with this first foray into posing – Robbie’s talent is extraordinary and the whole experience influenced my first novel hugely. At age 16 he was invited to study in Florence under Pietro Annigoni; since then he’s painted the Queen, Nelson Mandela and accompanied Prince Charles around Africa as travelling artist, and had works displayed in the Vatican amongst other places.

Here are some things we did, available to see at the show in London (click on the images to enlarge them):

Profile
Oil on panel
40.6 x 31 cm (16 x 12 1⁄4 in)
(I absolutely love this painting; as well as being brilliant, hey, why not just paint 29 other famous paintings from history??! Might as well… And the postcards are so cleverly positioned!)

Portrait Study I
Red chalk
30.5 x 23 cm (12 x 9 in)

Yvonne
Pencil
25.4 x 20 cm (10 x 7 7⁄8 in)

Study, Black Veil
Charcoal
45.7 x 33 cm (18 x 13 in)

Figure Study V
Charcoal
25.4 x 46 cm (10 x 18 1⁄8 in)

Blank Canvas I
Watercolour
30.5 x 41 cm (12 x 16 1⁄8 in)

Contraluce
Watercolour
30.5 x 40.6 cm (12 x 16 in)

 

… And here are a few more of my favourite paintings by Robbie Wraith, also to be found at Messums… 

Alexandra
Oil on panel
30.5 x 17.8 cm (12 x 7 in)
(An amazing portrait of a friend of mine; Hello Alex!!)

Artist & Model
Oil on panel
18 x 30.5 cm (7 1⁄8 x 12 in)

Bougainvillea, Rajasthan
Oil on panel
14 x 20.3 cm (5 1⁄2 x 8 in)

Hanging by a Thread
Watercolour
30.5 x 40.6 cm (12 x 16 in)

 Mr. Wraith’s Footsteps
Oil on panel
22.9 x 31 cm (9 x 12 1⁄4 in)

Lungarno Corsini, Florence
Oil on panel
22.9 x 31 cm (9 x 12 1⁄4 in)

Palazzo Corsini Gardens
Oil on panel
20.3 x 25.4 cm (8 x 10 in)

Leica, Bird on a Wire
Oil on panel
20.3 x 25.4 cm (8 x 10 in)

Puppet Shop, Rajasthan
Watercolour
21.6 x 30.5 cm (8 1⁄2 x 12 in)

The Frome below Wareham, Dorset I
Watercolour
21.6 x 31 cm (8 1⁄2 x 12 1⁄4 in)

Twenty-Seven Afternoons
Oil on canvas
76.2 x 122 cm (30 x 48 in)
(This painting formed the majority of the view during much of my own modelling; I love the position of the wrist.)


If you like what you see, drop by the exhibition sometime!

Portraits, Box, Stripes and Lightning

ERWhittington 5 Comments
Tonight, a massive medley from the marvellous Eric Kellerman!
First, a test shot in (well, mostly out of by then) Eric’s robe, plus some portraity things: 

The infamous box – an honour to step in this small, equilateral theatre.

A beautiful bodyscape that seems to have slipped through the net of my previous post ‘Strength in the Dark’. Hip bone glory:

Then some joyful striping around. I love this effect – so amazing, especially when in the mix with some curly stray locks lolling around in front of flesh and playing shadow games.

(I think I manage to look a bit ‘eighties’, skeptical and sulky all at once in a few of those stripy portraits above. Brilliant!)

Thanks Eric! …And as always, if any of you readers have particular favourites, etc., do let me know! I always love to hear from you.
…So yeah, I know it’s totally inappropriate, but something about the stripes (and the fact that this particular fancy dress theme came up in conversation this evening when out with some friends) is making me want to leave you with some images from 2007 taken on a university pub crawl… We were the coolest kids in Nottingham that night, let me tell you. (There were seven of us and our feet were tied together for the majority of the night. Tricky manoeuvres all round.)

Hello Bowie friends, if any of you are reading this!