Friday
Feb272009
A Striking Profile
Friday, February 27, 2009 at 11:38 AM 
Drawing by Kansas City, KS based artist Leslie Brown
We've been eagerly anticipating Leslie Brown's second drawing of the First Lady, inspired by a 2007 Annie Leibovitz photograph of Mrs. O. The image, both here and in the original form, is one of the most stunning of the First Lady we've ever seen. We love Mr. Brown's masterful shading, and the striking silhouette and graceful slope of Mrs. O's neck and shoulders that he has so perfectly captured. Several weeks ago we featured Mr. Brown's first drawing of Mrs. O. To see that work, and learn more about the talented artist (also a language arts teacher in Olathe, KS), click here.
in Art
Art
Reader Comments (16)
This image reminds me that current lawsuit with the AP and the artist who made a print that was similar to a photograph of Barack Obama.
Leigh-- this is definitely within the bounds of "fair use". A drawing of a photo is exactly what creativity clauses in copyright law are designed to create. The issue of a that Obama portrait was a little different since he used the actual photograph, only modified.
Anyway, this picture is stunning! Both in the original and in the drawing.
I wish that I could draw so well... It looks like a tremendous amount of work. Leslie is very, very talented.
And just to be clear - Leslie doesn't sell his work (this is explained in the original post). He's building a portfolio of his drawings, and displays his work at his school and a local restaurant. He was also so kind to share them with us!
Leigh - I believe the lawsuit you reference has come about because Shepard Fairey is selling work that may have been based on an AP image (the selling part is key).
It's alright.
A modern day image of a girl with a pearl earring.
Bevi, you beat me to it! I wonder, did Liebovitz intend that, or not? She's such an amazing photographer, I can imagine her doing that, but it's hard to say.
I wasn't crazy about the Leibovitz photograph so, by derivative, I'm not crazy about this picture. I think the photo/pic pushes and darkens Mrs O's head WAY to the side, almost with an intent to hide the silhoutte of her face,rather than show it to the elegant side.
I also take odds with the focus on the "smoothed out" hair sweep as well. In general (and as a woman of color who has struggled and finally achieved peace with my curly locks)I feel that Leibovitz was working with a straight haired woman in mind.
I don't think the issue about race here is as glaring as in the earlier Toledo pic. but nonetheless I think there's something to it here.
But yes, I will recognize the picture also focuses on her great neck. Yet...that doesn't "cut it" for me.
I remember when the orginal photo appeared in Vogue last year...
"Leigh– this is definitely within the bounds of “fair use”."
That's definitely debatable.
"And just to be clear - Leslie doesn’t sell his work . . ."
Whether the use of the derivative work is commercial or for a nonprofit educational use is only one factor considered in determining if a reproduction falls under the "fair use" exception to copyright. A work may not be for sale, but may still be used commercially. Certainly "building a portfolio" and displaying an object in a business establishment are arguably "commercial" uses.
Also considered is how much of the original work was used. Here, Brown used the entire photo, whereas Shepherd Fairey used only a portion of the original. And Fairey's work was far more transformative. Brown seems simply to have drawn the photo. It's also more probable that someone would use Brown's work in place of Leibowitz' (far cheaper, I'd guess!) than that they would use Fairey's in place of the AP freelancer's.
All things considered, I'd say Fairey has a much better claim to the fair use exception than does Brown.
I agree with Hyde Parker. Brown is getting a lot of publicity about his drawing based directly on the Annie Leibovitz photo that appeared in Vogue. Leibovits is having money problems of her own. I have a hunch she would not feel charitable about what he is doing.
At the heart of this site is sharing and celebrating our mutual appreciation for Mrs. O, and the inspiration she yields. That's why I wanted to feature Mr. Brown's drawing.
One word:
WOW. I want that on my bathroom wall by my vanity.
What an elegant angle and sweep of hair. Her neck! This is stunning. And I love pencil sketches. (And even if that's not what this is exactly, it resembles one.)
Kristan
http://jbu.phuzzymath.net/
Beautiful - but does not look like Mrs. Obama.
Simply beautiful.
Thank you Sildi and MJMR, I agree.
As a trained artist, I appreciate the craft of the piece (as well as the post), but recognize the image has some issues. And I'm a "nice white lady".
I much prefer the "official portrait" presented in a later post. Now that's a "wow" image!