I wasn’t plan on putting this out until Wednesday, or when I had more time to add detail to the color, but other ideas and obligations forced me to rush this piece to add to my Instagram grid. I wanted to do more with Leslie Caron’s hair since it’s fun to draw, but again, other plans. Stay tuned for an hour or so? Sure.
I didn’t plan on doing Caron until this morning. I thought my final piece for the winter break — actually, by the looks of it, this won’t be my final — would be Sophia Loren or Tom Baker, but Caron made sense because of this one scene in her introductory dancing sequence where she dances while reading a book against a yellow background in “An American in Paris.” So far, I’ve done three pieces with backgrounds in blue, green, and red. Just one more color was needed to make my gram grid reminiscent of Microsoft and Google.
If I were to give this film, which was named after the 1920s Gershwin song that it features, an alternative title, it should be “A Parisian in America.” While the story takes place in Paris, filming was done in Hollywood due to budget. Gene Kelly wanted it to be filmed in Paris, but as consolation, he went to Paris and discovered Caron at a ballet. Caron did not know much English, but she sure did know how to dance. The rest is history.
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Dearest Reverie 