The Mummy Returns

Painting of a still from The Mummy Returns, featuring the wonderful Rachel Weisz, one of my favorite actors. This is done with the acrylic tools in Procreate on iPad. Are my brush strokes showing? Yes, they are!

I’m pretty happy with the result here. I’ve had some other pieces at this distance that didn’t work, but I spent the time and focused on making this one come together. It is easier to get the facial details right when they’re large in the frame, or you don’t have to try to judge the size of the head relative to the body. I also committed to detailing in the background, which I thought was important to make the piece read. It really does look like her.

I’m gradually improving at eyeballing colors, but had to fall back to sampling the reference a number of times here. I’m happiest with the torch and the pattern on the blouse. I did less well at getting all the sketch elements in place – Evelyn and her torch are canted at an odd angle – and representing the background details, which were a bit out of focus in the reference.