Kyle 4/4/10

Oh, my online friends, has it been a busy week, and, boy, was it hard to get back into sketching after a week away. Yet here I am...back to The Children's Hour. Two sketches...

One of the first characters to which we are introduced is Mrs. Mortar. She is a former stage actress and rather full of herself. She's also imposing on the hospitality of her niece, Karen, who is the co-founder of the school. Mrs. Mortar isn't really a teacher, but supervises the girls during their "Sewing and Elocution Hour" (I wish I'd had one of those in school!).

Her dress is an early 1930s floral chiffon confection. The play opens in early spring so the colors would be light and pastel. She is flighty and so is this dress.

Martha Dobie is, with Karen, a founder of the school. She is no-nonsense and unattached to anyone, besides Karen. The girls respect her authority without fearing her. She is forthright and assertive.

Her costume is separates rather than a dress. I found this sweater in the Sears Catalogue from Spring 1934 and she skirt from a photo online. It is rather tailored and much more severe than a dress would be. I toyed with pants, but I wouldn't want to beat the audience over the head while screaming "LESBIAN!!!"...it just isn't right to force foreshadow like that, and 1934 is a little too early for women in pants. I like the separate skirt because she could wear it later with a different blouse. These people aren't rich, so they rotate items in their wardrobes...like normal people.

I'm not super happy with these sketches...a week off really does effect sketching. Martha's face is too long and narrow - her head is actually a bit small, and Mrs. Mortar's neck is too long with something funky going on in the shoulders. Oh well...its not horrible, but not my best.