Over the Christmas holidays I finished a large drawing that I had been working on since the summer, on and off, but then life took over and I didn't find time to publish it.

It is a scene from Joseph von Sternberg's 1932 movie "Shanghai Express", featuring Anna May Wong and Marlene Dietrich.

For the story of behind this scene please read my (long) blog post https://quickandtastycooking.org.uk/articles/shanghai-express/.

It is the most complex large drawing I have attempted so far.
As usual, it is the expressions on the faces of both characters that interested me. I wanted to show their watchfulness and apprehension.

I used the rough watercolour paper I like (Fabriano Artistico, 300 g/m² cold pressed “not”), 56 cm x 76 cm. I set up the drawing in ordinary HB pencil and Tombow MONO 100 graphite lead pencils (2B, 4B and 5B). I used a Chinese ink stick and applied the ink using calligraphy brushes.

#drawing #fediart #TraditionalArt #ShanghaiExpress #AnnaMayWong #MarleneDietrich

Marlene Dietrich, la diva antinazista, si spense a Parigi il #6maggio 1992.
https://www.lasinistraquotidiana.it/marlene-dietrich-la-diva-antinazista/

#langeloazzurro #marocco #shanghaiexpress #testimonedaccusa #accaddeoggi #marlenedietrich #marlene #femmefatale #nazismo #antinazismo #cinema #film #movie #unocinema #filmcommunity

The most beautifully-lit courtesan in B&W film history? Von Sternberg’s camera loved Marlene and Marlene loved the camera. If you haven’t made time to see Shanghai Express (1932), then it’s worth doing. It’s atmospheric, beautifully shot and you get Anna May Wong thrown in alongside Marlene.

#film ##filmhistory #shanghaiexpress #oldmovies #oldhollywood #marlenedietrich

#Westfront1918, #GWPabst, 1930 is the root of #PathsOfGlory, #ComeAndSee, and #SavingPrivateRyan, among so many others.

It covers a lot and must have been overwhelming to many audiences at the time.

I could have done without a lot that's in the opening, including learning a new racist slur as a term for coffee (in German, and hard "r").

Like with #ShanghaiExpress earlier today, so many older films are blatantly and uncaringly racist, misogynistic, homophobic; just bad in so many ways.

#ShanghaiExpress has a lot of shots that are beautifully composed and lit, including when #MarleneDietrich (Madeline/#ShangaiLily) disarms #AnnaMayWong (#HuiFei) from behind by pulling Anna's arms apart by her wrists.

The rage in Hui's face is matched in intensity by the look of fierce and instinctive protection in Lilly's.

Lilly's right cheek is partly framed by Hui's hair, Hui's head turned left 🔥🔥🔥

The way Lilly immediately turns away may be due to lesbian miscegenation being illegal.

Marlene Dietrich, la diva antinazista, si spense a Parigi il #6maggio 1992. 4 film per ricordarla.

#langeloazzurro #marocco #shanghaiexpress #testimonedaccusa #accaddeoggi #marlenedietrich #marlene #femmefatale #nazismo #antinazismo #cinema #film #movie #4film #filmcommunity