"Beauty Creating The Beast" Original Painting

This original oil painting was created in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the film that started it all, Universal Pictures "The Creature From The Black Lagoon"!

It is well known in fan circles that the then head of the Universal Makeup department, Bud Westmore, was not the actual designer of the iconic creature. That honor went to the multi-talented Millicent Patrick. Working with Westmore and other artists in the department like sculptor Chris Mueller, Ms. Patrick was responsible for fleshing out the look of the creature. Unfortunately she would never get the true credit she deserved for her efforts. Since she was also an actress and model in addition to being a designer, she was sent out on the road as part of a promotional push for the film. Bud Westmore took advantage of Ms. Patrick's absence and had her "erased" from the production. He took all of the design credit and pretty much had her blackballed from the industry. It wasn't until fairly recently that Ms. Patrick's contributions to the industry were made known to the public. An excellent biography was written about her finally setting the record straight.

In this painting I wanted to also give her due credit in my own way. I hit upon the idea to parody Michelangelo's legendary Sistine Chapel fresco, "The Creation of Adam". Placing her in the role of God, naturally, Ms. Patrick reaches down and breathes life into her creation with her brush. The Creature much like Adam reaches out to his creator while posing on the banks of the lagoon. Bud Westmore is the red faced cherub is trying in vain to take credit but to no avail. Some of the other faces who are there to support the creator are based on actual people such as the aforementioned Chris Mueller as well as suit performers Ben Chapman and Ricou Browning.

36 x 24. Oil on Plywood Panel Framed. © Mark Tavares. (purchase price only covers the cost of this painting. All copyrights are retained by the artist)

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