Monday, June 15, 2009

"And one by one..."

(5x7)
Three more W. B. Yeats pictures, from photos I found on Google photos ...


For some reason, I couldn't be as free and easy with Yeats as I was with Whitman--maybe it was just the hats or that wonderful face hair that made Whitman so much easier to let go with. And Whitman's image is somewhat iconic, I guess; I don't think I'd ever looked at Yeats so much.
This photo of an older Yeats, which you may be familiar with, is really wonderful and I didn't do it justice here: I didn't get the beauty in his face. Amazing what a few small "misses" can do to the overall effect--I made the face too wide, I think, or maybe it's not long enough, but, worse, I lost that lovely pouty lower lip. I really like the way his lower juts out: sensuous or just pugnacious? It appeals to me either way!
It's a great photo though, and no doubt I'll try it again sometime.

THE OLD MEN ADMIRING THEMSELVES IN THE WATER
William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

HEARD the old, old men say,
'Everything alters,
And one by one we drop away.'
They had hands like claws, and their knees
Were twisted like the old thorn-trees
By the waters.
'All that's beautiful drifts away
Like the waters.'
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4 comments:

  1. RH Carpenter10:44 PM

    My favorite is the 2nd one - the treatment of the hair and background and the looseness seems to work so well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Barbara Muir1:18 AM

    Hi Laura,

    It's mantra time. Even when you think
    you've done something that didn't work, what you do works. You are so good. Skip Lawrence says, "it's not what you see, it's what you make." What you make is always good.

    These are fabulous.

    Take care,

    Barbara

    ReplyDelete
  3. truerecord6:01 PM

    You know he's dead. You can't date that lovely pouty lower lip no matter how alliterative.

    (I do think you got some of that lawrence of arabia/Peter O'Toole look that you like so well)

    ReplyDelete
  4. A Brush with Color7:25 PM

    OMG, I missed these, Laura! How'd I manage to do that!? These are all beautiful. I really like your style here--just lovely. Your portraits are excellent!

    ReplyDelete

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