Progression shots of "David and Nurse Alex" from start to finish:
This custom piece was commissioned by a big fan of the 1981 cult classic, "An American Werewolf in London". This painting portrays two of the main characters (Nurse Alex, and werewolf David Kessler) living an alternate reality in which they enjoy a much happier ending, than the real ending of the movie.
In the movie, David Kessler is an American college student backpacking through England with a friend. They are attacked by a beast that they don't realize is a werewolf. David's friend dies, but David recovers from his wounds in a hospital in London, where he meets Nurse Alex. Nurse Alex and David begin to fall in love, and just when things get all romantic, David turns into a werewolf for the first time, losing all his humanity with the transformation. Poor David is no longer capable of even recognizing his beloved Nurse, and we are left with a rather sad ending. :(
BUT, thanks to the beautiful mind of the patron who commissioned this piece, here we can imagine that although David must turn into a werewolf every full moon, he still maintains his human heart, and he and Nurse Alex live happily ever after :)
"David and Nurse Alex"
(14" x 18" oil on canvas, April 2016)
This is one of my many preliminary sketches of "David and Nurse Alex", before I started painting. I tested out several poses with the characters and requested feedback from the patron until he felt satisfied with the design, then I moved forward with the painting process.
Here are a few of the reference photos I used to paint
"David and Nurse Alex", mostly images from the movie: