Portrait - Mad Day Out

Yet more Beatles! I wanted to find something later in their career, and settled on this fun one from a 1968 photo session which Beatles fans have dubbed the "Mad Day Out." For once, I know who the photographer was, too: Don McCullin. This is the photo I used. (Paint.Net was used to turn it black-and-white, 'cause I was so not going to guess what was lighter than what from a color photograph.)

For me, part of the charm of the Beatles is their sense of humor. They loved to tease each other, goof around, and generally create mayhem. Even when things got bad. This photo was taken during the White Album sessions, which were so tense that at one point Ringo walked out. And yet the Mad Day Out photos are full of silly poses like this one. It was how they survived Beatlemania, how they coped with insane fans and inane interviews, and even how they dealt with the breakup (Or, at least, how Harrison dealt with it.) And they're still funny: just this year, Ringo did a music video for The Powerpuff Girls that must be seen to be believed

Weirdly, the hardest part of this one was that blasted office building behind them. Gah, perspective! Also, Harrison's striped trousers, holy cow. I was kinda worried about getting the texture of Lennon's fur coat, but that turned out to be fairly easy. And I think I'm getting better at showing folds and shadows on clothing: Ringo's suit took no time at all.

Created in ArtRage, using markers.