Beautiful Rafaela...

[daeva_neesan]

As I told you, time ago I was lucky enough to visit an exhibition here in Rome about Tamara de Lempicka, probably my most favourite artist ever, and a continuos source of inspiration.

There's a good chance that next year I'll take part at YayCon as a vendor ♥ and I thought of bringing some yuri stuff to sell.
The story of Rafaela and Tamara immediately comes to my mind while visiting the exhibition.
The maybe utilitaristic and intense short love story between the famous, assertive painter and the anonymous, Parisian prostitute.
--I'm planning to give the girls a "juicy" appearance compared to classic shoujo manga style, to give justice to the beauty of female body, and most importantly to the dignity of its meat. I sound like a cannibal, LOL XD
--I mean, if one has to compare the male body and female body, the first thing that comes to mind is a "tactile" difference, you know? Probably it's because we're used to the comfy-ness of our mom's body when newborns, but don't you have the impression that a female body is just softer, warmer, and overall "smoother" than a male's? When I draw, that's the first thing I notice.
I wanna try and convey this feeling with my short yuri comic, probably from Tamara's point of view (the seme's), since I can understand such dynamics as an artist better than as a prostitute, LOL XD

Unfortunately I can't find much about Rafaela and her times with Tamara to give "stability" to the historical/biographical accuracy. When I google about them I just got her most famous portrait and some reviews/introductions to the book of Ellis Avery, "The Last Nude" (still considering if buying this XD I'll probably do it after I'll come with my story, though, I don't want Avery-sensei to "stain" my view on this pairing >D)... So, sorry in advance if it won't have any importance as "official" material XD

So, yeah, my to-do list grows of another new project. Will I manage to finish at least one of them XD ?

Comments

[amelia-seyroon.livejournal.com]

Oooooooh, this is so cool! ^o^

[tomoe-daeva.livejournal.com]

Thanks ^^
I hope that can come with something insteresting D:

[ardrak.livejournal.com]

Bello il disegno! E anche l'idea mi sembra molto originale. ;)

[tomoe-daeva.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Speriamo che tutta la cosa riesca a prendere forma il prima possibile XD

Tamara de Lempicka's own account of meeting "Beautiful" Rafaela

[(Anonymous)]

This is what the real Tamara de Lempicka had to say about her first encounter with the real model for Beautiful Rafaela in the Bois du Boulogne, according to her daughter, Kizette Foxhall de Lempicka:

“Suddenly,” Tamara would say, “I become aware of a woman walking some distance in front of me. As she walks, everyone in the opposite direction stops and looks at her. They turn their heads as she passes by. I am curious. What is so extraordinary that she is doing this? I walk very quickly until I pass her, then I turn around and come back down the path in the opposite direction. Then I see why everyone stops. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen—huge black eyes, beautiful sensuous mouth, beautiful body. I stop her and say to her, ‘Mademoiselle, I’m a painter and I would like you to come pose for me. Would you do this?’ She says, ‘Yes, why not?’ And I say, ‘Yes, come. My car is here.’

“I took her home in my car, we had lunch, and after lunch, in my studio, I said, ‘Undress, I want to paint you.’ She undressed without any shame. I said, ‘Lay down on this sofa here.’ She lay. Every position was art—perfection. And I started to paint her, and I painted her for over a year.”

(Foxhall de Lempicka, Kizette. Passion by Design: the Art and Times of Tamara de Lempicka. New York: Abbeville Press, 1987. p.80.)

Your sketch of Rafaela is gorgeous. Please let me know when you finish this; I'd love to read/see it! (Maybe we can trade books.) Best wishes, Ellis Avery (ellisavery at gmail dot com)