Marilyn Monroe: Gesture Drawing

This is one of my gesture drawings for the Marilyn Monroe illustration. The Marilyn poses are iconic, and I'm not fond of working with photos of famous individuals. I played with the composition and did some abstractions to suit the theme and style of my other illustrations.

I had several sketches, but he liked this pose the best. Marilyn Monroe was a favorite figure of the author's, and he had very specific suggestions. He liked the pose, liked the shoe, and liked the pillow. He wanted poutier lips. I had to take into consideration the shape of the page, which called for a more square design, with room for the title and text. When I did the finished drawing, I extended the sides of her dress, making sure there was plenty of room to crop on either side.