Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Barbara Steele in Black Sunday


Update! 1/4/13 I dug up the old file and saved it in a larger size. The old one was so dinky! I also tweaked the colors and resigned it.



This is genre goddess Barbara Steele in half of her dual role in the seminal Mario Bava horror film La Maschera del Demonio, known in America as Black Sunday. In this scene Steele is Ukrainian noblewoman Katia Vajda walking the dogs on the family estate, where she encounters our protagonists. I don't know if this is considered one of the iconic moments of the film but I've always liked it. I'd love to do a huge oil painting of this but for now I'll move on.

5 comments:

Tim said...

My 3rd favorite Bava after Diabolik and Blood&Black Lace.
Nice work.

Steve Ring said...

Thanks! I suppose it's kind of a clunky little movie by modern standards but it was vastly influential to the genre. And it was the springboard for the sinfully underused Steele. My 2nd favorite Bava would be Kill, Baby, Kill! and then Black Sabbath and Lisa and the Devil.

Lord Ruthwen said...

Is it a real colour picture or has it been modified? I have a Barbara Steele model kit of the film and I don´t know how to paint it!!!

Steve Ring said...

Actually, I cobbled a few sources together to make a painting. It *is* a digital painting, not a photograph. I made my best guess at the color since there aren't any color stills from the movie (that I know of).

Lord Ruthwen said...

What a funny coincidence! A friend of mine attended the Sitges Film Festival last week and met Barbara Steele! I asked my friend to ask her about the color of the dress which she wears during most of the film and it was... DARK GREEN (this dress, I think is different from the one in your picture but I´m no totally sure, haven´t seen the movie for a long time: http://imgfave.com/view/1114883)