A Quasiwatercolor!

After a year of almost continuous professional work, as both an artist and screenwriter, it's nice to have a few days to just kick back and do some artwork for myself. Today I broke out the watercolors and dove into yet another Lon Chaney Sr. piece. As I've said before, watercolor is probably the most challenging of mediums, as there is little room for error. But today I was relaxed, and the colors flowed peacefully. I know that after the New Year I'll be back in full work mode, so I really appreciated the opportunity to just do what I love to do.

Lon Chaney Jr. As Quasimodo

I recently revisited the 1939 version of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, and started wondering what Lon Chaney, Jr., fresh off OF MICE AND MEN, might have done with the role of Quasimodo. Charles Laughton's performance is truly wonderful, but I think Lon might have brought something quite good to the part as well. The Hunchback is the kind of character that Chaney Jr. was best at - simple, yet very emotional - so it isn't difficult to imagine him doing well in one of the roles that made his father famous. But in case you need a visual, here's one possible vision of that scenario...