Inspired by Louis Welden Hawkins

          Today I have a very special 'Inspired by art' post. I'm sharing a cosmetic color palette inspired by the painting Severine by Louis Welden Hawkins (circa 1895). Severine hangs at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. The photograph above was taken by Jessica of Getting Cheeky during her travels. She generously shared her photography with me for this post. I love how we can see a reflection of the museum's window architecture in this photo; It almost feels as if I'm right there gazing at Severine myself.

          Severine can hold your gaze for quite a while. There is a peculiar quality about the painting, as if something is out of place and you can't put your finger on it. The striking gilded background is reminiscent of paintings from the renaissance. It's something you might imagine seeing in an old cathedral. Her hands are clasped together and her eyes gaze upward reminiscent of prayer. However, we begin to see evidence that this work is more modern than upon first impression. Severine's gestures and expressions are more pensive than prayerful. When our eyes move downward, we see a flurry of correspondences strewn about a desk. Severine's generously proportioned forearms seem to be front and center, lending importance to the idea of writing. Finally there are some delicate adornments, such as the pinky ring and slightly droopy flower, that add a touch of whimsy to the piece.

           There are faded earthy colors with a golden warmth. At first the colors seem like fall, however in my opinion it is more reminiscent of spring awakening from winter slumber. This seems metaphorically fit for subject of the piece. Since we're currently in this sort of season, I felt that Severine would be a perfect color inspiration for the moment.

           In the painting I noticed the following colors: a striking gilded background, the pale yellow parchment, her slightly ashy complexion, red-brown highlights of her hair and books, the cool brown tones in her hair and text, the olive in her gown, the lavender-pink of her flower, and the blue-grey of here eyes and jewelry. The colors I pulled from my collection are:

• Gold - Make Up for Every aqua eyes liner in #9L and Urban Decay Half Baked eyeshadow. The new green tinged gold in the NARS Paramaribo eyeshadow duo would be excellent.
• Pale yellow - Urban Decay Foxy eyeshadow
• Complexion/shadows - Urban Decay Tease
• Red-brown - Stila Cherie and Chocolat eyeshadows mixed. Both are from the Stila Pretty in Paris palette.
• Cool brown - NARS Coconut grove
• Olive - Bobbi Brown Sage eyeshadow
• Lavender-pink - Maybelline dream bouncy blush in Orchid Hush and Revlon colorburst lip butter in Sugar frosting
• Blue-grey - Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Silver lining

           The swatches of the colors are shown below. Here is how I imagine the look should pull together: The eyes should be both ethereal and earthy.  Gold tones could cover the lid or line underneath. The parchment, red browns, bark, or olive are layered on for some grounded depth. There will be just a faint blush on the lips and cheeks, reminiscent of Severine's flower pin. Blue-grey nails are a nod to the cloudy lake color of her eyes, bracelet, and the ring on her little finger.

          Thanks for reading and thank you Jessica for providing wonderful inspiration! I had a lot of fun putting this together. It was completely different from the palette I put together for Renoir (and admittedly more challenging). I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Love, Dovey.