Jean Luc Godard’s Bout de Souffle (Breathless) by Robert Lee

Ok. So…. Long story short, I went blind back in 2019. Completely blind, overnight. I was in excruciating pain as the pressure in my eyes increased to the point that they just stopped working and filled with blood. I looked like a 28 Days later rage zombie for the next 2 years.

As a lover of art in its many forms, it was to say the least traumatic. As I healed, my vision came back in increments, then blindness again. Then it came back, then blind again. Over and over. I couldn’t go outside during the day. Sunlight caused me physical pain that could knock me over like a punch. What did I do? I listened to a ton of audio books. At my fastest I was reading 3 books a week. When my vision was working to any degree I tried to create art. I was writing via voice to text, I was drawing in rudimentary ways. I would draw in procreate by zooming all the way in. I’d print my work in bluelines and ink with markers, pens, brushes. I always liked physical art and wanted to hold it.

Another passion of mine is Cinema. Movies of all type interest me. I can argue the merits of Blades of Glory and criticize Kurosawa in the same conversation. One of my favorite niches is French New Wave, and nothing in that era holds a candle to Bout de Souffle (Breathless) for me.

I created this as bluelines in procreate, and added the digital Lithotone colors where I knew I would want it. The lettering was taken from the actual poster, and cut and pasted. The figures were inked with various copics, microns, and Jean Seberg’s eyes were done with ink and brush.

I printed 10 of this image and inked them in drastically different ways. I inked them with my face inches from the bristol because my eyes were not healed yet. I couldn’t focus. Some I gave up on and destroyed. I gifted two to people that appreciated the genre, and I still have two, this one, and another I knicknamed the “bloody variant.” Lots of red on that one. Lol.

This is created on standard 11x17 bristol.