The Norm Can Conform

The opinions you never asked for on the subjects you’re not bothered about.

Roquette Squire – Sassicism / Inspired by Elton John

And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time” Well, this latest piece certainly was. I thoroughly enjoyed creating my Sassicism pieces inspired by queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race and I also took the project into another direction by creating pieces inspired by my “Icons”. So far I have created pieces inspired by David Bowie, Divine and Juno Birch. You may remember I even created a post inspired by England making it to the Euros final. But my latest piece is inspired by one of my all-time favourites, Sir Elton John. Why? Because he’s a bloody legend!

Roquette Squire“, Elton John inspired Sassicism piece

I’ve been wanting to create a piece inspired by Elton John for quite some time now. I honestly found it really hard to find a portrait I wanted to work with. Obviously, Elton isn’t a drag queen so it was hard to find away to create a look where the makeup isn’t the main feature of the piece.

After hours and hours of hunting down the perfect painting to use, I finally found it:

Self Portrait, Yawning” by Joseph Ducreux, 1783

This Joseph Ducreux self portrait is an iconic classical painting and the perfect person to turn into the Rocket Man himself. The pose, the yawn (which to me looks like when Elton shouts to the crowd) and the striking pose was all perfect.

Elton John singing

Creating ‘Roquette Squire’

Obviously getting the mannerisms and vibe of Elton was the real challenge as he’s not a ‘makeup look’. There were little details I knew I had to add in like the gap in his teeth, a more prominent pair of eyebrows and jewellery. But naturally the main thing I needed to add to the painting was the perfect pair of glasses.

No joke, this is itself was one of the biggest challenges. I scoured the internet through dozens and dozens of extravagant pairs of specs. Some were Elton’s some were from contemporary fashion designers. In the end, I opted to go for quite an iconic pair. I just created my own lens colour, added some reflective shine and tidied up the wiring.

The finished piece

Roquette Squire - Elton John inspired Sassicism by Harry J Bartlett
Roquette Squire” by Harry J Bartlett / Sassicism, 2021

This piece was honestly one of my biggest challenges to date but one I’m really happy with. I blinged up his outfit. Added some rings to his fingers, popped a gap in his teeth, gave him so legendary specs and shadowed behind to make them feel like part of the painting. And I even gave him a lovely little rocket brooch from Chanel.

Overall I was really made up with how this piece turned out. And yes, it’s available for purchase. DM me on Instagram (@sassicism) and I’ll be able to get orders taken.

Harry J Bartlett

Digital Content Creator, lover of fashion, drag queen connoisseur and all around phenomenal human being. If I had to describe myself in 3 words I would say; Gorgeous, Talented and Humble.

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