Three artists are commissioned to paint a painting that will permanently alter their lives and the lives of others. The Painting.
A commissioner commissions to three different painters the challenge of creating a new painting that can embody the spirit, soul, mind and breath of a woman. This commission would be the biggest challenge they had ever faced in their lives as artists. They will learn more from the process than they could've expected.
Is it possible to embody the soul of a woman with a painting? A Commissioner commissions three Painters - Alejandro (30s), Milly (late 20s), and Yusef (50s) the challenge of creating a painting that embodies the spirit, soul, mind, and breath of a Woman. The first step of the painting would be Casting. Where to find the perfect Model? A model not just based on looks and charisma, but a model willing to bare her soul for the canvas.
After choosing an overweight model MARIE (20s) Alejandro bears the task of transforming his thoughts of what is beautiful to him. Bored with life and constant womanizing, he sets himself on a path of enlightenment. Although he has seen glimpses of a soul on canvas, he has never seen a soul fully realized in a painting. Painting someone's soul is the utmost challenge for him. Battling his curator OLIVIA and her unquenchable thirst for money and his ex-model CLAUDIA who desperately wants to continue to monopolize the spotlight, Alejandro takes on this challenge that will forever revolutionize his way of painting.
Milly, the other artist in commission, is living her best life as a lesbian artist but recently has fallen into a rut with her work. Nothing seems fresh or clear on canvas anymore. She's looking for something deeper after the sudden death of her mother. After seeking out a Homeless Woman GWENDOLYN (60s), to bear her soul, Milly becomes obsessed with the woman and her tragic life. She wants to get her back on track but doesn't know how. This Painting ends up saving her life and breaths fresh air into her lifeless paintings.
Yusef, the only African American painter, has lived a failed but gifted life. The only woman who has shown him love has been his wife, PATRICE (40s). She fully supports him but has grown resentful of his work. She just wants him to get a regular job. Though she loves him dearly and believes in his work (for many years), she has become tired of carrying the financial burden. Yusef takes the commission even though he is wary of it. Accustomed to painting what he feels, not for money, he struggles with the commission. At 50 years old, old habits are hard to break. He rents out an abandoned church to paint the painting. Though he is supposed to choose a model, he chooses his wife, unbeknownst to her. This leads him down a dark path as to whether he wants to showcase what her soul actually looks like.
This commission is the greatest task any Painter could ever face. In the end, The PAINTING teaches each artist more about themselves than any art.
The Painters:
ALEJANDRO (30s) a womanizing painter is transformed when he attempts to paint a model that is completely unlike other models. Fat. He sees something in her. Something he hasn't seen in a long time. A soul. Her soul changes his thoughts and how he sees the world and people.
MILDRED "MILLY" (late 20s) a lesbian painter, who uses her art to seduce unsuspecting models. She's bored with life and art and is looking for adventure. Her adventure begins with the commission. When she seeks out an older homeless woman to paint the way she sees the world is altered. The homeless woman quickly becomes her most difficult painting ever.
YUSUF (50s) a supremely gifted failed painter has never been given the opportunity of a lucrative commission. The money could change his life and his wife's life forever. Hopelessness and the botched paintings from the past keep him from truly believing in himself. His wife is no help either, but he loves her nonetheless. So much so, that he forgoes all the "models" and decides to paint his wife from memory for the commission.
