Who is Rosette? And why is everyone drawing her?

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If you've been perusing Twitter over the last few days, you may have noticed that people have been posting drawings of a lady using the hashtag #Rosette. There are some amazing interpretations, but it's not immediately obvious as to who this woman is, or what the challenge is all about. 

If you're feeling confused, we're here to help. We've done some digging and found the story behind all these interpretations of a black-and-white photograph. If it looks like Rosette is part of a police lineup, that's because she is. Rosette Duccinni Davie, also known as Rose Davie, was a brothel owner in Ogden in the 1940s and 1950s. A transcript of an interview with her has recently been unearthed, but as it is written in an old-fashioned form of shorthand, no one is able to read it. 

How does this relate to illustrations shared on Twitter? It seems that @cgcumber and @tinynoggin started drawing Rosette after @cgcumber found her online, and they were discussing creating a zine full of images of her. They then decided it'd be a better idea to get different artists to draw her and put those images into a zine. And so the challenge was born. If you'd like to take part, don't miss our how to draw tutorials or our tips on black and white drawings.

Interpretations of Rosette have varied wildly, and there are some real gems to be found. See some of our favourites below.

Others went for a more comic-book approach.

We love the mood of this one.

While this version has some serious attitude.

To join in on the challenge, simply share your image with #rosette. Fingers crossed we'll see the zine full of these soon. 

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