Still in the Gardens...

Last Year at Nymphenburg...

The Bavarian Nymphenburg Palace in Munich features expansive gardens which features a variety of classically inspired sculptures. Now, the one this li'l quickie was inspired by was labelled as Pluto, but the trident he carried said Neptune to me (other images of it I found also labelled it as Neptune). Oh internet, you occasionally possibly mis-leading scamp you. As a side note, the palace and gardens were featured in Alain Resnais' surreal masterpiece, Last Year at Marienbad.

What's Cabfare to the Elysian Fields...?

A return to my statue drawing shenanigans. The Lord of the Underworld isn't often depicted when compared to his more sunny or sea-going brethren. The story of his abduction of the fair Prosperina seems to be the most frequently rendered. This one, once again, was inspired by the simple direct statue carved out by the great Canova.

The Galveston Giant...

If you're not familiar with boxer Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight boxing champion, may I take a moment and recommend you go look him up. Even if you don't care for the sport and are somehow immune to interest in civil rights struggles, I'm sure Jack's larger-than-life style of living will be more than enough to keep you interested. The white boxing community threw anything it could at the "Galveston Giant" (I'm not sure that it's merely coincidental that Jack was from Texas) trying to take the title away from him, but Jack held onto it until 1915. It would be 20 years before another black boxer, Joe Louis, would be allowed to compete for it. By then, times had changed, and Louis' reign as champ was heralded by many and even used as anti-Nazi propaganda. In any event, I had fun drawing the big, smug galoot.

The Many B-List Sartanas...

Many spaghetti westerns had their titles and dialogue re-dubbed to turn their heroes into so many Djangos and Sartanas. This quickie was from a screen-grab I made from the '71 entry Django Defies Sartana, which was perhaps the weakest title of the knock-offs though a slightly better movie than many of them. There's simply no beating One Damned Day at Dawn...Django meets Sartana for title umph. Much like there's no beating Gianni Garko, the original and best Sartana. Perhaps I should be drawing him instead...

"Forget Everything Except Vengeance!"

Another "exploitation" quickie based loosely on Lady Snowblood star Meiko Kaji, one of the queens of lurid, blood-spattered Japanese cinema in the 70's. This one's a little rough. I didn't quite capture her the way I wanted, but I was still happy with the lines to an extent. I might have to give her another go...rarely has feral intensity looked so sexy...

Exploitation...Armed to the Teeth

This was a quickie of Maurizio Merli, star of many an Italian thrillride. I first saw Maurizio in the spaghetti western Mannaja (aka. A Man Called Blade). Despite the general power and prowess of a great 70's stache, he died young at the age of 49. My desire for Euro-Exploitation flicks, however, lives on.

The New $13 Bill...

Recreating the interwoven curved hatching that is oft featured on paper money and stock certificates is not easy...but, it can be fun...especially with a subject not traditionally depicted in such a way.

Frivolity...

"People With Ropes Around Their Necks Don't Always Hang..."

Ok, I had to slip in one more Lee. This was meant to a stylized portrait quickie of Van Cleef as Setenza, the aptly labeled Bad.

"When You Have to Shoot, Shoot, Don't Talk..."

It's been said that Clint Eastwood broke off his working relationship with Sergio Leone when he realized that the stories were steadily moving away from him. In many ways, it can truly be said that The Good, The Bad and The Ugly belongs to the Ugly, Tuco (Eli Wallach). In many respects he's the only human character in the film, and I think, one of the best characters in cinema history. The Good is an almost ethereal angelic figure who pops in and out, and The Bad is an almost purely demonic presence. Tuco, on the other hand, is grimy and gritty, and though thoroughly despicable, one can't help but root for him. I narrowly missed getting to meet Eli when Walter Hill tried to cast him in Undisputed, but at 87 years of age, Eli was in the midst of working a Broadway play.