"If You've Ever Wanted to Paint Naked People..."

A few weeks ago, I posted some figure studies I'd done...and somehow forgot to post this one. Ironically, it's perhaps one of the best figure drawings I've done in some time.  Aw well, it's posted now.

The Odds of Ends

This week, thought I'd post some pieces that weren't a part or got left out from a series.

"Only People as Intelligent as We Could Fake Such Stupidity."

William Henry Cosby, Jr. (1937- ) is perhaps one of the best known, well-loved, and recognizable comedians/actors in the world. He became a successful nightclub act in the 1960's which led to a string of hit comedy albums. After being cast as Robert Culp's partner on the hit show I Spy, Cosby would become a television staple for decades to come,  and would create and star in the animated Fat Albert and perhaps the biggest sitcom of the 1980's, The Cosby Show. Ironically, despite inspiring a number of comedians who would go on to become controversial for their acts, Cosby saw his fair share of heated debate over a number of comments he made about the black community during the early 2000's. That's largely why I chose to interpret an image of his longer-haired, bearded look of the 1970's, an affirmation of a jazz-playing real man beneath the icon.

"You Big Dummy!"

Though obviously known for his stage name, Redd Foxx (1922-1991), he was born John Elroy Sanford, and too many, he'll always be Fred Sanford.  Foxx spent several years becoming a popular nightclub act in the 1950's before being called to Los Angeles where he picked up a recording deal and released a series of popular party records throughout the 1960's. Foxx became a crossover hit with his 70's sitcom, Sanford and Son, an adaptation of the British TV series, Steptoe and Son.  Despite notorious problems with his taxes, Foxx continued to be a television staple and popular club act (the first to play to white audiences in Vegas) for the remainder of his life.

(Warning: Salty...yet hilarious...Language)

"That rat-soup-eatin', insecure honky motherf*#$er!"

This week we're returning to some comedy, starting things off with Rudy Ray Moore (1927-2008). Moore began his career in comedy as a performer while in the army. He released a number of "blue" party records throughout the 60's and 70's, and though he never crossed over in the way that other raunchy black comedians, like Redd Foxx, he built up a steady cult following largely thanks to his self- produced blaxploitation films. His most famous character was Dolemite, an urban hero/pimp, who Moore first developed in his stand-up act. Moore was considered one of the progenitors of modern rap with a rhyming delivery of his material, and hip hop gave his career a resurgence in the 90's when Moore was featured on albums with Big Daddy Kane and Snoop Dogg's among others.

"Don't Look at Me!"

The third and final piece in spired by Paul Schrader's remake of Cat People (1982).

"...Something Less Than Human."

My second piece of the lovely Nastassja Kinski from Paul Schrader's Cat People (1982).

Putting Out the Fire with Gasoline...

In preparation for the Eat Your Art Out "Creature Features" show hosted by the Angel City Derby Dolls, I got down to thinking about the monster movies of the past. For a while I entertained the thought of doing something from one of my childhood favorites, Paul Schrader's Cat People (1982) featuring the lovely Nastassja Kinski. I abandoned the idea for something a little more vintage, but still felt like delving into the land of sexual were-cats.

The Art of Body Building

Eugen Sandow (1867-1925) was a Prussian circus athlete who became the father of modern bodybuilding as he sought to achieve and maintain a form that he saw as the human ideal as displayed in ancient Greek statues. And so...he sort of makes a fairly valuable figure model...well, for superheroes.

Anatomical Academia

The first series of yet another new year are some nudes. Figure drawing and anatomical study is something I've never known any figurative artist to say they've had quite enough of.

What a Man's Gotta Do...

For years, my grandmother and I have had an on-going debate concerning one John Wayne v. one Clint Eastwood. I was brought up on Eastwood, my father being a big fan. I think the first one I ever saw was The Outlaw Josey Wales on ABC's Monday Night at the movies. And I've always had a soft spot for anti-heroes and movies that operated in moral grey areas. Grandma contends, and I quote, "that he [Clint] has the same look on his face, whether he's shooting a guy or kissing a girl." To which, I reply, "Grandma, John Wayne does the same thing. He's John Wayne with a different name in every movie."

Nonetheless, I cannot deny that Wayne is indeed an American icon, and one of the largest larger-than-life figures to fill the Big Screen. So as a matter of détente this Christmas, I whipped up this little tribute to the Duke for Grandma.

Out With the Old

What better way to kick off the New Year than by clearing out the last of the old. I would've posted these last couple of pieces, but as they were gifts, I didn't want to risk spoiling the surprise.

After a series of sketches I did based on some of my favorite blues artists, my cousin offhandedly remarked that she would like a drawing of the eminent violinist, Jascha Heifetz. It stood to reason as she herself is a fine player of both the viola and violin. And so, I took a few and sketched one out for her.

In addition to being an enormously influential musician, Heifetz was also quite a wit and very quotable. One of my favorites: "No matter what side of an argument you're on, you always find some people on your side that you wish were on the other side."

My Xmas Card

This will likely be the last piece I post for the year, as I go on hiatus (Stop complaining, you! I was thinking of stopping last Friday!) until the New Year. I wish you all the best and a very happy holidays, and let's just hope that 2013 is a little bit brighter than 2012. And if the sun explodes in two days during the Mayan Apocalypse..then at least 2012 got a whole lot brighter right there at the end.

So I leave you with my Christmas card for the lovely Melissa...an alligator on a bicycle...

Audrey Horne

I recently rewatched the pilot for Twin Peaks, an lamented the fact that it was far too ahead of it's time. Had it been made in today's current TV climate, it probably would've gone on for six season and a movie. However, one can't be too sure that today's shows would've existed without it, as Twin Peaks revived the dying one hour drama format. 

In any event, it naturally reminded me of my teenage crush on the lovely Sherilyn Fenn who played the playfully diabolical Audrey Horne in the series. She was the perfect segue between 50's pin-up beauty and wicked charm. The character was a stand out in the series who managed to showcase determined independence with just the right moments of tender vulnerability...see...there I go again, crushing on nostalgia. 

A Dame of Danger

Playing around in the gouache, I came up with a throwback to the days of pulp paperbacks and eye-popping poster art in this treatment of my friend, the lovely and talented Ver Mar.

To The Future...

My latest painting in gouache, which is currently on display at the Hive gallery in downtown Los Angeles for the month of December.

Good Morning...And Goodbye!

Our final Russ Meyer girl was the former Miss Muscle Beach, Alaina Capri. Capri starred in two Russ vehicles, Common Law Cabin and Good Morning...and Goodbye!, whose plots are best described as the kind of lurid partner swapping amidst the hardboiled dialogue with an occasional killing. Capri excels at playing the bosomy vamp, using her sharp tongue like a flick knife. Sadly, these would be her only two outings, but then again, she came up a little too late to have been trading these kind of barbs in a Howard Hawks movie.

The Fastest Pussycat

Yesterday, I posted my review of Russ Meyer's Common Law Cabin, which kicked this week's series off.

Today's quickie sketch is of one of Russ's most iconic creations, Varla, played by the fantastic Tura Satana in the uproariously titled Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965). The movie spins the far out yarn about a trio of homicidal go-go dancers who end up chasing a disabled old man's fortune in the southwest desert. In many ways it was a retelling with a gender swap of Russ's Motorpsycho, but Tura scene-stealing turn as the conniving Varla far outshone the previous film.  Though Tura had a number of roles in movies and several TV shows, she's probably most identified with this film...and well, her high-ranking status as one of the best burlesque acts of all time.

A Dolly Beyond the Valley

For my other blog, I've written a review of a Russ Meyer film I hadn't seen in years...and thanks to the wholesomeness of the season, I thought I'd post a few quickies of some of Russ's buxotics.

We kick off with a sketch of Dolly Read, English pin-up model and actress, who starred as head of the Kelly Affair in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. It was one of Russ's two bids at studio backing, as Hollywood was looking to try and lure in the counter-culture audience. Dolls was not a sequel the Jacqueline Susann work, but it's own special bizarre creation. And why not? After all, it was co-written with Roger Ebert.

Among the Flora...

Another garden image...with a little bit of structure.