In 2008 I created my first fictional family colored pencil portraits with the hopes of getting into Gallery 1988's Crazy 4 Cult art show (a process I detailed in this post.) At the time I would never have guessed I'd still be making them five years later, but I recently created a dozen more for a two-man art show at Gallery 1988, Venice Beach which is still going on until June 2nd. The show got a really nice review on Glasstire, and some great coverage on Huffington Post and Slashfilm! But in an effort to save you a trip to the West Coast I've conveniently posted images of all the artwork just a few inches below this paragraph. Scroll down (if it isn't too much trouble) and you may take a look at these "love notes" to some of my favorite productions put to film. Make sure to click to see them much bigger. (Some originals and prints are still available here. My previous portraits can all be seen here.)
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Title: The McDunnoughs
Dim: 8"x10"
As you may
recall from the film, the McDunnoughs do take a snapshot of their
newfound family by way of a cheap, black & white camera on a tripod. I
started to simply reproduce that, but in the middle of the process I
scrapped the idea because it was a bit too spot on. Being a huge geek, I
like the portraits to gel with the timeline of the film (or series),
and I even try to pinpoint when it would have been taken, be it before,
during or after the story takes place. However, in this case I made an
exception, this is the way they wished things would have
turned out.
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Title: The McClanes
Dim: 11"x14"
This is the only time I've done my own interpretation of an "existing"
portrait from a film. It seemed like the thing to do since the photo is a key plot point, and since Die Hard is one of the greatest things my eyes have witnessed.
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Title: The Whites
Dim: 11"x14"
I think the concept is at its best when the entire family is at the core of the story. In the case of Breaking Bad, everything is done in the name of family which ironically, destroys the family.
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Title: The Weirs
Dim: 11"x14"
The Weirs from Freaks and Geeks
are more real to me than any fictional family I can think of. Everyone
gets fleshed out over the course of the amazing series and their
personalities and relationships seem as complex as anyone I've ever met.
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Title: The Mayweathers
Dim: 3.5"x4.5" (each)
This
treatment seemed appropriate because I don't imagine this father and
son spending much time together. The way I see it, William (the dad)
sent the family photographer to Nathanial's school and put the result in
the fanciest frame possible.
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Title: The Drapers
Dim: 8"x10"
While
researching 1960s portraits I found a number of them with the family
posed in this double column arrangement. Funny how today's forced
informal arrangements appear even less natural than this.
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Title: The Buxtons
Dim: 8"x8"
Years ago I realized
that I owned a souvenir wallet very similar to the one the Pee-Wee has
in "Big Adventure" so I thought I'd use it as a springboard for this
wallet size format. To give it that extra spilled-wallet-ness I
designed two fake business cards for Pee-Wee's favorite establishments.
The Buxton men are among my favorite minor characters ever, I wish they
had their own movie.
"Err.. fruit please."
I can't even guesstimate how many time I've quoted those lines.
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Title: The Buellers
Dim: 11"x14"
This
is one that I've intended to do since the very beginning but somehow
put it off until now. This is easily one of the most influential movies
of my youth.
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Title: The Bluths
Dim: 11"x14"
"Where
is George Senior?" is the official FAQ of this whole project. Answer:
He's in prison or in hiding. So why not Oscar then? Because no.
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Title: The Fischers
Dim: 5"x 7"
I
started to do this piece much larger but it did not seem like something
the characters would have in their humble home. All of Wes Anderson's
movies have a such a way with quaintness, they also have a lot of red
curtains so I made sure to use those as a backdrop.
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Title: The Gopniks
Dim: 11"x14"
This was a commissioned piece and my third visit to the Cohen Brothers' world. The inspirational film is A Serious Man
and as I watched it again for this project it's subtleties really
blossomed for me. The configuration makes more sense after you've seen
it.
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Title: Mister St. Clair
Dim: 11"x14"
I decided to break the family mold for this one, I figure Corky has enough charisma to be the star attraction (plus his wife never seems to be around.)
I've seen a lot of this type of photo, especially involving dancers,
and they always crack me up. The fairy-like floating self reminds me of
the proverbial angel or devil on your shoulder, either that or an "I'd
rather be..." fantasy thought bubble. Plus I couldn't resist finally
using the casual ladder prop.
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| Title: The Emersons Revamped
Dim: 11"x14"
From
the beginning these portraits have been a matter of the execution
trying to live up to the concept. The results throughout have been hit
and miss, and I think my biggest miss was "The Emersons" from Crazy 4 Cult 3.
In 2009 I raced to complete it along with three others in time for the
show and the outcome has been nothing short of cringe-inducing. The Lost Boys
is one of my all time favorite films and it deserves so much more than I
gave it. So in an effort to improve upon my artistic crimes, I took an
eraser to the original and revamped it. (get it?)
Here's a comparison... |
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When
it comes to likenesses it's amazing what a somewhat misplaced feature
or two can do, not to mention some amateurish hard lines. The "afters" are still far from great, but the process was quite cleansing. Maybe next year I'll pull it out again and add in Jar-Jar Binks.
(As I said before some originals and prints from this show are available here.) |
