The Story of Dyannie

I'm a huge sucker for kiddie movies and musicals, so when I finally watched Annie [for the first time a year ago] my mind was pretty much blown. Like, I got goosebumps during "Hard Knock Life" even after the 38th time of rewinding it. I know, it's ridiculous, 1982 is calling me and wants its pop culture reference back, Aileen Quinn is on Medicare by now, etc. I don't care!

Now, when I was 21-23, I had a huge obsession with Bob Dylan. The poetry from his first several albums appropriately struck me at the time in an incredibly significant way. To me, there was a great deal of comfort in knowing that abstracted language and themes of youthful restlessness and cynicism could be so timeless. I was so grateful for the gift of Dylan in the way his work was an elegant homage to the silliness of pretension.

So, what do you think the first thing I thought of was when I saw this screen shot:

Um, that's what I thought. So I created this portrait as a result:

  

 
Does anyone else see the resemblance? Maybe I'm the only one who's watched Annie in 25 years anyhow, but it still kills me every time I watch it. Look, I know the movie is based on the classic comic then Broadway play. But I like to think that Bob Dylan stole the "moth-eaten thrift store sweater and teased curly fro" look and the costume department just had to throw their hands up and roll with it.

Pin Up Academy

I've been working on this request for a piece, a pin up girl in WWII garb against a spade background. It occurred to me that the colloquial term "cheesecake" for a piece of of pin up art has the connotation of being light, airy and undisciplined.

But besides the obvious one-note subject matter, pin up art is some of the most consistently academic portraiture of the 20th century. And truly, how one-note can an image be when the sex appeal is neither vulgar nor exaggerated, but the work of a subtle blend of the ethereal lines of feminine beauty?

Take a look at this image I use for reference:

I mean, such a stunning painting. Certainly, executed quickly for a fast turnover, but the effortlessness and ease of the style of this piece is so telling of the mastery of the artist. The figure is lush and intangibly attractive, but she is grounded in the reality of imperfection and rendered with a rather loose command of the brush. The lighting is not truly realistic either; it's simply been used as a reference guide to flatter the most classical shapes of the female form.

But every element of these pieces are tied to the traditional techniques of academic painting. Just because the subject is a woman in a (perhaps) provocative pose, can we really afford to cast these artworks off as mindless fluff? If we can get past the (admittedly threateningly) gorgeous image of a woman being sensually alluring, we can see pin up art as an incredibly disciplined vehicle for expression that we can all react to with feeling.

Connor

Many months ago, the TeamConnor foundation came and spoke at my dad's work. He was so moved by their presentation, he asked me to do a portrait of the little boy that inspired their work. He loved baseball, so I created a portrait of him as an old well-loved baseball card.

I have to say, knowing some of this child's story made this difficult to work on. But I do hope it it does just a little to honor his memory.