TOM - I know this has nothing to do with art at all, but I'm secure enough to admit that I attended a live taping of the Martha Stewart Show yesterday. Stephanie got the tickets 'cause she has some weird obsession with her, so a group of us went to check it out.
I must say the set is beautiful. It's really big, really clean and nothing is fake. From the kitchen to the greenhouse, to the 'craft corner', everything is real, no props, which is pretty cool. And everybody who worked there was really nice. We all got the 'Stewart treatment' when we arrived we were served croissants and bottled water before being seated. Once we sat down, I felt like I was swimming in a sea of suburban housewives, and they all looked like different variations of Martha herself! creepy.
Wow those were a lot of lights! I felt really intimidated being underneath them. I started to realize that you REALLY have to love being the center of attention in order to get in front of a camera underneath all those light everyday. Not quite for me.
And there she is, Queen of her castle, Martha Stewart. She has always struck me as a very cold person, and seeing her in person only confirmed my assumption. She makes it very clear that she is the boss. Ten minutes before airtime, she was in the kitchen testing the food out, and making sure everyone was on there toes, just like any head chef would in a fancy restaurant. No smiles. She did not interact with the audience until after the show was taped, when she took a few questions from the crowd, but before that, it was as if the audience wasn't even there. As cold as she is and as much as I would probably never want to work for or with her, you have to kind of admire her success and her ability to withstand obstacles, move with the changing times, and go against the odds. I mean, she's more successful now, than she was before she did time in prison! All in all, she's an interesting character. A portrait of her might be on the way.
I now open the comments up for abuse, go easy on me...
TOM - This week I did an illustration for New York Press. It was a bit of a departure from the sex themed illustrations I usually do for them. The story is about a guy who's good friend was killed in an underground poker game last fall. A true story that reflects on a senseless death as well as the recent death of underground poker itself. The Art Director had this specific idea in mind for the drawing, so I put my energy into creating a nice composition and playing around with color. Edowyn recently gave me some tips about adding texture with Photoshop, so I've been playing around with it. On a separate sheet of paper I made an ink wash, scanned it, adjusted it a bit, then added it to the color.
Before all of that though, it was drawn in pencil, inked with brush. Check out the article in this weeks New York Press, or read it right here. Later.
