I have seen one too many caricatures of this guy (who turns 54 today) and I tried my damnedest not to be influenced by them. I kind of see Mr. Bean as the cop-out caricature (like Keith Richards or Michael Jackson), in that most artists can put little effort into the drawing, yet almost anyone will still recognize who it is. I kind of struggled with this one, because he has almost TOO much to work with.
Happy Birthday to Matt Frewer who turns 51. A name that might be unfamiliar to most, he is better known to me as Max Headroom. He's been in dozens of feature films, with the bulk of them falling into the sci-fi/horror genre (my favorite being the 2004 version of Dawn of the Dead). He can be seen in the upcoming Watchmen (same director as Dawn of the Dead).
Max Headroom started as a science fiction television show (set "20 minutes in the future") in the mid to late 80's, and shortly after moved on to sell Coca-Cola and do his own talk show on Cinemax. If there is one non-human celebrity emblematic of the 1980's, he is the first one who comes to (my) mind.
Between all of the retro, pretend "vintage" shirts with that manufactured weathered look and the garish 80's colors (neon pink, yellow and teal) that seems to have become so fashionable with kids and teenagers, I am very surprised I have not yet seen Max Headroom sported anywhere. Maybe in the next 20 minutes?
I think we're close enough to the post-Christmas season that this video is appropriate to share. It's almost as amusing as it is unsettling.
One of several people younger, richer, and more successful than me, NY Giants quarterback Eli Manning turns 28 today. They entered the playoffs as a wild card team with a 10-6 record last season. The bastards defeated the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship. But it was for a good cause, as they went on to defeat the undefeated Patriots in Superbowl XLII. As a result, Eli was named MVP of the Superbowl and would no longer be doomed to live in the shadow of his older brother, Peyton Endorsement Whore Manning.
This is one of those drawings that I wasn't too pleased with when I sketched it out, but for some stupid reason thought that it would look better once I rendered it. I don't know how many times I have to remind myself that no amount of rendering will disguise crappy, lazy groundwork.
Yesterday televangelist, adulterer and fraud Jim Bakker hit the ripe old age of 70. In the 1970's Bakker and his then wife, the late great Tammy Clownface Faye, began the PTL (Praise the Lord) ministry and started their own cable Tv show. They built a theme park in the early 80's know as Heritage USA in South Carolina. Complete with a 500 room luxury hotel, it was the third most successful theme park at the time, topped only by Disneyland and Walt Disney World (hard to compete with the hammer of God!).
It eventually all fell apart after a scandal involving an affair and numerous counts of fraud that lead to a 45 year sentence in prison. He was released after only 5 years for reasons I will spare here. He is now back on TV with The Jim Bakker Show, live and daily! See http://www.jimbakkershow.com for information!!
On a side note, years ago I watched a documentary called The Eyes of Tammy Faye. It was fascinating, effortlessly hilarious and borderline exploitative (but seemed unintentional) . It covers much of the Jim and Tammy Bakker story. If you ever have the opportunity and/or need some cheering up, by all means, watch it!
And here's a clip I found about televangelist scandals that features Jim Bakker's story.
*Honorable Mentions: Tia Carrere turned 42 and Cuba Gooding, Jr. turned 41.
And this forever concludes my Elvis-a-day task, challenge, deadwieght, etc. 366 Elvi in the can (and never once repeated an image)! Don't ask, "Why the extra one?", for this was a leap year.
Perhaps it will seem more satisfactory to potential viewers if I'm actually posting something EVERY (or every other) day. No, I will not keep drawing Elvis in 2009, but the drawing each day goal will continue. I have won the battle for now, but the war must go on...
The final "Milestone Elvis" of the year. #366 will obviously be the biggest landmark for me, but this is officially the last "milestone", in that it was something to be proud of each time I completed another 50.
Keeping with the routine of having an animal in each Milestone Elvis drawing (#'s 50 and 100 were coincidental and started the tradition), here he is with the beast that shares the same name with Elvis' best selling single of all time.
Over the past few weeks I've been working on the cast of The Office, little by little. I think the only ones I'm missing now are Jan, Bob Vance and Mose. And maybe Roy. But he's been very absent for a long while.
*UPDATE! Finally got around to making a finalized digital piece. I hope to do more of these. Prints for sale! If interested, email me at zack@zackwallenfang.com.
Nordberg: All right, listen up everyone! I want you to calmly file towards the exits. That's it, that's it! Nobody runs, just walk. Single file. That's it. Now if we just stay calm, no one's gonna be harmed by the huge bomb that's gonna explode any minute.
After 13 years of running free, the law could never just back off this fallen hero. Pro Football Hall of Famer Orenthal James Simpson was sentenced today for at least 15 years after choosing the wrong city and state to lead an armed robbery in a hotel room confrontation. He was merely trying to retrieve stolen items to give to the Goldman family, during a break from tracking down the killer or killers of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman. But certain "evidence" and "witnesses" suggested otherwise.
On a technical note, I don't think the photo-realism look is my friend, but I thought it was necessary for the stamp idea. And an odd angle. After watching him live on tv today, I was seeing all sorts of great things that got lost in the angle I chose to work with. And very difficult colors to work with, and the more I stare at it, the more I dislike. But screw it, I'm finished.
