I'm on reality TV!

We where watching some serious trash the other night and ended up on MTV's "I'm from Rolling Stone". The show is about a bunch of kids who get a chance to write for Rolling Stone magazine. My favorite thing about this show is trying to see whose art is on the wall in the office shots. I've seen some nice Phillip Burkes, Anita Kunz's, CF Paynes..and good god, one of MINE!

That's Otis Redding by the way. I did it a couple of years ago for one of RS's "Immortals" issues. I'd do it differently today.

Sinead sketch

Here's a sketch of Sinead O'Connor done from a photo my friend Laura Levine shot of her back in the 80's just before Sinead became really famous. This is just messing around, hopefully ending up as a promo. For the sketch I used Alias's Sketchbook Pro, which is a great piece of software for drawing.

Happy Birthday Mr. Cash

Johnny's my favorite. Hands down.

For an amazing story that I wish was mine, click here:
http://www.drawger.com/marcart/?section=comments&article_id=2768

Rick Rubin Final

Here's the final art for the Rick Rubin sketch I posted below. Man, this took a looooong time! I intended to use this as a promo postcard, but I'm not sure if I want to do work that's this involved. I like how it came out, though.

I looked at a lot of Van DerWeyden, Memling, and other Flemish masters while I worked on this. I also had the pleasure of listening to all the bands/artists while I worked, which added some inspiration. Even Justin Timberlake. Just don't tell anybody I did that.

If you're wondering, on the left there's the Dixie chicks, Jay Z, Neil Diamond, and Johnny Cash. On the right, it's Anthony Keidis and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Beastie Boys, and Justin Timberlake. And that's a Slayer t-shirt Ricky's wearing.

Whew!

Rick Rubin(sketch)

I'll expose myself here as a music geek. I'm a big fan of certain music producers. While alot of people like to play name that tune with the radio, I like name that producer. It's not as hard as it sounds after you get to know someone's sound. Think about 80's era AC/DC, Def Leppard, and Bryan Adams. It was all John "Mutt" Lange, who's married to Shania Twain (who has a similar sound.If there's a musician you like who seems inconsistent from album to album, it's probably because they're surfing producers. Sometimes this is good, sometimes not.

Now my favorite guy is Rick Rubin, whose Zelig like presence in music has more of a zen feel. That is, once you know he's produced a band, you say "yeah, yeah, I hear it now", but it doesn't hit you over the head like alot of guys whose fingerprints almost obscure the artists voice. Rubin cofounded Def Jam, worked with the metal band Slayer on their most memorable album, and plucked Johnny Cash from the waste bin, shined him up and let us hear what a treasure we nearly lost. Listen to Cash's American Recordings from the 90's to hear what I'm talking about. He tried the same thing with Neil Diamond with excellent results.

I've included just a few of the more popular artists Rubin has worked with here:The Dixie Chicks, Jay Z, Neil Diamond, Johnny Cash, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the Beastie Boys. I would usually try my best not to have this many people in a piece, because I think it waters down the impact of an image, but I'll try to make this work.

Robert Johnson/Leadbelly

The recent death of James Brown has had me thinking of other similarly influential artists of the 20th century. Maybe it's because I'm more familiar with the century I grew up in, but it seems that the 20th century was fertile ground for new art forms, new technology, etc. In the first half of the century we had the birth of swing, jazz, blues, and rock in music. And in the visual arts we had the explosion of what would be known as Modern art. Picasso, Dali, Pollack, Disney. Yes, I said Disney. The thing that ties all the groundbreakers together (aside from the fact that they were visionaries) is that they were all misfits in some way. Not a lot of well adjusted children in this bunch. If they were alive today, you'd find their mugshots on the smokinggun.com.

I don't want to say that if you want to be a groundbreaking pioneer in your field you have to be an asshole, but I guess it doesn't hurt.

Anyway, here's an image of a couple of my all time favorite assh...uh, pioneers. Robert Johnson and Leadbelly. They say Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his prowess on the guitar. He'd show up to gigs late, get drunk, then leave with someone elses wife. If he were alive today he'd probably be a hip hop guy. Thank God (or, you know who) that he was born way back in the day instead.

Leadbelly, whose songs Led Zeppelin covered, was a killer musician. Literally. He did some time for killing a man, then after being released he was charged again for attempted murder. He picked up the nickname "Leadbelly"(his given name was Hudy Leadbetter) from his fellow prisoners after an attempt on his life turned into an old fashioned turn of the tables butt whoopin'.

If not for the documentarian Alan Lomax, we might not know about Leadbelly or many of the other southern musicians whose roots eventually grew into the amazing tree we know as the music of the 20th century.

James Brown, R.I.P.

As you know, James Brown passed away over Christmas. He was a great musician, whose influence and legacy will reach far beyond our generation. Music historians will look back on his career and mark Brown's musical contributions as a lynchpin in the evolution of late 20th century music.

But. The man was a major league asshole. He seemed determined to provide a personal Yin to his artistic Yang. As anybody with loved ones who have been touched by domestic violence knows, violence is the gift that keeps on giving. It can take generations for a family to rid itself of the abuse that a member like Brown inflicted on his "loved ones". He cut a vile swath through life as a drug abuser, and serial wife beater. He was often forgiven because of his music, but never contrite. The lesson he seemed to learn was that as long as he was the "Hardest working Man in Show Businesss", he could also be the biggest asshole in any roomed he walked into.

I love the music. But the man? Good riddance.

Led Zeppelin

This was to be my first (only?) cover for Rolling Stone magazine. I got the call on my birthday, and I thought it was a friend playing a joke on me. Anyone who knew me when I was a kid knows how much I loved Zeppelin, and the cover of Rolling Stone has always been the brass ring of my illustration career.

So, I got the call and was like, "Yeah, suuuure, I'll draw a little picture for you. But the guy on the other end sounded sincere, and the small part of me that hasn't been turned to blackened stone held out a little hope that it was the real thing. Turned out it was.

After about a dozen sketches, a final was approved and I went to work on the final...uh, final. The trouble with working digitally is that clients feel free to ask for changes more often than they did before Photoshop was so widely used. So, after I finished the "final" and sent it, more changes, etc. No big deal at all, though. This was a COVER for Rolling Stone.

After I sent the final final final, I jokingly said to the AD, "So what are the chances this thing will actually see a newsstand?" He paused and said, "Well, you never know, usually Jan (Wenner, the publisher) comes in and says "I love it", or "I hate it". Well guess which one it was for me. They went with a colorized black and white stock photo instead.

The thing is, after spending so much time sweating over this thing, I can't even see it any more. It's almost as though I have no idea whether it sucks, or if it's just okay or what.

Anyway, here it is.

Tom Waits

Tom Waits released a new triple album today. I love this guy. For the first part of his career he was kind of a lounge novelty act. Very sentimental and/or drunken rants. Funny, but not what you'd call art. He met the woman he married and she challenged him to creatively throw himself off a cliff and learn to fly, and the results have been amazing. I can't say how many times my wife has wandered into the studio and said "What the HELL are you listening to?". For me, it's been a real inspiration to see a guy who's fearlessly charted a path of his own. I don't think you could classify Wait's music under any other genre than "Tom Waits".

I hope to take my own singular artistic path. I feel like I'm still the funnyish lounge act, but I'm going to be an artist someday.

Robert Johnson

There are 2 known photos of Blues legend Robert Johnson. I've used both as reference for this piece. Johnson is a favorite subject of artists because he has such a great legend surrounding him, as well as being the first real "rock star". He'd show up late for gigs, get drunk, and leave early with someone's wife. They say he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for being able to play like the devil. I tried to get an iconic feel to this, kind of a stained glass treatment. Someday I'd like to learn how to make stained glass and try this one out.

My Chemical Romance

This is Gerard Way from the band My Chemical Romance. I love that name. I also love how Way just pours himself into MCR's music. For a long time rockers seemed to be almost apologetic about being over the top and theatrical. I enjoy watching music videos with my kids, and when this band comes on, it scares the bejeezus out of them.
This was for a review of their latest album "The Black Parade".

Dylan

Here's a portrait a Bob Dylan I did for a record review. I like that Dylan's not afraid to alienate his audience by trying new things, even rework his songs completely. So in keeping with that, I tried to veer off my usual flightplan a bit and make this a little more "collage-y".

Dan Zanes

Music

I did this yesterday for the Wall Street Journal. The art director is David Bamundo, who is a very talented illustrator and all around great guy. We were both in Philadelphia a few years ago for an Illustrator's conference and had our first real Philly cheese steak together. I think we had the same reaction - "Huh." I remember there where more than a few beers consumed that weekend. It's nice having someone like Dave in the position he's in at the Journal. It feels like our side has infiltrated the other side in a way.

Anyway, about the piece. Dan Zanes used to be in the Del Fuegos - the Next Big Thing out of the Boston Music scene back in the 80's I think he was in the Neighborhoods before that. At any rate, the Del Fuego's high water mark came when they scored the soundtrack to a beer commercial (Miller?), and it seemed to go downhill from there. My band "Thunderhouse" opened for them at a bar in Scituate around 1989. God, I'm old.

Zanes has found a new career as a children's music performer. I've heard some of the stuff, and I have to say, it's pretty darn good. Way better than your Raffi or Wiggles or Barney type of thing. Still, I wonder if he's ever done any shows with those cats. I'll bet backstage is a little different than what it was when he was a "grown up" rocker. At least now the backstage vomiting and pants wetting is performed by actual babies and toddlers instead of guys who just act like that.

American Classic

The election had me thinking about my favorite White House story. During the Carter administration Willie Nelson was a guest at the White House for a party, and he took a break from the crowd to get some fresh air up on the roof...and smoke a joint!

Election Day

Here's a little election day music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3jBXEF3eAo&mode=related&search=