Jackie O. Galapagos

 

So, for my next character design, I chose Jackie O. from the recently reread Kurt Vonnegut book, Galapagos.  While not really a character in the book, she is mentioned as one of the celebrities that have booked 'The Cruise of the Century' to the Galapagos Islands in the story. The intended cruise. You'll have to read the book to know more. 

A character by the name of Jesus Ortiz describes my inspiration for Jackie O., or as he puts it, Señora Kennedy:

"But now the truth about one of these supposedly wonderful visitors, *Andrew MacIntosh, had polluted Ortiz's metal picture not only of all the other minor deities, but of Señora Kennedy herself.

So that head-and-shoulders portrait grew fangs like a vampire, and the skin dropped off the face, but the hair stayed on. It was a grinning skull now, wishing nothing but pestilence and death for little Ecuador."

Kurt Vonnegut

No one had his finger on the pulse of America more so than Kurt Vonnegut. The guy used wit and humor to portray the best and worst that a human being could be. His words painted the human drama in a way that was uniquely Vonnegut and there will never be another one like him, just as with most of the great original thinkers.
And he knew what it was all about. Or what it should be all about, that is.

"You just have to be kind, baby."

Indianapolis and Greensburg

Here are a few photos from my adventure in Indiana last week. While my wife was busy toiling away at a training seminar, I took the time to explore the area, including Indianapolis, a city that I had never visited before. My first stop was the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

 Rufus (1762-65) by George Stubbs
I don't know if Rufus was sickly or not, but this painting as simple as the composition is, struck a chord within me. It's a beautiful painting of a horse as one will ever see.

 Angel of the Resurrection (1904) by Tiffany Studios.
This was the center piece of a larger memorial all done in stained glass. Years ago, I worked in a stained glass studio and always regretted not being able to paint like this on the glass itself. Truly an art form in itself. And being familiar with what the Tiffany Studios produced I certainly appreciated this piece of work and spent some time absorbing it all.

 I'm sure that I'm not the first to take this picture, but I just had to. It's a funny site watching those 'art critics' looking with speculation at that dancing bronze kid.

 My second stop was at the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library. Here I am recreating the famous photo on the desk.

 This is Corey Dalton and he gave me a most informative tour of the museum. If you have a chance, check out his website and links to his other sites. He's a very busy and interesting guy.

 Here is the front of the museum. You can check out their website here.

 The State Soldiers And Sailors Monument in downtown Indy. This is probably one of the most impressive city circles that I've seen and this one was finished in 1902. The monument was designed by Bruno Schmitz (1868-1916), the marble sculptures were done by Rudolph Schwarz (1866-1912) and the bronze work was done by Nicolus Geiger (1849-1897). Very cool.

This is the clock tower of the Decatur County Court House in Greensburg, IN. In 1870 a large aspen tree made its appearance and has been here ever since (although, I've been told that this is the third such tree). Still...

Much to my wife's dismay, I dropped some cash in my time in Indianapolis, so I don't want to hear about any bad economy. I did my part!

Vonnegut and other things

Here is the finished painting of Kurt Vonnegut. I actually finished this pretty fast and it's been done for a few weeks now, but as usual, all that pain in the ass stuff like photographing it and resizing , blah, blah, blah...
When I do a portrait and spend some time with it, the face doesn't seem recognizable to me after awhile and I still don't really see Vonnegut, but abstract shapes and lines, so I hope that someone can. I've been told that I've captured his likeness, so...

So it goes.

10x15
acrylic on illustration board




A couple of weeks ago I attended the Motor City Comicon and got to meet another one of my favorite comic book/illustrators, Michael Golden. Back in the late 70's, for me, this guy did to comics what Star Wars did for movies. He illustrated the first 10 or 12 issues of Micronauts and I have many a fond memory sitting on the front porch in the summertime with a bottle of coke and being whisked away to the micro universe.

Sometimes, when meeting someone who is admired, they turn out to be less than hoped for, but Mr. Golden didn't disappoint me at all. He's a very nice guy with a good sense of humor and it was nice to talk with him. And I spent a little time talking with his manager, as well, and she was great, too.

And he was nice enough to have a pic taken with me.

This week that I attended the show was a good one for me and some good things may come from it, but I'm not saying yet what they are because they haven't materialized yet. So, when I do know more, so shall you.

Kurt Vonnegut

Here is a drawing that I just finished of the late, great Kurt Vonnegut. I may do this as a painting.

12x18
colored pencil on tinted paper