Christopher Walken




“Sexy is a strange thing. I'm not sure it has to do with sex. Sexy has to do with not knowing whats coming next. It's unpredictability.”
― Christopher Walken

Curious..? George..?




"At some point in our lifetime, gay marriage won't be an issue, and everyone who stood against this civil right will look as outdated as George Wallace standing on the school steps keeping James Hood from entering the University of Alabama because he was black..."


— George Clooney

Miley Cyrus


These two posts are due to a challenge made by a couple of blokes I work with...

To paint first Justin Beiber's Hair and Myley Cyrus' teeth...

I loved the idea of first working on these tiny canvases in acrylic, and also doing caricatures of people I either feel totally indifferently to or bored &*^%less by…

Quite a challenge… To do works of people you admire or even despise is driven by strong emotion whereas these two pop tweeny idols are so very… ‘meh’

Oh, and Salvia Myley..?

Yeah – riiight..!

Justin Beiber


Ohh wooaah (3x)
You know you love me,I know you care
Just shout whenever, And I'll be there
You want my love, You want my heart
And we will never ever ever be apart

Are we an item? Girl quit playing
Were just friends, What are you saying
Said theres another, Look right in my eyes

My first love broke my heart for the first time,
And I was like
Baby, baby, baby ohhh
Like baby, baby, baby noo
Like baby, baby, baby ohh
I thought youd always be mine mine

Baby, baby, baby ohh
Like baby, baby, baby noo
Oh, forget it... It's absolute tosh - you get the point...

James Newell Osterberg, Jr. (AKA Iggy Pop)

LUST FOR LIFE


Here comes Johnny yen again
With the liquor and drugs
And the flesh machine
He’s gonna do another strip tease.
Hey man, where’d ya get that lotion?
I’ve been hurting since I’ve bought the gimmick
About something called love
Yeah, something called love
Well, that’s like hypnotizing chickens
Well, I’m just a modern guy
Of course, I’ve had it in the ear before
I have a lust for life
'Cause of a lust for life
I’m worth a million in prizes
With my torture film
Drive a GTO
Wear a uniform
All on a government loan
I’m worth a million in prizes
Yeah, I’m through with sleeping on the sidewalk
No more beating my brains
No more beating my brains
With liquor and drugs
With liquor and drugs
Well, I’m just a modern guy
Of course, I’ve had it in my ear before
Well, I’ve a lust for life (lust for life)
'Cause of a lust for life (lust for life, oooo)
I got a lust for life (oooo)
Got a lust for life (oooo)
Oh, a lust for life (oooo)
Oh, a lust for life (oooo)
A lust for life (oooo)
I got a lust for life (oooo)
Got a lust for life
Well, I’m just a modern guy
Of course, I’ve had it in my ear before
Well, I’ve a lust for life
'Cause I’ve a lust for life
Here comes Johnny yen again
With the liquor and drugs
And the flesh machine
He’s gonna do another strip tease
Hey man, where’d ya get that lotion?
Your skin starts itching once you buy the gimmick
About something called love
Love, love, love
Well, that’s like hypnotizing chickens
Well, I’m just a modern guy
Of course, I’ve had it in the ear before
And I’ve a lust for life (lust for life)
'cause I’ve a lust for life (lust for life)
Got a lust for life
Yeah, a lust for lifeI got a lust for life
A lust for life
Got a lust for life
Yeah a lust for life
I got a lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life
(Pop/Bowie, 1977)

Rusty


My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife.


And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.


Bringgggg.... Bringgggg...

The Dude Abides

Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, In the Cohen Brothers’ The Big Lebowski.


Forget Citizen Kane, this has been my favorite film of all time ever since it was released in 1998, and consequently I have wanted to do some drawings or caricatures of the central characters for some time. As a friend once said of the movie, Joel and Ethan Cohen seemed to somehow capture “lightning in a bottle” with this film.

Whilst not necessarily their cleverest or most philosophical movie, it’s definitely their funniest, and beloved by their fans, and specific fans of the movie alone. A huge cult following has developed: "Lebowski Fests" across the US and UK, social website clubs and merchandising usually associated with Sci-Fi flicks and mainstream actioneers. Like often with such a phenomenon it’s somehow affirming when think to yourself: “Wow; I’ve loved this all along, perhaps it’s not just me who’s weird about this thing…”

A great cast, brilliant writing, and fantastic performances across the board make this one of the nerd’s most quotable films of all time; along with such movies as This is Spinal Tap, The Blues Brothers and Withnail & I.

On an analytical level the film was a real attempt by the brothers to produce a Raymond Chandler–style crime-thriller, at a burned-out-stoner/hippy pace. Their work is typically layered in so much meaning and reference to other films and filmic tradition.

All of the Cohen Brothers films have a bumbling central male character who is thrown into circumstances beyond his control, a strong central female character (usually a love interest) who is in control and often acts as a catalyst for him to overcome his adversity, and a male patriarchal antagonist, who is more often than not the embodiment or barer of the problem he faces.

The Big Lebowski is also a twisted plotline full of red herrings, bizarre characters who are introduced and fall by the wayside, and double crosses, just like the hard boiled crime fiction of Chandler and Dashiell Hammett who inspired the Cohen’s to write it, only with idleness, White Russian cocktails, pot, bowling and incompetent friends thrown in to muddy the waters.

Oh, and a Toe. And Nihilists. And a marmott. And a Pomeranian. And Persian rugs. And a bag full of underpants...

(Best seen rather than told about…)


I’d sat down to draw The Dude once a couple of years ago, and was distracted. What was left were a couple of eyes, nose, and a mouth in quick pen line sketches staring back at me from my notebook. I discarded it, and knocked this up in a little over an hour, and it makes me proud to say I didn’t sharpen my HB pencil or apply an eraser to it even once!



The Dude Redux





I did a quick version of the drawing with the darks inked, and ran it through autotrace to soften the pencil lines, and narrowed the picture-plain to stretch his face but it seems to lose something.



Hmmn... See what you think.

Joey Ramone


Joey Ramone born May 19, 1951 as Jeffrey Ross Hyman, was a vocalist and songwriter for the punk rock group the Ramones. A chronic sufferer of OCD, he was one of the first artists to join the Artists United Against Apartheid ban of Sun City in 1985.

Joey Ramone died of lymphoma at New York-Presbyterian Hospital on April 15, 2001.
Judy is a punk

Jackie is a punk Judy is a runt
They both went down to Berlin, joined the Ice-capades
And oh, I don’t know why oh, I don’t know why
Perhaps they’ll die, oh yeah perhaps they’ll die, oh yeah
Perhaps they’ll die, oh yeah perhaps they’ll die, oh yeah

Second verse, same as the first Jackie is a punk Judy is a runt
They both went down to Berlin, joined the ice capades
And oh, I don’t know why oh, I don’t know why
Perhaps they’ll die, oh yeah perhaps they’ll die, oh yeah
Perhaps they’ll die, oh yeah perhaps they’ll die, oh yeah

Third verse, different from the first Jackie is a punk Judy is a runt
They both went down to Frisco, joined the Sla
And oh, I don’t know why oh, I don’t know why
Perhaps they’ll die, oh yeah perhaps they’ll die, oh yeah
Perhaps they’ll die, oh yeah perhaps they’ll die, oh yeah


Jim Carrey... Seriously!


I think the first time I saw Jim Carrey perform was on the Wayans Brothers’ sketch comedy show In Living Colour. Whilst it was a breakthrough program in many respects, (a largely African-American cast, good performances, and edgy humour) it’s since proven that the talent and longevity belonged to Carrey and not to the other ‘Star” which came out of the show, Damon Wayans. Whilst he was doing “Homey the Clown”, Carrey was doing uncanny impersonations of well known but truly tough-to-do-stars like Jack Nicholson and William Shatner (as Captain Kirk) which were more than just funny; they were spot-on.

I guess the proof’s in the pudding; which one is floundering in a crappy, formularaic sit-com and which one is an A-List Hollywood power player..?

And don’t start me on the rest of the Wayans; Keenan-Ivory played Steven Segal’s side-kick in a piss-poor action flick, and as for the other brothers; two words: White Chicks. Absolute crap.

It occurred to me that whilst Jim Carrey seems a pretty together guy, and far from the “Sad Clown” which we often see; the depressive person who puts on a face to entertain, he’s someone who has a wealth of theatrical talent and serious acting chops which he really dreams of being recognized for.

A far cry from the white sidekick in the all-black cast or even Ace Ventura.

Sir Sean Connery as James Bond 007

The original and best Bond, famed as being considered by legions of female fans the “sexiest man alive”, even though years older than the other candidates (old enough to be the grandfather of many). The former Edinburgh milkman, male model and bodybuilder has been accused in recent years for being too ‘hands-on’ in solving marital disputes, a symptom of a dinosaur era perhaps, but there’s no denying Connery is walking proof that charisma will win you over in the end.

His friend and fellow Scott Billy Connolly claims that he has witnessed other, successful, handsome, self-assured heterosexual men become nervous and "school-girlish" in Sir Sean's presence.

"Their voices go all sort of high-pitched at the end of sentences..." Connolly claims.

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James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano


Exactly ten years and one day older than yours truly (or you could argue that if I were born in Australia; and he in the USA, given the time difference he is exactly ten years older than me to the day) I first noticed James Gandolfini in the Tony “Top-Gun” Scott Submarine thriller Crimson Tide (1995), as Lt Bobby Dougherty. It was only later I realized it was the same guy who played the sadistic hitman Virgil in Scott’s True Romance (1993). Both were delivered with just the right amount of menace and psychopathic violence to be able to later portray Televisions arguably greatest protagonist, Tony Soprano.

The last episode aired only last night here in Australia as I type this tribute, and as hyperbolic and protracted and pretentious as it sounds, words cannot even describe the impact this show and this man’s performance have made on myself and millions of viewers worldwide. I hesitate to use the term “fans”; as we can admire the quiet and humble Mr. Gandolfini, with his swag of Emmy’s and Golden Globes, but it’s hard to admire the monster-mobster that was Tony Soprano.

Never patronizing it’s audience, and elevating Television Drama to a new high-water-mark, every time we watched The Sopranos and chuckled at something funny Tony said, politically incorrect or otherwise, or when he endeared us to him through his warmth, kindness and loyalty, in-turn his next outrageous act of violence reminded us just what an absolute remorseless animal he could be.

Emotion never rode a roller-coaster quite like this, at least not for 86 episodes.

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Tim Burton

Born in Burbank, California in 1958, smack-bang in the middle of studio town, lover of 50’s kitsch Tim Burton was destined to become a filmmaker…

Filmography:

Doctor of Doom (1979)
Vincent (1982)
Luau (1982)
Frankenweenie (1984)
Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
Beetlejuice (1988)
Batman (1989)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Batman Returns (1992)
Ed Wood (1994)
Mars Attacks! (1996)
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Big Fish (2003)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Corpse Bride (2005)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
The Spook's Apprentice (2009)







Totally out there-genius. Every one of them a cracker. Ok, perhaps the Planet of the Apes remake sucked, and the lovely Mrs. Burton (Helena Bonham Carter) looked a tad too much like Michael Jackson for comfort, but we can forgive him, can’t we..?


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Wolverine/Hugh Jackman

Delighting panicky fan-boys and critics alike, Aussie song and dance-man Hugh Jackman stamped his mark on Hollywood with the role of Logan AKA Wolverine in Bryan Singer’s X-Men (2000) X-2 (2003) and Brett Ratner’s sequel X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).

The long running Marvel comic book character was done justice in these performances, despite the third film receiving mixed reviews. Many suggest the final film installment has left the door open for a series of Wolverine films.

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Kerry Packer

Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer AC (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005), son of Sir Frank Packer, was an Australian publishing, media and gaming tycoon who owned the Nine Network. He was famous for his outspoken nature, wealth, expansive business empire and clashes with the Australian Taxation Office and the Costigan Commission.

At the time of his death, Packer was the wealthiest and one of the most influential men in Australia. In 2004, Business Review Weekly magazine estimated Packer's net worth at AUD 6.5 billion ($6.5 billion; about USD 5.4 billion).


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Mark Latham

Mark Latham

For those websurfers outside of Australia, Mark Latham was a former Australian politician and leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party, and was Leader of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005.

Latham captured national attention and high levels of public approval with his policies and unconventional approach. He soon attracted controversy surrounding his past.

He was accused of mismanaging funds when Mayor of the Liverpool Municipality, in Sydney’s West. He claimed he had reduced Liverpool's debt-servicing ratio from 17 percent to 10 percent, which he said was less than half of western Sydney's average. He also said Liverpool had adopted a debt-retirement strategy that he claimed would have made it debt-free by 2005, but which was not implemented by his successors. Councillor Colin Harrington, whom Latham defeated during the mayoral elections of 1991, later said these figures were not accurate. He said the average debt-servicing ratio for western Sydney was 12.1 percent and he said the council's financial staff could find no significant reference to the debt-retirement strategy.

Latham was also charged with assault after he broke a taxi drivers arm in western Sydney.

In the October 2004 federal election, Latham was defeated by the incumbent Prime Minister, John Howard. Deteriorating relations with his party and ill health saw him resign as Leader on 18 January 2005.

In September 2005, Latham released The Latham Diaries in which he attacked many of his former colleagues and members of the media, as well as condemning the general state of political life in Australia.

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Tatooine Idol

Tatooine Idol (Hosted by Jibber the Butt)

In Star Wars, Obi-One-Kenobi called Moss Eisley “A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy”.

If Tatooine Idol were a real show, that’s where the auditions would be held.

I was amused by the notion of people performing in front of a self-important, morally bankrupt offensive, inflated, talentless windbag, and I came up with this. A space talent quest hosted by Jabba the Hut, where if you lose, you fall through the floor and get eaten by a monster. I don’t even watch the show (because I’m older than thirteen, and I, um, have a life), yet I still know what this guy is like…

Q-How do you save Kyle Sandilands from drowning in his enormous jumbo ice cream sundae..?

A-Take your foot of his head.


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Robert Smith of The Cure

Robert Smith of The Cure

My oldest surviving characterture, from 1991.

(Many people would consider Smith as more of a disease than a Cure...)






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Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and Kym Beazley

Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and Kym Beazley
The rare pontificating Grey-Topped Queensland Koala, the Vicious Victorian Talon Emu (watch your back!), and the old Western Red Kangaroo, put out to pasture.
Can they hold up the national crest, or will it fall flat on the ground..?

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Nitwit in Iraq

Meet the new adventure character, Nitwit.

Intrepid Man-boy-western-world-leader Nitwit trots the globe in search of adventure with his trusty sidekick Whitey, the Australasian bald crawling terrier.

Attempting to push "pull" doors, miss-pronunciation of elementary words and a general sense of the absurd notwithstanding, Nitwit is often joined on his adventures by gung-ho retired seaman Captain Rumsfeld and the brilliant but utterly worthless Professor Condeyrice, the selectively deaf foreign policy inventor.

Look forward to Nitwit's next adventures, Nitwit in New Orleans and Flight 93.

Coatsie~ the reclusive Belgian Illustrator is also taking requests for more Nitwit adventure ideas, so don't be shy boys and girls.



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Nick Cave

Nick Cave

Australian musician, writer, composer, screenwriter and actor.


Cave studied painting (Fine Art) at the Caulfield Institute of Technology (now Monash University, Caulfield Campus) in 1976, but dropped out in 1977 to pursue music, so he’s OK by me. Around this time he started using heroin, which is, ahem, not OK by me…

The Man who coined the phrase “Kicking against The Pricks”.

Loved by those in the know, the rock musician’s musician, he has no respect for pretension and even less for those with an inflated sense of purpose for themselves and their own mediocre work.

A prodigious talent.


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