getrandy

I am a huge fan of the New York Knicks. Years ago, the Knicks brought in a player named Latrell Sprewell. Now, Sprewell was a terrific player. The guy had speed, power, could shoot,  and most importantly, the nastiness you need to play in New York. Great signing, right? Well, not so fast. Before coming to New York, Latrell played for the Golden State Warriors and was involved in an incident with his coach. I say "involved in an incident" when what actually happened was Sprewell choked the living hell out of the guy. As a result, he was fined, suspended and no team wanted to touch the guy. Except the Knicks. He ended up coming here and being a part of a winning club, going to the finals, the all star game- generally being a great part of a winning team.


When I first heard about the choking incident my first reaction was: "What a thug, awful thing to do, how could you do that in a professional setting, what a jackass, terrible guy, etc." Then I heard the Knicks were going to sign him and I had to realign my position a bit. You see, for as much as I hated what he did, I really wanted to see my Knicks be successful. So I decided that just because we know what Latrell did, doesn't mean other guys in the league aren't doing as bad or worse things that we DON'T know about. I knew that if a player was great and on my team, I am going to root like hell for him, damn the off the court stuff. That line of thinking led me to think about other areas where performers, or better yet, where ARTISTS are involved. After all, athletes are artists as much as anyone. So what does this "Sprewell Principle" mean for all artists?

As an artist myself, I have people whose work I truly admire and follow and kind of put up on a pedestal. I had heard story after story of people meeting some of my artistic heroes and them turning out to be major league jerks. It got to a point where I decided that, not only do I never want to meet some of my heroes, but that wether or not they were jerks was kind of irrelevant. After all, Michelangelo could have been a world class asshole and how would we know? For all we know, Leonardo Da Vinci was a prick! Does it change their art, or my appreciation for it? Not at all.

Basically it comes down to the idea that I believe we have to have a bit of a disconnect in order for us to truly appreciate an artists work. And by that I mean all artists, athletes, actors, singers- the whole lot of 'em. Do you know about that famous singer's penchant for dressing up like Musolini and wearing a watermelon on his head? No? but his album is #1 on the chart! What about the bisexual necrophiliac baseball player? No? But he's in the hall of fame! My point is- what we don't know is probably a good thing- at least when it comes to the appreciation of art.

Which brings me to Mel Gibson (good segue, eh?). I used to be a Mel gibson fan, who doesn't love the first 2 Lethal Weapon movies? Mad Max? The guy was cool and funny. Then the whole anti-simetic, drunken rant happened. Kinda made me look twice at the guy. That rant offended me, not because of the jewish blood in me, but more because of the hate involved. The guy just was a bigot. Bigotry in any form is deplorable and here was this guy just spewing hate. Not good. But then I found myself thinking of good ole Latrell Sprewell. Loved that guy. Hated what he did. Hard to reconcile still but what are we to do when it comes to appreciating art? Will I see the new Mel Gibson movie? Probably not. That may have more to do with my having kids and never leaving the house but to go to work. But wether or not to EVER see a Mel Gibson movie is an issue I have yet to work out. After all, Leni Riefenstahl was basically a nazi...but DAMN her photos are beautiful.

One of the posters we did here at Mammoth "Guest of Cindy Sherman" was selected as one of the year's TOP 80 movie posters by Picksflix.com. OK, 80 is a lot but still, we're one of 'em! Here's the link: http://www.picksflix.com/?p=914 

Sometimes, like all illustrators, I get assignments where a design has already been approved. This was one of those cases. I was gives a sketch done by John Anderson at HR Magazine for their cover. I am enclosing his sketch here along with my final-using my favorite model, my lovely wife Laura! 

Well, the client's original idea won out in this one. The image of the businessman (modeled in this,  as in most other pieces by a devilishly handsome guy) sharpening his blade with sparks flying was the one selected. Hope you got it right! As a bit of a sidebar, I did this image as an homage to the great poster for the original LORD OF THE RINGS animated movie. Loved the film and the poster when I was but a wee lad.

Here's your chance to play art director! Included in this entry are the four sketches I gave to my last client based on their outline for an article about businesses who are stronger after the recession than before! Here's the sketches along with my descriptions- check back for the final that was chosen- see if you were right! 

1-As per client's suggestion, a businessman is sharpening his blade- sparks fly everywhere. 

2-Very "Raging Bull"-esque. We see a battered and bloody businessman who looks as if he has been through the fight of his life. However, his gloves are raised, he has a smirk on his face that says "Bring it on!" 

3-A little bit of comedy here. The punching bag here represents our businesses. The bag, it seems, has had enough. It has grown an arm and punches out the guy who had been beating on it. The guy it has laid out on the floor could be decked out in boxing gear or a suit as pictured. We can discuss. 

4-A confident businessman with a knowing smile has been slashed dramatically across the face. The slashes, however, reveal a shiny, metallic and powerful man underneath.