I know: it suxxit, but I’m on a deadline, I was a little drunk on late-nite champagne, and did I mention I was on a deadline?
Still, I know: it suxxit, and I’m disappointed, because I had high hopes.
Image inspired by a photograph by Kevin Cummins.
I know: it suxxit, but I’m on a deadline, I was a little drunk on late-nite champagne, and did I mention I was on a deadline?
Still, I know: it suxxit, and I’m disappointed, because I had high hopes.
Image inspired by a photograph by Kevin Cummins.
Why would you say this suxxit? This is great! Especially the weary-lines around his eyes. What’s up with the shoe?
this doesn’t suxxit at all, mang. this is one of my fave profiles you’ve done.
you are waaaay too hard on yourself. this rocks! if only i got a fraction of your talent. and i’m with the prof: what’s with the shoe?
Well, he hung himself, and the shoe . . . well, the shoe represents not only the carelessness by which he addressed his life (and wife, and daughter), but also the general endurance, albeit in a ragged fashion, of both the Joy Division music and myth.
Of course it’s a Converse All-Star, so it stands in a broader fashion for the entire indie rock/post-punk community and how there are themes and ideals carried forth through the various generations and iterations of “fringe” musicians. The laces and the (whited-out) cigarette smoke were also intertwined in a fashion that suggested the literal noose that Ian used in his suicide, as well as a greater metaphoric noose of his struggles with fame and epilepsy. I deleted it as not only obvious but also, possibly, trite. Sadly, it left a large white area right in the center of the cartoon, exactly where my eye wants to stare.
Um. The fact that I couldn’t adequately convey those ideals struck me as a failure, although the thing is rendered fine, as far as my talents go.
that converse made a lot more sense before you explained it.
did you make it orange because it’s a cautionary shoe?
Uh, it’s actually red. And, yeah, it does make sense after you explain it, which is why I think it’s a failure. You should be able to figger it out on yr own, ya know?
herman said “before you explained it.”
I got the implied noose in the shoelace before you explained it, and think you did right not making it too obvious/trite/exploitive…but ultimately I like rarebell’s explanation of the cautionary shoe, you know, big shoes to fill, walk a mile in his shoes, et al, et al…you, don’t be too quick in judging a suicide, at least that’s what the shoe tells me.
i imagined the fame + pressure being to much and that, like the one on the page, was the ‘other shoe to fall’. which isn’t COMPLETELY askew from your thoughts.
i wrote into the JFP to complain about the Billy Bragg of yours they have posted. its TINY…and its ONLINE so there’s no space/excuse.
What has made you center on this portrait style/theme?
(see Iron & Wine, Bragg, Ian, Nico). obviously you get to use a reference, but do you find what it does with the rest of the space useful or difficult?
I just thought it was an homage to your shoe fetish.
I just thought it was some specific biographical reference that I was missing; you shouldn’t chalk my inability to interpret symbols as your own failure.
I think the coloring is perfect for your style, especially the edges of the overcoat, it seems to be some wonderful blend between watercolor and design markers (no matter what it actually is).
I think the shoe would have read better if it was less busy, maybe go a little easier on the cross-hatching . . .