Trayvon Martin

You'd have to be living under a thick piece of granite not to know,  even on a peripheral level, about the Trayvon Martin issue.  It's tragic.

The metaphorical picture painted of the security guard in this case, George Zimmerman, is completely unsettling.  Based solely on what I've been hearing, I'm not sure he should be carrying a bag of groceries, let alone a loaded weapon.

I'm disappointed with  Geraldo Rivera.  Geraldo suggests Trayvon's clothing, a hoodie,  was typical criminal wear and therefore he was asking for trouble.  

Trayvon was guilty by association . . .

 . . . with a hoodie.

It reminds me of folks that say rape victims that were wearing provocative clothing were sending signals promoting the attack.

Absurd.  Misguided.  Disgusting.  It's an additional heaping spoonful of salt on an excruciating painful and gaping wound.

I wasn't there.  I have no idea how things truly went down.  But if Zimmerman's actions were truly based on Trayvon wearing a hoodie, it's not the people wearing hoodies that are asking for trouble.

It's people like Zimmerman  that are asking for trouble.

I'm Not THAT Kind of Artist . . . Yet

People often ask, 'where do you get your ideas and inspiration?'  


The short answer is 'everywhere and nowhere.'   I'm simply not the kind of artist that has all kinds of deep, philosophical, meaning of life stuff going on in my art.


Things change of course.


I don't want to eat my words and claim I'll never be that kind of artist.  


For now, I think some folks would be surprised at the finished product versus the inspiration for some of my divas.  Take this one.  I named it "Yes.  You!" :

She was inspired by the movie I had just seen less than an hour before - "The Hunger Games."  


How the hell did I go from "The Hunger Games" to a lady singling someone out in a bar?  


After watching "The Hunger Games",  the lead character got my creative juices flowing.  The next diva could be:

• a woman pointing her bow and arrow (hmm . . . ok . . . )
• a woman pointing her arrow (hmm . . . maybe . . . )
• a woman pointing!!!  (OMG!  How cool would that be?)

Thanks to the part of me that's still a little boy sitting in Algebra class staring out the window daydreaming, an entire story and scenario develops.  


On the surface, zero connection between the two.  However, once you dig a little deeper, you can probably see the influence and relationship to "The Hunger Games" . . . albeit, a loose derivative. 


Oh dear.  


Is it just me?  Or did I not just sound like THAT kind of artist?  ;-)

Long Weekends Are Short

I flew to Tampa, FL to visit a buddy and explore the city.  And of course, I felt like I had just landed only to have to hop back on the plane and return home.


Sigh . . . 


My long weekend felt awfully short.  But alas, diva inspirations abounded - especially heels!


Holy moly!


The girls in Tampa, FL don't play when it comes to high, High, HIGH heels.  The diva sighting of the day was a girl in super-duper-nosebleed high heels leaving a movie theatre Saturday late night.


She had to walk down two steep flights of stairs.  


She didn't bat an eye.  


She didn't hesitate.


She didn't even pause.


She sauntered down both flights  . . . 


WITHOUT EVEN USING THE HANDRAILS!!!


I was stunned and impressed. 


It's nice to be home.  Diva inspirations abound in my own backyard.  But, until this diva sighting in Tampa, FL . . . 


I had no idea high heels came in ALL -WHEEL DRIVE!  ;-)

It's Spring . . . And?

Today is the first day of Spring.


Whatever.


It was rather uneventful.  It's been so warm lately.  It already felt like Spring.  


Trees and flowers are blooming.   


Oh.  By the way.  I did that dumb thing where you make a conscious decision to turn ON the alarm.  


But for whatever reason, you actually turn it OFF?  Yeah.  That was my genius move last night.


I woke up super refreshed.


That's because I super overslept.


It's the ultimate metaphor for me lately.  I have a lot of irons in a lot of fires.  I feel like I've been running around chasing the Road Runner.  


Just when I think I've got him . . . POW!  No Road Runner.  Just me landing hard and flat on my face like the Wile E. Coyote.


So today I rushed home to hurry up and eat and tackle one of those irons in the fire.  It's a new domain server thingy I'm considering  for Doodle Divas.  


My Ipad couldn't run the program  since it doesn't have a Flash Player.  So I needed to get in front of my desktop, which has Flash Player.  But my desktop isn't in front of the flat screen, which has the latest Hollywood gossip!  


And I'd like to get this done before I hop my flight to Florida this weekend to hang out on the beach and explore with a buddy of mine in Tampa.


So clearly you see how my poor, pitiful and unfortunate my life is right?


But alas. . . 


 As if that wasn't enough hellaciousness. . . 


I'll be damned if the a/c is on day THREE of being weird.  


It has been blowing room temperature air.  I've been trying a few things the past few days and nothing works.  


I don't need this people!


It was my last straw.


The past several weeks have been a steady build of tough decisions, bad decisions, second guesses, question marks, worn patience, frustrations, misunderstandings, missed connections, disappointments . . . 


 . . . so I started drawing.


Sometimes drawing is my therapy.  And tonight, drawing put things in perspective.  


I'm above ground.  


I have high class "problems".  


And to the icing on the cake . . . 


It's the first day of Spring!


LIFE IS GOOD PEOPLE!!!  :-)

When Less is a Mess

Maybe I'm showing my age.  But Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Edition 2012 just came out.  And I have to tell you.  I think it has lost touch with what the Swimsuit Issue has always been about . . .  SEXY girls next door.

The issue looks like the cover of a raunchy men's magazine.  And I don't mean Playboy.  I'm thinking more like Hustler.

Even Victoria's Secret said they will not be using the model that graces the coveted cover, Kate Upton, in their runway shows.  A spokesperson for the underwear dynasty basically said she looked too tawdry. Until now, Kate Upton has actually been a refreshing change in the world of modeling.

Kate has curves.  She actually looks like she finishes a meal and keeps it down. And she has always had a girl-next-door sexy-but-not-trashy vibe.

. . . until now.

Sorry for sounding like a middle-aged Dad.  But Sports Illustrated has officially made it clear with this issue, they have lost the ability to distinguish between sexy and sexual.

Whitney Houston

Unless you live in another solar system, you are fully aware the country recently lost an enduring diva - Whitney Houston.  Since her passing, I've been asked repeatedly to come up with a Doodle Diva inspired by this tragedy.

That has been my tallest order to date.

But first . . . my two cents on Whitney Houston.

The first time I heard a Whitney Houston song was at my grandmother's house.  I remember seeing the cover and thinking, "Eww.  Where's her hair?"

The image lost me.  But the VOICE.  Wow!

Shortly thereafter, I believe Whitney Houston was my first concert ever.  I saw her in Charlotte, NC years upon years upon years ago.

"How Will I Know?", "I'm Your Baby Tonight", "Saving All My Love" . . . Amazing.

And like everyone else, I witnessed Whitney's colossal shift from petite, sweet, pop princess to more urban and grittier and downright illogical:

"Bobby Brown?  I'm sorry.  Maybe I didn't hear you right.  Whitney Houston MARRIED Bobby Brown?  As in New Edition - Bobby Brown?  WHAT?  WHY??!"

I loved her version of "I Will Always Love You."  The movie, "The Bodyguard" - not so much.

I saw acting talent in "The Preacher's Wife" and "Waiting To Exhale".   And her version of the "National Anthem" is still categorically untouchable.  I feel sorry for anybody who even attempts to come close.  

And am I the only one who thinks Whitney Houston had one of the brightest smiles on the planet?  Wow!  Her smile was like a kazillion watt stadium bulb.  

Then there were the rumors, the revelations, the bad decisions, the interviews, the spoofs, the disturbing candid photos, the comeback attempts, the messes. . .  Yuck.  Even I had long ago written Whitney Houston off as a caricature of her former self  . . .

 . . .  a lost cause.

The reality is, Whitney turned out to be a real person, with real issues that made some real mistakes with real consequences.

So am I.  Thank God there were no cameras, press conferences, and eyewitness accounts to tell the PLANET about my messes.

. . . or messes to come.

I do have to give her credit. The gal was honest - to her detriment perhaps.  Her delivery left much to be desired of course, ('crack is wack' interview).   But the gal voluntarily put her business on the streets - a couple times, (Oprah Winfrey interview.).

Yet in her lifetime, Whitney Houston also sold like a kazillion records, concert tickets, movie tickets, and indirectly helped launch a lot of careers:

Mariah Carey. . .

Christina Aguilera . . .

Adele . . .

Whether they realize it or not, these gals owe their hugely popular-with-the-masses r&b-with-soul-with-pop to Whitney Houston.

So what Doodle Divas design captures the spirit of Whitney Houston's passing?  I went through three different illustrations, incarnations, elaborate designs, realistic depictions, spiritual depictions . . . they just all seemed very. . . busy . . . and borrowed.

It needed to be simple.  It needed to say a lot with a little.  It needed to get the point across without being cumbersome.

Familiar image.  Different message.

What?

I recalled how initially when I heard the news, I was in disbelief.  This is a joke right?  It's so random.  Then it went from disbelief, to shock, to acceptance to grief.

Yet, I own zero Whitney Houston tapes, cds, downloads, movies, anything.  So why did I end up shedding tears over her passing?

. . . Because Whitney Houston is on my soundtrack.

"Firsts": First kiss.  First love.

Seasons and events: Senior year high school.  Summer between high school and college.  My first trip to Atlanta. . . .

I didn't realize Whitney Houston was on a lot of my life's soundtracks.  And just as my life had evolved from naive kid at granny's dissing Whitney's nappy hair, to grown man being dissed for having NO hair his damn self, Whitney had evolved too.  From industry-manufactured-bubbled-gum -"Whitened"-sanitized-safe-pop-princess to urban-r&b-soul-gritty-raw-attitude-for-days-I-don't-give-a-damn-in-your-face-DIVA!

I knew what simple Doodle Divas illustration would capture and define the essence of a diva's passing.

That being said, let he who has walked in Whitney Houston's shoes, Whitney Houston's skin, Whitney Houston's head, or Whitney Houston's life,  since birth,  feel free to cast the first stone.  Otherwise, I and Doodle Divas choose to remember the good, the inspiring, the influential, the powerhouse, that was the diva Whitney Houston.

Rest in peace Whitney.

Happy Belated VD!!! (giggle)

There's a colossal amount of reading, reviewing, securing, investing and such going on that has made keeping up with everything challenging.

. . . Not least of which is myself.  I made a choice to get back into some semblance of a physical health routine - aka gym.  Ugh!

What does that have to do with Doodle Divas?  Everything.  I can't sustain Doodle Divas if I'm not taking care of my own self.

But I managed to pop out a few Valentine's Day concepts and illustrations:

"XOXO" turned out to be the most popular.  Doodle Divas with an emblem in their colossal sunglasses has become a hit in and of itself:

Here's a play on the "Muah" design I did a few months ago.  I updated it for Christmas and got inspired to do something for Valentine's Day with it:

This one was inspired by Tim Burton's "Alice In Wonderland":

 

This gal was super popular.  I think this is the first Doodle Diva purchased by a woman for a man.   (Thanks Stacy!)  He really likes poker:  

So stay tuned.  The posts may be infrequent.  But I can assure you, there's more important stuff than designing going on behind the scenes!  :-)