glam homework

yeah, i find it almost physically and psychologically impossible to keep any kind of notebook for any considerable length of time and NOT decorating it. so, here's an example of some more of the wild and ink-consuming hand-drawn borders i can't help but flourish over the top of every slice of notebook paper that passes through my hands. i just can't help it. i clip tiny dazzling pop culture picksh and whip out that non-toxic glue stik, and all those plasticoated prismatic stickers and metallic rainbow rollerball pens, and voila! we end up with a thoroughly illuminated volume of darling humor and keen observations... and other stuff. so just for the hell of it, here's a hastily-done heading back in the year of 2005. lets see... we have georgina hale from the movie 'mahler,' then john-rhys myers and ewan mcgregor frolicking from 'velvet goldmine;' then, appropriately, at the end, we have the southern glam bisexual patron saint himself, mr. michael stipe. dig it. (click to enlarge)

m is for michael stipe - freak variety

yeah, there are several 'flavors' of the southern genius michael stipe. we had the early, curly-haired, cherubic variety, then he started shaving it when he started to go bald... then he practically had a mohawk, and for some reason started spray-painting on wraparound-shades, and i think i saw a shot of him onstage in pants made out of duct tape, and i guess the list of 'freak looks' for mr. stipe could go on and on. but i like this one. i know its from a 'more freaky' era, rather than a 'less freaky' one, but i still love the contrast and the ruffles and the way the shot itself is composed. (and i confess, the whole thing became a lot more striking after i went in and airbrushed peter buck and mike mills out from behind him.) but when all is said and done, i totally love and even revere michael stipe. he's cool in my book, even when he's not being so cool.

crush

...with eyeliner. i've had this cool art in my file for so long i can't remember where i found it. but i love it. the idea to go with a woodgrain background for this incredibly effective portrait of mr. michael stipe works very well. unsual, but groovy. there's a great efficiency of actual lines in the rendering. and i'm still a solemn devotee of the 'man from athens.' and i needed something orange. and i added the 'crush' word... you know, like in the song!

michael baby

here is a lovely shot of a very young michael stipe. look at all that hair. i like this shot, because not only does he look pretty, he looks genuinely happy.