What a Drag
It’s RuPaul’s Drag Race UK! Well… maybe not, but this archival artwork sort of reminds me of it.
I’m currently building an archive folio page. Something that was suggested to me by a visitor to my site (who happens to be my Optometrist). It’s taking a while, as I have over 30 portfolios to wade through! So every time I get a spare hour, I’m diving into one and having a rummage.
Cinderella’s two ugly sisters
Now you may be mistaken for thinking this artwork is of the two infamous and despicable ugly sisters from the timeless fairytale, Cinderella. But it was actually an artwork I created for the National Maritime Museum, gosh, it must be over 15 years ago now. I illustrated a whole series of stories, based on the constellations. In this instance, Gemini. They wanted comical and that’s what they got.
Sausages
Obviously I can now see a few drafting mistakes in this artwork now and would create it very differently now, but with the same humour. If I wanted to self critique, I would say the hands look like sausages. Then again that rather adds to the humour. It was drawn using, nib and ink and painted using watercolour paints. Despite the sausages I have always been fond of this picture (and it does remind me of RuPaul’s Drag Race, especially the ‘shading’ and ‘reading’).
Shading? Reading? Wha…
A few explanations…
Shading:
Anna Holmes called shade “the art of the sidelong insult”. Merriam-Webster defines it as “subtle, sneering expression of contempt for or disgust with someone—sometimes verbal, and sometimes not”. [Wikipedia]
Reading:
In gay culture, the act of pointing out a flaw in someone else (usually publicly and in front of them) and exaggerating it. [Urban Dictionary]
So if you need a humorous artwork, contact me here.
