Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Scarlett


So Scarlett Johannson just released a covers album of random Tom Waits songs from a number of his albums. I listened to the album and it sounds, as Meghan would say, like Scarlett's pooping butterflies and burping rainbows. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Scarlett, but this album sounds like she [her producers] wrapped up Waits in cotton candy & shipped him off to Nevernever Land. I want to do a portrait of Scarlett...maybe on a cloud with butterflies coming out of her mouth rather than notes....I don't know. Maybe with a Tom Waits hat. Not sure yet. Here are some prelim sketches. To capture Scarlett Johannson, it's all about the nose and the mouth so I'm trying to get those aspects down now. Ideas?


5 comments:

MikeC said...

I love the subject/topic. Rolling Stone runs a drawing of that type (musician in the context of a new album) every month at the beginning of the reviews section, though they don't typically run an image that's "critical." Perhaps if you want to emphasize how it sounds simply like a repackaging of Waits, you need to evoke him more strongly than the hat. And why butterflies? Aren't butterflies pretty? I think butterflies are pretty...

Meghan said...

Oooh. I love the nose/mouth studies. And although I am a huge fan of the burping butterflies, maybe it should be something more obviously sickly-sweet. Like something that should be pretty but is overdone and a little bit gross. Not that I have any brilliant ideas about what that would be...

Boston, MA said...

I like Meghan's idea of making the something nice become sickly sweet....I want to avoid getting too carried away with making her vomit flowers or something though. I figured I might be able to bring the cynicism in my making the sound crew/elaborate microphone effects etc...visible around the picture plane.

As for making her evoke Waits...It's hard to put Scarlett in anything that's Waitisan (nasty suit, suspenders, grundgy hat? )without making her look sexy...I was thinking of putting her in the same position as Waits in one of his famous album covers but instead of using the traditional acid green or black and white toned photo look, having it be all bright pinks and yellows...I dunno. Keep the ideas a rollin' or a whistlin' i should say.

Sam said...

perhaps Waits could be in the background, but faded out? with a wierd look on his face?

Jenny said...

do your thang, gurl