Speaking of Sinatra, ol' Frank had a big hit with the song, "My Kind of Town (Chicago Is)", from the movie, "Robin and the 7 Hoods" back in the early 60's, that portrayed rival mobsters competing for gambling territory. Well, that era of Chicago gangsters was also celebrated in the more recent vintage musical, "Chicago", except that this show exposed the female of the species to be equally as murderous, albeit with a very dark humour to the whole proceedings. Anyway, when they made the film version of "Chicago" just a few years ago, I loved it so much that I think I ended up seeing it about 5 times during its theatrical run. And I've watched it several times since, once it was released on DVD.
Because I enjoyed the film so much, I ended up using it as the inspiration for my Christmas card that year, a practice that I'd been keeping up for over 15 years, though I must shamefully confess I have been remiss in doing one both this year and last, sad to say. (Sorry to everybody on the list - hopefully next year I'll get back to it!) Anyway, here is the Christmas card artwork I did that year of "Chicago", featuring caricatures of its stars, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly, and Renée Zellweger as Roxie Hart. Hey, just gazing at Catherine in her black negligee, stockings and garters certainly says "Joy of the Season" to me!
Awesome Christmas Card. I've only seen a bit of that movie but I liked what I saw. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you. Let's hope we can make this next year better.
ReplyDeleteChicago is one of my favourite films too - haven't seen it for a while, but having read your post think I might dig it out over the weekend.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you and yours - and thank you for a very entertaining blog. Happy new year. :-) x
Awesome caricatures. Rawr rawr!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, Pete!
This is a wonderful drawing, Mr. Emslie. It's amazing how you achieved Zellweger's and Zeta-Jones's likenesses with minimal detail while maintaining a sense of appeal. Bravo! Bring on caricatures!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas Pete!
ReplyDeleteLove the illustration! Bang on!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing and Merry Christmas!
Now that is a cool Christmas card!
ReplyDeletesir your christmas card rox, so much so that I used an 'x' instead of 'cks'! Seriously though, your caricatures are always inspiring.
ReplyDeleteHaha Ed said what I was thinking :D
ReplyDeleteHave a Merry Christmas!
merry belated christmas, pete!!
ReplyDeleteYour work's just great Pete, such appeal and simplicity yet with undeniable likenesses. Bravo! Tell me - this is brushed linework with digital colouring, correct?
ReplyDeleteMike- Yes, I hand ink the drawings with brush, then scan them in and add colour with Photoshop. Nothing too fancy, just flat colours with a bit of airbrush rendering.
ReplyDeleteHey, I see a bunch of my Sheridan students on here, both past and present. What's wrong with you kids, spending your valuable holiday time on the internet when you should be out partying and getting drunk with your friends? Oh, that's right, I forgot - you're ANIMATION STUDENTS and you'd rather stay indoors and draw all of your waking hours :) Seriously though, please take the time to have fun over this last week of holidays - you kids have earned it! I'll see all of you rascals in the New Year!