100 DRAWINGS IN 100 DAYS - the bunny strikes again

BLYTHE (WONDERS HOW A BIG FAT ROCK ON HER HAND WOULD LOOK, AS SHE PRACTICES SAYING "MRS. BLYTHE HEFNER...")

after i graduated college with my MFA in printmaking, i was invited to join and participate in the AGD (american graphic design) show called the "20 x 2", which was a monthly event held in a swank little lecture-type place, and there were 20 artists with 2 minutes each to discuss the chosen topic. the topic my group was given was "passion". well, can i just tell you that it's not easy coming up with a 2 minute presentation about passion, especially one that won't confuse the audience. the objective was to captivate their attention and leave an impression.

so, i invested in a playboy bunny outfit, did quite a lot of research, and found that i could take people on a 2 minute journey through history which went from the passions of christ and the crucifixion to easter sunday, then the easter bunny, and finally arriving at the playboy bunny, quite obviously one of many objects of passion. my presentation was fast, furious and to the point and all the while, i was striding through the crowd in my skimpy outfit and the highest of heels, handing out plastic pull-apart easter eggs with a bag of "passion" tea and a chocolate inside each egg.

now, the real connection i found between "passion" and the Playboy Bunny was a no-brainer - the bunny, present at easter and at Hugh Hefner's Playboy Clubs. as it turned out, to become a playboy bunny was quite an extraordinary feat. there was a certain protocol to being a Bunnygirl, beginning with the audition, the "Bunny Stance" and even the "Bunny Dip" (a technique for bending down to serve a drink while keeping the low-cut bunny uniform in place), down to the Bunny having knowledge of 143 brands of liquor, and how to garnish 20 different cocktails. Bunnies were not allowed to fraternize with the patrons unless they were a C1 patron, the most important of all patrons.

in a way, you could say that the Playboy Bunnygirls were some of the most memorable of the influential women in history, because let's face it, what little boy hasn't grown up without sneaking at least one peek at a playboy magazine? and what would the world be like today if it weren't for the Bunnygirls and Mr. Hugh Hefner?

100 DRAWINGS IN 100 DAYS - BITTEN

BLYTHE (TIRED OF REPRIMANDING HER FRIENDS FOR NOT TELLING HER ABOUT HER LIPSTICK-TEETH, HAS FINALLY FOUND A NEW LIPSTICK THAT DOESN'T LEAVE MARKS ON HER VAMPIRE FANGS)

now this little lady is not any particular woman of note in history, but who doesn't love a sexy vampire? personally, i am of the opinion that all vampires should be sexy to the point of 'don't do it, you'll regret it, there's major danger ahead if you proceed, but you can't resist the urge to be drawn in by this creature who wants to bite your neck, drink your blood and possibly ruin your life' gorgeousness.

historically speaking, however, the vampiric stories have been around since prehistoric times but were not popularized until the 18th century. they became legendary in the balkans and eastern europe where the vampires were known as "vrykolakas" in greece and "strigoi"* in romania.

after quite a long period of the vampire being portrayed as a nightmarish, almost rotting-corpse figure, it was John Polidori's novella "The Vampyre" in 1819 that settled the score for the charismatic, sophisticated and attractive appearance of the insatiably erotic creatures. but it wasn't until 1897, when Bram Stoker's "Dracula" was released (at a time when people were still reeling from the anxieties of the victorian patriarchy) that we fell in love with the quintessential lustful, erotic and increasingly sexy vampire creatures of the night.

and in this image of Blythe, she is drawn in the most seductive light possible, so as to emphasize the powers of being a lusty blood-thirsty vampire...

*information courtesy of wikipedia

100 DRAWINGS IN 100 DAYS - WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN

BLYTHE (THINKS THAT THE GIRLS AT THE MAC COSMETICS COUNTER WENT A LITTLE OVERBOARD ON THE CLEOPATRA-INSPIRED MAKEUP COLLECTION...)

as i was trying to wrack my brain for inspiration for a new Blythe drawing, i was poring over images of historically powerful women, or women of note in historical times, and i came across an image of the late Elizabeth Taylor in her role as Cleopatra. what a beautiful woman she was, and timelessly lovely. my mother used to say that there are two types of beauty in women - "chocolate box pretty" and "classical beauty". the former being that of the glitzy, sparkly, shiny and attractive (on the outside, but lacking inner substance) women, and the latter is the type of woman who was just stunning all the way around, just like Elizabeth Taylor.

now, i did some research on darling Cleopatra, and while she was a very influential woman historically, she came from a period in time when families were in-bred to preserve the integrity of the throne... ahem... wow! that's all i got to say. wow! (and YUCK!) yes, her first two husbands were her brothers (again, YUCK!).

her third partner, to whom she bore a son, was Julius Caesar, who was not related (hail Caesar!!), and finally Mark Antony, to whom she bore 3 children. when Mark Antony committed suicide, Cleopatra followed suit by way of a bite from an asp...

Cleopatra was renowned not only for her leadership in the Egyptian Empire, but more notably her liasons with extremely powerful men, which were testimony to her aesthetic and sexual appeal. go Cleo!

100 DRAWINGS IN 100 DAYS - IN MEMORY OF AMY WINEHOUSE

BLYTHE WINEHOUSE

this morning, it was all over the news that 27 year-old singer Amy Winehouse died last night. i have to admit, i wasn't her most devoted fan, but i did enjoy her music, i loved her beehive hairdo, and the woman had an amazing voice! unfortunately, as her famous song "Rehab" tells the story, she was known to indulge in too much drink and drug from time to time.

but she's not the only young singer to have lost their lives at the ripe old age of 27 - joining "club 27" are Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain from Nirvana, and Jim Morrison from the Doors. so, in memory of Amy Winehouse, today i decided that Blythe should be a famous singer with an even more famous beehive hairstyle...

100 DRAWINGS IN 100 DAYS - DREAMING OF JEANNIE

BLYTHE (IS WONDERING HOW ON EARTH SHE CAN FIT ALL HER FURNITURE INSIDE THE JEANNIE BOTTLE...)

it was just a couple of weeks ago that i was watching the morning news show, and they had the stars from "I Dream of Jeannie" in the studio, and i could not believe how Barbara Eden had aged so beautifully! who knows, maybe she has had some work done, but she looks amazing. and what a racy little number she used to wear on that show from back in the 60's!! they were talking about how she could expose her belly, but not her belly button - that was taking things too far (if only they had known then what we are like now!)

i've decided, at least for a while, to feature famous women or female roles in showbiz history in my 'Blythe' drawings, simply because i think we all get a bit of a kick out of seeing how someone else might portray that figure. and i will be drawing the Blythe dolls for a while, possibly moving along to other things for the rest of the 100... or maybe not. i have yet to decide... so stay tuned.

100 DRAWINGS IN 100 DAYS - pocahontas takes a ride with thelma and louise!

BLYTHE (IS INSISTENT THAT HER FRIEND LOUISE CALLS HER 'THELMA' WHILE THEY DRIVE AROUND)

or as my mother calls it, 'de Shan and Laura', after my niece was visiting from the US last year. she rented a convertible and we drove around and stirred things up a little bit during her trip here, much like the two in "Thelma and Louise"... we did not, however drive the car off a cliff. this is a very good thing.

but this movie was a classic tale of female soul-mates, and if you haven't seen it, do make the time to check it out on DVD. Thelma is played by Geena Davis, while Louise is played by Susan Sarandon, and they both do an exceptional job of portraying 2 women throwing all caution to the wind and just living their lives the way they want to. and i think that's what my niece and i are doing at present as well. sans the driving off the cliff. again, this is a very good thing... "Somebody said get a life... so they did".

BLYTHE (POCAHONTAS)

it is a well-known story, thanks to Walt Disney, about the little indian girl, Pocahontas, whom i have chosen to illustrate Blythe-style. i have just read a little bit about her life, and it was most definitely interesting to say the least. she was born around 1595, and her nickname was 'Pocahontas', meaning 'frolicsome'. in her tribe, they used to have many personal names, for use at different times or in different contexts. among the many things that happened in her life, Pocahontas was captured by the english and held for ransom to release the english prisoners held captive by her father Powhatan, the paramount chief of Tsenacommacah, and she was considered a princess. there is this story about her rescuing the englishman John Smith, which has been under dispute, but she then went on to meet and marry the englishman John Rolfe and bear a son.

there was just so much about Pocahontas in the blurb on wikipedia, but this is just a smidgeon of what you will find there. at any rate, she has always been portrayed as a beautiful woman, and here i have drawn her as a beautiful Blythe.

100 DRAWINGS IN 100 DAYS - CHASING THE WHITE RABBIT

BLYTHE (TRYING NOT TO GET CAUGHT BACKSTAGE IN ALICE'S CHANGE ROOM)

i think it is fair to say that my favorite all-time children's story is the classic "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll. (Lewis Carroll was a pseudonym later adopted by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, which happens to be a play on his real name: Lewis was the anglicized form of Ludovicus, which was the latin for Lutwidge, and Carroll an irish surname similar to the latin name Carolus, from which the name Charles comes*). in 1865 the book was first published, after much begging from a family friend's daughter, Alice Liddell (after whom the book was supposedly based upon), and other friends of his. the story was whimsically created in his head and told one day while he and a friend took alice and her sisters on a rowing trip, after which she made him promise to write it down for her.

so there is a little bit of history about the famous author and his most famous story. but i have to say that of all the movies made over the years, my favorite was the recent Tim Burton version. spectacular.

i even have an entire series of paintings entitled "chasing the white rabbit", which were derived from my similar experience as alice's with the search for the ever-elusive (fill in the blank...). mine was abstract painting. my elusive "thing" that i could never quite get a hold of, was to be able to paint a proper abstract. but i think i eventually did - and they all sold!

at any rate, i always try to include a little alice everywhere i go... even my cat is cheshire.

*courtesy wikipedia

100 DRAWINGS IN 100 DAYS - the bunny gave it all away...

BLYTHE (THE ONLY DEAD GIVE-AWAY THAT SHE WASN'T A MOULIN ROUGE DANCER WAS THE BUNNY...)

it's really hard to not get too attached to these drawings during and after i have worked on them. that is particularly true for this one... when you create a piece of work, you are building a relationship with it while you're working on it. every song that plays in the background, every phone call you take, every interruption or smell, taste and sound is recorded inside the artwork. and what amazes me, is that when i hear a song or a tv commercial jingle that i listened to while drawing, it reminds me of the drawing. and likewise, when i revisit a drawing much later on, i can remember what song or tv show was playing... (just for the record, i was listening to the movie "punch drunk love" in the background while i drew this one!)

so i am quite fond of my little Moulin Rouge girl here, with her amazing costume and the cutest little bunny toy.

100 DRAWINGS IN 100 DAYS - giddy'up cowgirl and the screen siren

JESSICA (BLYTHE) RABBIT - "I'M NOT BAD, THEY JUST DRAW ME THAT WAY"

a friend of mine was admiring my Blythe doll drawings, and was commenting on how i should do a jessica rabbit (blythe), from the movie "who framed roger rabbit". she was the notoriously-sexy-lounge-singing-vixen who was married to roger rabbit, had a gorgeous unmovable mane of flame red hair, purple satin gloves, a fire-truck-red sequined gown with a slit up to "there", full pouty lips, and the most amazing curves that you needed to slow down for... and when i grow up, i want to be jessica rabbit...

so this is the Blythe version of the classy "jessica rabbit".

BLYTHE (JUST QUIT HER DESK JOB AT THE FIRM TO BECOME A COWGIRL AT THE O.K. CORRAL

ah, good times. i grew up on a quarter horse ranch when i was a girl, and i just could not wait to get my own horse, so i could get the cowgirl hat with the pretty band, the boots with the engraving and multi-colored leather detailing, the fancy saddle, etc. such a girl. but i guess it's always there in the girliest of girls that you have to look good while you're out there stomping around in all that horse poo.

now for this blythe drawing, i used two different types of pen. her eyes were so light that my 0.1mm pen was still too thick to cross-hatch her eye color, so i used a much smaller ball-point that i could use to "shade" in her eyes. i'm happy with how her eyes turned out, and yes, her hair took forever!

100 DRAWINGS IN 100 DAYS - punk blythe and too much mascara...

BLYTHE (IN A GLAMOR FRENZY, APPLIED TOO MUCH MASCARA, AND CAN'T OPEN HER EYES...)

it's nice to be caught up. i get so busy with all the stuff in my head, and i end up forgoing the drawing for the little bits and pieces of information/pretty pictures/new recipe on the internet, that by the time i get to really work on my drawing, it's bed time... i'm like a moth to a flame when it comes to finding new interesting things on the web. it really out to be called the "spider web" of information...

i'm starting to realize that the level of tones depends on exactly how you hold the pen. and i didn't get that until i bought the new pens in .1, .2, .3, .5 and .8mm. it's even more easy with a plain ball-point pen, but don't tell my old college professor that!

BLYTHE (OK, JUST DON'T TELL MY PARENTS I GO OUT LOOKING LIKE A PUNK ROCK STAR)

i received a comment on my Pinterest page today with regard to what sort of dolls these are, and that his daughter would just love them. unfortunately, they are hard to come by and they are quite expensive. and of course, i want one... don't we all now... but you can find them on ebay, and try pinterest for a beautiful custom doll.