Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis | SCOTT ALLEN
A friend sent me a link to Scott Allen’s portfolio recently, noting my probable appreciation for this piece, “Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis.” My love for Tom Waits is no secret. So perhaps this post grants unfair weight to content. But, to be fair, I have previously posted about my affinity for marker textures.
This work succeeds as part of the caricature genre, where failure depends almost entirely on how poorly the depicted persona renders on the canvas. Here, as you can see, the abstracted elements of Waits’s forehead, his lanky frame, his seemingly physical dependence on the microphone, and his wardrobe all lend glorious credibility to Allen’s rendition.
And just for the fun of it, here’s a video of my favorite version of “Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis” (the song from which this piece’s title comes):
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This is a great caricature for the reasons you mention above. However, I am not usually too fond of marker-art. I feel that usually the textures are not utilized properly to carry the feel of the whole piece. In this particaular case though, the marker was used in an evolved manner.
I appreciate the sketchiness, specifically the light outline/gesture sketches underneath all of the color as well as the heavy, black outlines.
As a sidenote; I am reasonably sure that this work was rendered using Prismacolor markers (not a long-shot -they’re popular) due to the sizes of fine and chisel tips, as well as the particular palette used.
Thanks for adding the video, Caleb!
-JS