I think this one came out especially well, mainly because I found a lot of good, detailed
sources to work from. In all my barpics, I try to get an even mix of men and women but
I have a lot more women in this one. This is because most of the material I found dealt with
women’s fashions from this time. There’s very little out there about men’s clothing from 1900-10.
Women’s fashions at this time are also a lot more interesting and detailed than men’s,
which are somewhat drab and uniform.
I wanted to do something creative and different for the background in this one and I thought
for a long time about it. I kind of wanted to do the backstage of a theater but I have worked
in a library in the past and thought I’d go with something familiar. I also thought the
contradiction of having a loud, rowdy party in a place where it’s supposed to be quiet was funny.
Notice the “shhh” sign in the right background. It’s a “grand opening” party for the employees,
their families and friends.
The crossdresser is in the left middle-ground: the lady next to him is laughing at him.
He’s saying “It ain’t THAT funny.”
This is the first time I showed someone throwing up in such graphic detail (the woman in
the far left middle-ground). I laugh every time I look at that. Above and to the right of her
is Mr. and Mrs. Snottington.
The sinister looking guy playing cards is working with the woman in the foreground to cheat
people at poker.
That’s me above the bird (which is a grey partridge). The two women above and to the right
of myself are giving each other flirtatious looks.
Above the young girl drinking (in the right middle ground) is Teddy Roosevelt.
I worked from some old school pictures of some acquaintances of mine for the kids in the right
foreground. The boy came out looking like Dewey from “Malcolm in the Middle”.
