Although there are always isolated parts of every picture I’m especially fond of, including
this one, I generally just wasn’t into this one. It’s definitely not one of my best ones and I
discuss what I don’t like below. However, it’s sure better than the one from the first series,
where I attempted (and failed for the most part) to draw celebrities from that time (the overall
look was a sea of faces looking forward).
The Art Deco style is distinctive to this time and I did the columns in the background to
reflect this.
I wanted to include a car from this era because they are also distinct to this time. How
or why it got in the bar, I haven’t thought up a story for that yet but that’s Bonnie and Clyde
posing with it. I mostly worked from the car in the well-known photographs of them. If there
was an area I couldn’t see too well, I used pictures of similar cars to work from. The perspective
is way off and I realize I made it slightly smaller than scale but I didn’t want it dominating the
foreground. Plus, I’ve seen cars from this era at a car show and they were definitely cramped
inside. It wasn’t until after they were completely inked and finished that I noticed the car and
bartender are located too high up in the picture. The bartender is ok, sometimes the area behind
the bar sits up higher, but the car. Maybe it’s up on a platform as a kind of display. Yeah,
that’s it. The guy in the window is yelling “Hey, get outta that car! That’s just a display!”.
I like how the light hits his face. Also, I made Bonnie larger than she’s supposed to be, in
proportion to the car. She was a tiny woman but it just didn’t look right making her so small.
The guy holding the bottle at a weird angle underneath her was just used to break up the space
in her skirt. He’s drunk and is falling down.
The lady above and to the right of the couple kissing by the car just farted.
The guy above the cash register is eavesdropping on the conversation behind him.
The bird on the bar on the right is called a Chachalaca. I saw a picture of one and
thought he was interesting looking and I also love the name.
The crossdresser is in the right background, in the black hat.
The two guys above the bird in the middle-ground: The old guy is asking the other
one for a handout. “Can you help out a fellow American?” and he’s being laughed at. “Ha-ha, yeah
RIGHT.” His mother is behind him saying “Honey, get away from that awful man.”
To the left of them, leering at the two ladies is Al Capone. The woman on the right is drunk
and has bad breath, which is offending the other woman.
Next to them is myself with a lady. I hate is how my arm is at an awkward angle in the far right
foreground.
One thing I found interesting in my research was the use of patterns in the clothing of
the 30’s. Stripes, checked and floral patterns became very popular at this time and I included
them a lot.
