Julie Newmar, "Tasteful"

Julie Newmar - Tasteful

Portrait, 8.5 x 11 in.

Lead on Paper

Julie Newmar went on to world fame as an actress, most notably in her role as Catwoman on the 1960's camp version of Batman, she always wanted to be a comedian after all.  In the 30's though she made her living as a pin-up model.  She never did anything extremely racy in my opinion, but she did do some really nice tasteful pin-up work that I consider to be classic Americana along side the likes of Bettie Page and Marilyn Monroe.  I think I captured the essence of that very well here in this piece which is a companion to the earlier Catwoman, #1 piece that I did portraying her more as she always wanted to be seen - a jovial comedian, rather than a sexy cover girl - in my mind and on your wall though she can be both!

Jack Nicholson - Batman: The Joker, "Spash" (1989)

Jack Nicholson - The Joker: Splash

Portrait, 18 x 24 in.

Lead on Paper

Jack Nicholson as The Joker from Tim Burton's classic 1989 film, Batman - what else needs to be said?  For many he defined the character.  And whatever you may think about him, he never failed to deliver on the entertainment in a film that was wonderful and yet lacking in so many ways.  The action sequences were so limited on that original film because of the actual Batman suit that was designed for Michal Keaton who was portraying the title role, but were brought to vivid life by Nicholson's unyielding acting chops and his sense of over the top madness that seems to seep from the celluloid at times.  This film is one of my first memories and the image has been burnt into my head for as long as I can remember so it felt really good to get this one down on paper finally and hopefully pay a little homage to the man who brought me so much joy in my childhood.  "For my number one guy!"