Totally Epic Dude

Shirt illustration by Melissa Gaggiano;
Available at Red Bubble.

    I just had a lift to my day. When you least expect it. When you start to doubt your abilities something like this happens. One of my illustrations has sold over at Red Bubble.

    One of my favorite telly programs is the SoCal teen noir Veronica Mars. Awesome show, that. So this was my inspiration point for this shirt design.

Epic Love

Artwork by Melissa Gaggiano,
available at Red Bubble.

    I have exciting news. I have just added another piece of art to my Red Bubble shop and it is available on tees and various other tops of your choosing. If you are a Veronica Mars fan, then this lil' treat is just the thing for you. Simply follow this link to my Red Bubble shop.

Have a lovely weekend. Tomorrow I will attempt to cook coq au vin. Wish me luck.

Epic Love Vs Rebound Boy

Illustration by Melissa Gaggiano

Have you ever watched the awesome, but short lived television series Veronica Mars? If you have then you will know what I am rambling on about in this essay. If not, then you will be entirely lost, and will want to watch the series to work out what I am going on about.

During season three of Veronica Mars, quite a few people were relieved to see Veronica Mars dating a good boy like Stosh ‘Piz’ Piznarski. Particularly after the many heart aches caused by on again, off again boyfriend, Logan Echolls. Others, like me, feel that when it comes to Logan it’s a case of better the devil you know.

If I ever wanted confirmation that Piz was all wrong for Veronica, then I would look no further than his reaction to the unauthorised sex tape of Veronica and him. Or I should say his non-reaction. Upon learning that someone had infiltrated his dorm room with spy equipment, and thereby recording an intimate moment between Piz and Veronica, he is surprisingly calm about the situation. He doesn’t appear embarrassed, nor is he angry. I cannot help but feel, even if he’s not concerned about his own personal exposure, he should at least feel so for the sake of his girlfriend, who was ultimately the target of this attack.

Veronica’s Dad, Keith, was never entirely comfortable with Veronica dating Logan. And when she began dating Piz, Keith happily gave his thumbs-up to this set up. As far as he was concerned Logan had no future and Piz and in computer game terms he was the new and improved beta.  Translation Piz is not a trouble maker. But here is the funny thing. Keith thinks very little of Logan yet they are mirror images of each other.  Certainly he doesn’t have Logan’s anger management issues. However when it comes to the safety of people he cares about, he has taken the law into his own hands.

In the other established caveman definition of a beta, Piz is most definitely that. Put these two up against each other in a fight and Logan would come out on top. The first episode we meet Piz he conveys to Veronica that he is a “lover, not a fighter”, in what is an attempt to prove to her that he more evolved than his fellow gender. Little does he know about our sweet Veronica is that she has walked darker roads in the past few years.  And while she doesn’t approve violence per se, she has been desensitised to it. She is no wall flower and subconsciously appreciates a bit of retribution in the form of fisticuffs. Veronica is not perfect, but so she is a product of the Neptune environment, where corruption reigns supreme. In her world the law is backward and insecure, so for order to be maintained some degree of vigilantism is a necessary evil.

Is Logan wrong for Veronica? Of course he is, but he is ‘oh so wrong’ in the way that it is ‘oh so right’. What I am trying to say is that Logan is not a perfect person. His imperfections are visible like ripples on the water. He has done some pretty stupid things, and has some habits Veronica would prefer to discourage, but everything you need to know about Logan is laid out on the surface if you are prepared to take a look. The good thing about Logan is that he is passionate about the people he cares for. In point, even when he and Veronica have broken up [which has happened quite a few times] he has repeatedly defended her. And as much as Veronica likes to point out his faults, Logan knows her well enough to turn the table and is able to bring her down to earth when she is too high handed.  Basically Logan and Veronica ground each other.

Whereas Piz… Well what can be said about Piz? He is loveable, has a sense of humour, easy going and for the most part does appear dependable. You would not find Piz heading off for a wild night of debauchery in Tijuana, but neither will you find him having the gumption  to defend his girlfriend’s honour. Piz is a nice boy, but he hasn’t got what it takes to be Veronica’s equal, which is what Logan is.

I ♥ Fictional Photographers: Part 1

Who are my favourite picture taking ficitonal characters? Well let's line them up like rockettes...

Veronica Mars: Teenage PI and photography hobbiest.
"Bonus points if you get the Dean wearing a lampshade."

Jimmy Olsen: works at the Daily Planet and probably is
the only person who is nice to Clark Kent.

Prue Halliwell: A few years after discovering she was a natural born witch,
she also turned her career to one of her other natural born talents - photography.

Polly Perkins: A newspaper journalist with fast quips and camera clicks.
She just might get in a few good shots if she remembers to take the lens cover off.

Lilly Kane Lives

I am imagining a world in which Lilly Kane, self-celebrated daughter of a magnate, and best friend to Veronica Mars, was never murdered. How differently would life have been for Veronica Mars, her fellow plebes and the notoriously filthy rich 09ers?

Lilly Kane’s murder set off a chain reaction of catastrophic events that destabilised the status quo in Veronica’s hometown — Neptune. The entire social eco system of Neptune was disrupted. In much the same way that biological food chains are hurt when one animal species ceases to exist. Lilly was almost at the top of the food chain, but she also had ties with men who socially were at the bottom and even men who deserved to be at the bottom of the heap [namely her murderer].

Perhaps, if Lilly had lived we could imagine that the world would have been a happier place. For Lilly’s then impressionable best friend, Veronica, in this blue-sky pseudo reality so many terrible things might have been prevented including being drugged and raped. Her first sexual encounter would not have been a painfully public joke, in which everyone else knows the details except herself — “You want to know how I lost my virginity? So do I”. As it stood she had no recollection of her first time, except for the morning after feeling of ‘knowing’ that it happened. Ironically Veronica was slanderously labelled a slut, by the very teenagers who themselves engaged in casual sex. This being just one painful reminder out of many that a different set of rules applied to the 09ers. Lilly herself was a promiscuous 09er, but you don’t hear anyone speaking derogatively of her.

The first guy to totally eclipse Veronica’s heart, Duncan Kane, is the brother of Lilly Kane. Since their break up came before Lilly’s murder her death cannot be attributed to their changed relationship status, except as a further alienation. Truthfully their break up was a manipulation of Duncan’s mum Celeste Kane. According to Lilly “She'd [Celeste] hate anyone she thought that Duncan might love as much as her.” Herein lies a conundrum — Celeste would prefer Duncan to not be dating Veronica, mostly because it is a reminder that her own husband used to date and continues to have an on again, off again affair with Lianne Mars [Veronica’s mum]. To break up her son’s teen romance, Celeste tells him that Veronica is his half-sister. Whether this is fact or not, Celeste has a choice of either accepting Veronica as her son’s girlfriend, or as her husband’s illegitimate daughter. She couldn’t control her husband’s adultery, but she can control her son’s life. With or without Lilly, Celeste’s skies can never be blue.

Then we have the Echolls’ family, whom gave new meaning to functioning dysfunction. The very lives of this family swung precariously in the balance over the thin Lilly lives-Lilly murdered line. If Lilly had lived her on again-off again boyfriend, Logan Echolls, would have discovered that she was having an affair with his dad, Aaron. Rather than mourning the loss of Lilly, he would have been angry with her and broken up with her for good, and being the horn dog that he is would have quickly moved on to the next pretty young thing. Logan’s dad, Aaron probably would not have survived the ice pick stabbing — courtesy of one of his many disgruntled ex-lovers. Had his life ended there, his wife, Lynne, I would like to think that she would have more will power to live her life to the fullest. But the reality was Lynne had turned into an alcoholic, pill popping trophy wife [very 50s minus the housework] was almost at her wits end in knowledge of Aaron’s philandering and abusive tendencies. But if his life had ended at Christmas then that could have been her reprieve from a vapid marriage.

Even considering all of the negative karma following Lilly’s murder, I would still suggest that the world is a better place with a hardened Veronica Mars. Is that a terrible thing to say? Let’s face it. Yes, her death was heart breaking and violent. And yet through this dreadful event Veronica develops into a capable and incredibly resourceful young woman. ‘What doesn’t kill can only make you stronger’ is a powerfully evocative expression, which rings true in Veronica’s life. Yes, her BFF was murdered. Yes, her mum did a runner. Yes, she lost her social status at school, no longer accepted by either socio-demographic [the poor and the wealthy]. Yes, her more than capable father was removed from his position as sheriff. Yes, she was drugged and raped. Yes, she developed a suspicious nature and in turn learnt to tell lies, even to those she loved. And somehow without all these changes in her life Veronica would have continued being a typically sweet, naive teenage wallflower who thought her high school years were an absolute blast. Would this soft shelled Veronica have stood up to school bullies? Would she have foiled the insidious plans of Neptune’s masterminds? The answer is heck no.

Neptune’s very own smart quipped Nancy Drew pulled back the town’s band aid and for better or worse showed us that the well to do 09ers were no better than the people who waited on them. A lawless place like Neptune needs hardened heroes like Veronica. And like a tragic hero of mythology the new Veronica had to crawl through fire. To quote the promotional Conan by-line, she was ‘born on the battlefield’.

Lilly recognised that the shy Veronica Mars was an undeveloped work in progress, as noted when discussing prom dresses in the good old days, “You are not a yellow cotton dress… You are strapless red satin”. For Veronica to become the rocker chic what she was always meant to be, Lilly had to die. For when she was murdered Veronica took on the best qualities of Lilly – her love of adventure and not being afraid to break a few rules. So although Lilly was murdered it can be believed that she lives on in Veronica.

My Creative Space...

My creative space this week has been about my cat. I have been thinking about writing a children's picture book about Piper. To begin with I wrote a short poem and did some illustrations. I might take it a bit further. Click here to see the original blog entry that has the poem.

Today I will work on some fashion illustrations. A few days back I collected the July Vogue, and this magazine is always a good source of inspiration with some of my drawings.

I have been watching Veronica Mars and am inspired to do a series of pictures inspired by the lighting and sets of this show. It is a modern noir program that uses filtered light for flashback scenes and tinted windows casting orange, red and purple light in doors.

To see more creative spaces, simply follow this link to Kootoyoo.

Definitely Not A Possum

This is a lot off topic from art, but... last night M-Boo and I were sitting down to watch Veronica Mars when (pause for dramatic effect) we felt an earth tremor. The whole house shook. At first I thought someone or a very large and fat possum was running across our roof. M-Boo half expected someone to fall through the ceiling. Then we became quite aware that the walls were also shuddering and there was a vibration coming up from the ground up. It was my first earth tremor, so I was justly spooked by the experience.