Dita von Teese in Inked Magazine

Finally after like 3 months of consecutive lame cover worthy actresses Inked finally scored someone smoking! Ms. Dita Von Teese herself! I have a free digital subscription to the magazine so I got a sneak peek of it before it hits bookshelves next wednesday March 24th!



The pics inside are pretty hot, so make sure to go check it out. I think I'll buy this issue, they have this one photo story in there for them hot tattooed men getting in a fist fight. I need to buy another back issue of theirs where they had this great photo story of this tattooed guys running a barber shop, it was so beautifully shot!

Also its the first day of spring and I need to change my deer in winter to deer in spring! Maybe I'll get that done this weekend, I haven't really kept up with my own illustrations since I've started to work again.

Tilda Swinton in Another magazine

~Fierce~!!!!! She looks amazing and the dresses look like pieces of art. More scans here.

The Great Lady O's come together

Michelle Obama and Oprah on the cover of ... Oprah magazine


What is going on here? Is Oprah praying to Mrs. Obama? LOL! Also ... plastic belt? Oprah's live show today will discuss this issue of the magazine and her interview with Mrs. O

Vanity Fair Funny Men

Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen and Jason Segel in Vanity Fair

I was reading Jezebel yesterday and they were all up in arms about this photo parody because the male comedians aren't nude and are wearing body suits and men should be equally objectified just as women are and made to pose nude to further their career and DOWN WITH THE PATRIARCY WAHWAHWAHWAH!

I didn't see it as a gender issue but a body size issue, would Americans really want to see doughy Jonah Hill's naked ass? Besides Jezebel fails to make note of all the other photo fashion shoots in which men are naked and objectified just as women in a wide array of fashion magazines. So this whole OMG THE PATRIARCHY STRIKES AGAIN bullshit is just lame. Because its not like men aren't EVER nude in magazines, its just that when they are, they have really hot bodies that fit some mainstream definition of what an attractive male's body is supposed to look like.

Granted their making a direct comparison to the original Vanity Fair cover which honestly I find nothing sexual about it, nudity doesn't always equal sex, Scarlett and Keira look like muses that were rendered in paintings from centuries ago, its not a Maxim style shot.

Anyway I thought the parody was strengthened by their use of body suits and you could argue that making them wear body suits further de-sexualizes people who don't fit the mainstream definition of beauty and having the perfect body. So its not all about putting down women, there is some element of putting down men who don't have model type bodies by needing to cover up fat.

Lily Allen

Lily Allen in Glamour UK magazine





I think these shots of Lily Allen in the March edition of Glamour UK are so cute! I love the concept and the Union Jack flag always leads to strong and amazing imagery. See more at the source.

Below is a sampler of songs from her new album It's Not Me, It's You..

Michelle Obama in Vogue

"I first met Mrs. Obama at an impromptu dinner at Oprah Winfrey's house in Santa Barbara, California, on the eve of the divine Ms. O's Legends Ball in 2005. I was seated between the then Senator Barack Obama's wife and Tina Turner. Do I remember what Michelle was wearing? Not at all. What I do remember was how informed she was on so many topics. And when she said she actually knew who I was, I was so flattered my jaw dropped."

The disconnect is so apparent in that paragraph, I find Michelle Obama an inspiring and memorable FIrst Lady not because of what she wears but because of what comes out of her mouth. Her mind, intelligence, demeanor and fearless-ness are far more inspiring traits than the clothes she chooses to wear. That's why the fashion industry's obsession with trying to turn her into another woman who only cares about clothes is so annoying to me.

"What Michelle Obama is less focused on—in direct inverse proportion to the focus of the public—is fashion. Which isn't to say that she doesn't appreciate good clothes. Or that the fashion choices of a woman whose image will shortly be—or already is—among the most recognizable in the entire world aren't iconic. And thus far, those choices have been fearless. Every moment she sallies forth, she will be scrutinized, then alternately set on a pedestal or skewered."

Its too bad that what she wears will be more coverage and recognition than the policies she wants to work on and promote. Just because of her gender the media has already put her into this box, she's a woman she MUST like clothes and we will only pay attention to that because that's what other women are interested in and relate to -.-;

What I find most exciting about Michelle Obama being in the public eye is that she is an example of a fiercely intelligent woman who isn't afraid to tease her husband and doesn't fawn at him and take a back seat. We see so few examples of women like that in media that I wish her narrative would be more about her brain rather than her wardrobe. But hopefully in time her endeavors as First Lady will get the attention they deserve.

Read the entire Vogue article here

Michelle Obama & Fashion

Vogue U.S. March Cover featuring First Lady Michelle Obama

The high-end fashion industry has an unhealthy obsession with First Lady Michelle Obama, every time I read coverage about it, they seem to want to reduce this highly accomplished and intelligent woman to someone who's only role in the Obama administration is to provide the fashion industry with an opportunity to congratulate themselves.
This is a woman who wears clothes from H&M and J. Crew and doesn't go out of her way to be particularly fashion forward, so the obsession the fashion industry has with her comes across as so desperate.

Here in Philadelphia, local high-end shop Joan Shepp has a window display dedicated to Michelle Obama that somehow relates to celebrating Black history month, even though the designer clothes in the display aren't all my African American designers. And the First Lady hasn't worn any of the dresses in the display either, so its just like pics of the Obama family surrounded by dresses and designer sketches selected by Andre Leon Talley. Its just feeding off the Obama brand and seems like a really weird and desperate tie-in.








Photos taken by me.

Julie Becker in Inked Magazine

Tattoo artist Julie Becker
Inked Magazine September 08 issue


This is one of my all time favorite photoshoots featured in Inked magazine. Inked is a rare tattoo magazine in terms of design, it debuted in Fall of 06 and when I picked it up I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw inside. I was like ... wow its so clean and not tacky looking! I really commend the design team behind the magazine because it really stands a cut above all the other tattoo magazines, which all have this same kind of trashy look. My first impression of Inked was that it was a lifestyle magazine for people who love tattoos or happened to be tattooed themselves. They hire great photographers and models and the magazine itself looks very highend. And not to mention that they have some great interviews and other written pieces.

Anyway this particular shoot was amazing, I ended up cutting out a lot of the pics and framing them on my wall in some filigree/gothic decorative frames. My only gripe with Inked is that their celebrity photoshoots rarely have any close-up or detailed photos of the person's tattoo. I mean I figure this personality is in the magazine because of their love for tattoos, so I want to see what tattoos they have. Don't make them wear a long sleeve dress shirt if that have a full sleeve. It defeats the whole purpose of being in a magazine dedicated to tattoo culture. I think that's why I loved Becker's shoot so much, the photos really captured the beauty and detail of her tattoos and it wasn't just an excuse to style her in lingerie and kimono robes.