CHEESECAKE Reception

The opening reception for CHEESECAKE, my revealing new show in Chicago, has been scheduled for Friday, June 11 from 6:30-9:30 pm at the Center on Halsted. Their address is 3656 N Halsted, Chicago, IL 60613. 

Let me know if you're interested in joining us for the festivities! It should be a really fun event and I hope to see some of you there!

If you're a Facebooker, here's a link to the event page: CHEESECAKE. 

Let Them Eat Cheesecake

I've been busy cooking up some new Cheesecake today, including making good progress on my portrait of photographer Mike Ruiz, which is titled Say Cheese...Cake, Starring Mike Ruiz.

I like this second photo because it makes it look like Jesse Archer is squealing at the sight of Mike's ass, or, as they would say in art school, "the pieces are having a dialogue."

I also finished my sketch for the Darryl Stephens Cheesecake Boy, which is inspired by Marilyn Monroe's famous scene in The Seven Year Itch. Many thanks to Darryl for providing some amazing reference photos for this. 

A Peek at Jason Driskill

Here's the sketch for my Cheesecake portrait of the incredibly talented artist Jason Driskill:

Jason's work focuses on self-portraiture which led us to concoct this reinterpretation of Norman Rockwell's classic self-portrait (with the random addition of myself and my partner Dennis as a mailman and milkman in the background).

This piece is officially a collaboration with Jason - I'm thinking of it as the "Islands in the Stream" of my Cheesecake exhibit. After all, every album needs a good duet, right? I suppose we'll have to fight over which one of us gets to be Dolly and who gets stuck being Kenny Rogers though.

Cover-ing Up

I just realized that I've been so busy depantsing celebrities lately that I haven't shared any of my latest novel cover illustrations. For shame! So here's a great big old round of catch-up, all of which are being published by Dreamspinner Press:

And next up on the drawing board:

Prints Galore!

I'm busy getting my first batch of prints for the Jesse Archer painting ready to send out into the world. If you ordered one already, it will be on its way to you shortly. And if you'd like to order one, they're available in two sizes in my Etsy store HERE.

Jesse Archer Gets Depantsed

My new painting In Hot Pursuit, Starring Jesse Archer has been popping up in a few places online this week, including a feature on Queerty called Jesse Archer and Friends Cannot Keep Their Clothes On, and my personal favorite headline of all-time from Out in America: Jesse Archer Gets Depantsed by Artist Paul Richmond. Here's the text of the article:

Why are Jesse Archer, Mike Ruiz, Jack Mackenroth and Perez Hilton having trouble keeping their clothes on these days? Because artist Paul Richmond has enlisted their modeling services for his upcoming exhibit of male pin-up paintings called CHEESECAKE. The show, which will feature oil paintings of fourteen gay male celebrities, opens at the Center on Halsted in Chicago this June.

According to Richmond, "It intrigues me that it was almost exclusively women who were depicted as hapless victims of comical wardrobe malfuncions in early pin-up art. Those ladies couldn't even walk down the street without their skirts blowing up or their underwear falling down (or both!). Meanwhile, male pin-ups by artists like Tom of Finland were generally afforded more control over their sexy shenanigans. I believe gravity and other forces conspiring to rob people of their clothing should take an equal-opportunity approach."

And thus, his impressive lineup of Cheesecake models should be prepared for a revealing experience. Paul recently released his first painting for the show, a tribute to slasher flick victims, featuring actor and OUT columnist Jesse Archer as the damsel in distress. He is shown running through a spooky forest with a shadowy, knock-kneed monster hot on his tail. Of course the treacherous branches tear Jesse's skimpy outfit to shreds in the process, leaving him in little more than his skivvies. Archer provided the artist with photo references for the project, and even helped him connect with several other celebrities who will soon be added to the show, including Ari Gold, Alec Mapa, and Darryl Stephens.

"I've never been painted before and it's an honor because Paul is so talented," explains Jesse. "I also love his concept for me. I can't think of anything better than an homage to female slasher victims who can't keep their clothes on!" The painting, titled "In Hot Pursuit, Starring Jesse Archer," is available as a limited-edition giclee print in Paul's online store: www.paulypants.etsy.com.

The opening reception for CHEESECAKE is slated for Friday, June 11, 2010 from 6:30-9:30 pm at the Center on Halsted in Chicago. The address is 3656 N Halsted, Chicago, IL 60613. CHEESECAKE is curated by David Joseph.

To keep up with Paul Richmond's new work for the exhibit, visit his blog and sign up for his e-mail newsletter: www.paulrichmondstudio.blogspot.com. [2/9/2010]

In Hot Pursuit, Starring Jesse Archer

Ready for a fresh slice of Cheesecake? I finished the first painting for my CHEESECAKE show, and it's a frightfully delicious homage to female slasher-flick victims titled In Hot Pursuit, Starring Jesse Archer. It depicts our hero, actor Jesse Archer, running for his life from a shadowy, knock-kneed monster who has an insatiable appetite for hunks.

If you and the monster have similar cravings, help yourself to a limited-edition giclee print of this tasty morsel available in my online store. It's available in a 10.5" x 14" size HERE and 15" x 20" HERE. Want an even bigger portion of this cheesecake? The original painting is also currently available for purchase - contact me for additional details. 


Many thanks to Jesse Archer for not only going along with this wacky project and providing some fantastic reference photos, but for also being enthusiastic enough to recruit additional celebrity Cheesecake Boy models for my upcoming paintings. I'd like to say his generosity would earn him a free pass out of this treacherous forest, but we all know how these slasher movie scenes end. Thanks anyway, Jesse!


Next up: Fresh from his appearance last week on RuPaul's Drag Race, the fabulous photographer Mike Ruiz steps center stage as the model for my next Cheesecake Boy painting...


And if you'd like to join Jesse, Mike, and friends in all their pin-up glory, check out the Facebook event page for the opening reception on Friday, June 11 at the Center on Halsted in Chicago. Click HERE.