Artist of the Week: Pop Culture Illustrations by Amy Blue

Culture is a kind of information, and in an age where information is made readily available by way of mass-media and the internet, we have seen the rise of a new kind of culture, namely pop culture.

There are many definitions of pop culture, but one thing that is certain is that the term “pop culture” is derived from “popular culture”, first coined in the 19^th century, and used to describe the education and level of culture of the so-called lower classes. It was, basically, the exact opposite of the “official culture” of the dominant classes.

Pop culture, however, was first used during the late 50’s, and it means anything that has mass appeal, whether it be music, art, film, books or TV shows.

The internet’s ubiquitous presence in modern society has made pop culture all the more important, giving people unprecedented access to art, and culture in general. Virtually any reinterpretation or homage to a work of art, artist, or even just a mundane object can be considered a piece of pop culture.

This week, we will be showing you a few beautiful pop culture illustrations made by Amy Blue.

Based in Sydney, Australia, Amy is an illustrator that focuses on portraiture and drawings inspired by real life situations. She explores pop culture and the mundane in her works, making her a real “pop art artist”.

As we have already mentioned, we will be exploring her pop culture works in this article, so we have selected a few illustrations from her Ten Up series, which is comprised of three (with another one being a work in progress) illustrated top 10 lists, and who doesn’t like a good top 10 list?

Ten Up: Pseudo Intellectuals

This Ten Up is a list of pop icons (mostly celebrities) who wear thick-rimmed glasses, trying to sport the “smart” look. The description reads “No eye sight problems. No intellect. Just vanity”, so it seems a bit mean-spirited, but that doesn’t mean that the illustrations themselves aren’t absolutely gorgeous.

1. Zooey Deschanel

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Many people consider Zooey Deschanel the face of the “manic pixie dreamgirl” movement, but love her or loathe her, she is a very recognizable figure. Amy’s illustration of her is rather unflattering, drawing her while striking the infamous “duckface” pose, but this is an excellent illustration/caricature of her, since you clearly see it is Zooey Deschanel.

2. Miley Cyrus

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Here we have Miley Cyrus with her trademark outstretched tongue pose. She has been getting a lot of media attention lately, making her at the very least a temporary pop icon. It seems, at times, that there isn’t anybody without strong any feelings about this “good girl gone bad”, making it seem like everybody is either for or against her, and Amy seems to lean toward the later.

3. Harry Potter

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And this is the illustration that makes it hard to tell if the artist really is harboring any negative feelings for the subjects of her illustrations. It’s hard to imagine anyone hating Harry Potter, but maybe what she’s trying to say with this illustration is that the movies did not live up to the books, seeing as the illustration is of Daniel Radcliffe playing the titular character.

4. Beyonce

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Beyonce Knowles is somewhat of a feminist icon, but it’s unclear whether Amy disagrees with miss Knowles’ status, with feminism in general, or if the illustration has nothing to do with a social movement, and she just doesn’t think the singer is the sharpest knife in the drawer.

5. Justin Bieber

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Justin Bieber is giving Miley Cyrus a run for her money, as far being a “hate sponge” goes. Here we have him portrayed in a rather androgynous kind of way, with the puckered glossy lips and plucked eyebrows. Even the colors used to make the illustration are stereotypically girly.

Ten Up: When I was 10. Crushes

In this list, the artist show us the idols she had while growing up. These are the people and characters that made her childhood magical.

1. Kirsten Dunst in Interview with A Vampire

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Interview with A Vampire is a terrific movie, with an all-star cast that includes Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Antonio Banderas. It’s also the movie that put Kirsten Dunst, who you probably now know from the first Spider-Man movies and Lars von Trier’s Melancholia, on the road to fame. Obviously, Amy really enjoyed the movie, and Kirsten’s character, called Claudia, and put her on this list.

2. Macaulay Culkin in Richie Rich

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Although best known as the neglected and resourceful Kevin, from the Home Alone series, here we have Macaulay Culkin in one of his lesser known roles, that of the possibly-neglected, but still resourceful Richie Rich.

3. Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic (probably)

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It is absolutely amazing how Leonardo DiCaprio went from serious child actor, to heartthrob, and back to serious actor (adult, this time) again. 90’s kids will remember DiCaprio for his roles in the now-frowned-upon Titanic, and the under-rated The Beach (that had a great OST from the under-rated All Saints). Here we probably have a “stylized” Leonardo DiCaprio in his first block-buster movie, Titanic.

4. Christina Ricci in The Addams Family

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The Addams Family is a fun movie, and like Interview with A Vampire, it marked a child actor’s breakthrough role. Christina Ricci played Wednesday Addams in this movie, and it made her a household name for several years. Her character also inspired goth kids from all around the world.

5. Anna Chulmsky in My Girl

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If you’ve ever watched VH1 before it just became MTV-five-years-ago, then you’ve no doubt heard The Temptations’ track My Girl, and see the video featuring Anna Chulmsky and Macaulay Culkin. The song is from 1965, but the video was made in 1991, as it was part My Girl’s OST, the movie that young Macaulay and Anna played in.

Ten Up: Icons of HBO

HBO has made some incredibly influential TV show. From Game of Thrones to The Sopranos, HBO has been producing top-notch television for over a decade, now, and has raised the bar for TV shows, making the medium a whole lot more enjoyable. This list is Amy Blue’s homage to this fantastic broadcaster.

1. Eric Northman

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True Blood explores a world where vampires are accepted as a part of mundane life. Tackling issues such as equal rights and class struggle, True Blood is a testament of the risks HBO is willing to take when producing shows, and Eric Northman is the show’s sex symbol.

2. George Christopher

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Good comedy is hard to come-by, and Bored to Death is (or rather, was) a shining jewel in the world of comedy. Ted Danson’s character in the show, George Christopher, played no small role in making the show the comedy tour-de-force that it was, with his libertine attitude constantly getting him into unusual, yet strangely realistic situations.

3. Cersei Lannister

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Like all the characters in Game of Thrones, former Queen of the realm, Cersei Lannister is a complicated character. She’s an incestuous adulterer, who loves her child, and who has ambitions she cannot realize because of an oppressive system. There’s no way of truly telling why the character is great without giving you spoilers, but just look how cool the illustration is.

4. Tony Sopranos

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Considered by many to be the greatest show ever made, The Sopranos radically changed what we consider to be a good show. Bringing feature film quality writing to the small screens, it sparked a revolution that lead to the making of such shows as Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead or The Wire. Tony Soprano is, of course, the head of the Soprano crime family, and the show follows him dealing with day-to-day life, and getting help for his frequent panic attacks.

5. Larry David

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Larry David is Seinfeld’s co-creator. His show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, follows a fictionalized version of Larry, in much the same way that Seinfeld follows a fictionalized version of Jerry Seinfeld. It is, essentially, a spin-off of the reality of Seinfeld, not the show.

We hope you enjoyed our list of Amy Blue’s illustrations. If you want to see the full lists, just click the links provided in the photo’s sources, or visit her website here.

Let us know what you think of her illustrations, and share any others you like, in the comment section below.