Chunlong Sun, a photographer and digital retoucher from Beijing, China had some fun with this little personal project. A series of images featuring world-renowned dictators clutching plushies gives them a tender side we all wish they truly had. The juxtaposition between the face of evil and a cuddly stuffed animal makes these serious portraits instantly humorous.
In case you missed it - whether on purpose or by accident, Miley Cyrus' hosting gig on SNL certainly had its moments, the best of which was when Miley and the cast parodied her own song, "We Can't Stop" by giving it a political twist.
Cyrus dressed as Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann with Taran Killam as House Speaker John Boehner suggestively danced and vamped to the new lyrics, which presented a raunchy Republican celebration of the government shutdown.
The full video:
"Cause we came to shut it all down now, no government around now, if you're not ready for healthcare, can I get a 'hell no,'" Cyrus sang while dressed as Bachmann, spanking Uncle Sam, licking Killam as Boehner, and holding and licking an Abraham Lincoln doll. "Government workers on a furlough, even though you're already paid low ... everyone in line for early child care, anyone who planned to see a grizzly bear, we are so shut down yeah."
Some of the best moments:
Miley licks an Abraham Lincoln doll at one point:
The original video's bears are replaced with the GOP elephants:
above: George Washington With Boob Cheeks above: James Madison With Boob Eyes
Garnering some recent buzz is an oddly compelling project appearing on Tumblr called "Presidents With Boob Faces." A collection of watercolor paintings featuring... you guessed it, past U.S. Presidents with mammaries on their chin, cheeks and/or heads.
above: John Quincy Adams with Boob Head above: James Monroe with Double Boob Chin
Enigmatically signed with only E. Deutchman and no 'about me' section, some sleuthing has revealed that the artist behind the project is Emily Renee Deutchman, the daughter of Hollywood producer and movie mogul Ira Deutchman.
above: Thomas Jefferson with Boob Chin above: John Adams with Boob Jowls
Emily, who is a talented watercolorist and illustrator (see Emily Renee Art) and who studied art at Skidmore College, didn't begin by adding breasts to the faces of our Founding Fathers, but instead, began with some other artworks featuring tits as features.
above: Erik With Boob Cheeks
In her entertaining site Sketches of Things she has the following paintings and illustrations of her brother, friends - even a dog- with "Boob Faces," precursors to the project Presidents With Boob Faces.
above: Shit I Draw For My Brother's Birthday above: BOOBS
In her own words, the following illustrations are presented as " These drawings are part of a sketchbook project I’m working on titled “My Friends With Boob Faces.”:
Yes, Etch A Sketch has recently been all over the news as a result of what some are calling a political 'scandal' or a 'gaffe' when an aide for presidential hopeful Mitt Romney compared it with Romney's fall election strategy (see video below).
Sales for the 104 year old toy have increased by 1500% in the last week and on Thursday afternoon, the Ohio Arts Company also started ShakeItUpAmerica.net, a site with links for both voter registration and Etch A Sketch retailers.
Coincidentally, I had begun a blog post on the most talented Etch-A-Sketch artists just prior to this recent incident. So, given all the buzz about the toy and the recent increase in sales, now is a good time to inspire you all with the following.
There are several artists who actually create permanent artwork on the classic Ohio Art Company's Etch-A-Sketch (and more are listed at the end of this post), but George Vlosich III is one of the most talented and prolific of the bunch. An artist who works in many mediums, he is best known for his ability to create fantastic and awe inspiring portraits on that old beloved toy with the red plastic frame.
He's transformed the classic Ohio Art brand Etch-A-Sketch from a child's toy into a collection of pop art that been featured in museums and galleries across the country and the originals sell for thousands of dollars. Each is an original work of art that takes 70-80 hours to create.
He has rendered montages of politicians, celebrities, musicians, athletes, movie casts, cities and countries in the familiar red framed toy.
Barack Obama and Lincoln Memorial:
The Royal Wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton: Elvis: Michael Jackson: Jay-Z: Cal Ripken Jr.: Magic Johnson: Tiger Woods: James Lebron, MVP: Gone With The Wind: The cast of Gangs of New York: Muhammed Ali: Americana: New York: Las Vegas:
He has been featured on shows such as Oprah, The Late Show with David Letterman and ABC – 20/20 to name a few. He created a Paul McCartney piece (shown below) specifically for Art Basel 2011 which was displayed with the Verne Gallery:
The Paul McCartney piece for Art Basel Miami in progress:
How does he do it?
George carefully plans out the image by sketching in a notebook before starting any work on the Etch. He designs as much as he can that will fit on the 5 x 7 inch screen.
He works meticulously with the line and if he makes a mistake, he has to start over. he begins by getting all the line work of the portraits in first.
Once he gets all the line work in and is confident it looks like his intended subject, he begins to shade. He claims that is the easy part, but also the most time consuming and tedious. What looks like one line may be traced over between ten to fifteen times. To actually do the shading from light to dark may require a line being traced over 20 to 30 times.
Once the work is complete, he has to make sure that it can never be erased. Aluminum powder is inside the Etch-A-Sketch and sticks to the glass when you shake it. A stylus inside scratches off the powder, thus creating the image. George must carefully remove both the powder and stylus so that the image on the screen becomes permanent.
Once the Etch is complete, George photographs each final artwork for his website, and his own personal collection.
For the first time, through the studio of GV Art + Design they are now offering quicker, simple personalized Etch-A-Sketches created from a photograph. The price for a simple one portrait Etch A Sketch is $725.00.
Additional portraits can be added for an additional cost. For your purchase, you will receive a permanent Etch-A-Sketch of your portrait shipped and delivered to you.
*Please Note: These are personal pictures ONLY: no athletes, celebrities or iconic images will be created. The artwork created on these Etch A Sketches are done by the GV Art + Design studio and not done by George Vlosich III.
Other Etch-A-Sketch Artists
Yes, I am aware that there are several other talented Etch-A-Sketch artists out there. Below are just a few, many of whom will create commissioned portraits or sell prints of their work.
And Christoph Brown who etches on the pocket sized version of the Etch-A-Sketch:
Other Etch-A-Sketch artists worth mentioning and whose work you can see in the Ohio Art Hall Of Fame: Eric Rowlett Tim George Andrea Malenich Shea Baker Stacy King And for those who love the nostalgia of the Etch-A Sketch, be sure to check out the awesome Official Etch-a-sketch iPad case! images for this post are courtesy of the individual artist and the Ohio Art Company
" by giving it a political twist. 
