Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Jim Jarmusch

Part of the upcoming January/February issue of Great Lakes Life Magazine is a feature called 25 Reasons We Love the Great Lakes Region. One of the reasons listed is that the region has given us some visionary directors and I was asked to illustrate them. This is the first one and features Jim Jarmusch (best known for Coffee and Cigarettes and Broken Flowers).

While researching Jarmusch, I found this really interesting quote on originality:
"Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery — celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: 'It’s not where you take things from — it’s where you take them to'.”
-Jim Jarmusch

Here are some of the original concepts:
A few more of these guys are on the way. Stay tuned...

4 comments:

Rachel Dangerfield said...

Dave! This is a really snappy likeness! I remember watching Coffee & Cigarettes in high school and thinking I was sooo cool. The only scene I remember from it now though is the one with Meg and Jack... and then maybe the one with Tom Waits.

Dave Armstrong said...

Something I didn't know about Coffee and Cigarettes is that the first portion of it filmed (the one with Steven Wright) was made as an SNL thing.
He made more of them and compiled them into a movie.

Jake Murray said...

Okay, I'm gonna be honest here. I have no idea who this guy is. But then again, if something or someone in pop-culture isn't somehow related to star wars or movie soundtracks, odds are I probably won't know about them. That said, the likeness is FANTASTIC (I reckon). :P Always nice to see an update from the Great Lakes region Dave!

Rabbit Town Art said...

Wow! Your work is rendered so beautifully! Really great stuff!