Some artists use time-honored fine art techniques to sell commercial products. However, illustrator par excellence Mel Odom used his formidable painstaking talents to introduce to the world the emerging gay culture of the 1970s.
His seminal work with Blueboy magazine led him to become the darling of the publishing industry, and magazines (Omni, Viva, Time, Vogue Japan and, ironically, Playboy) quickly booked him. He was also commissioned by diverse entities like Mrs. Diana Vreeland and Tori Amos. The eroticism, wit and southern gothic sensibility of Odom's illustrations leave you spellbound.
His new book, "Mel Odom: Gorgeous" (Apartamento Publishing) is a celebration of a career that is staggering in its versatility. From his love for Barbie and doll culture, to his quasi-dreamlike cover images for several Anne Rice novels, the book is deeply personal, featuring images of the author, both nude and fully-clothed, along with intimate details about each of his works, his childhood and his sexuality.
In his interview, the gracious and humorous artist not only answered questions from The Bay Area Reporter, but also from several talented creatives who are inspired by his legendary work.
Cornelius Washington: What motivated you to publish a new book in today's age?
Mel Odom: Editor Luis Venegas and I had been talking about collaborating on a book for years. It had been 40 years since my last published collection and I had done so much work since then. It just seemed like the right time to do it. An artist likes to see their work in solid form, not just a fleeting image on a screen. When the grid goes down you can still read a book.
Your art and career span decades. Please describe the book's editing process.
I basically let Luis do it. I supplied as much of the work I'm proud of to Luis and let his editor sensibility take over and connect the dots of an almost fifty-year career. I'm too enmeshed in what my favorites are and what and who I was doing at the time. I'll save all that for a memoir.
Please explain your techniques.
My drawings are an astoundingly tedious process that starts with my original sketch being drawn on vellum. I frequently create several sketches for an assignment. After the specific sketch is decided on, I have a copy made of the sketch, rub a soft pencil lead on the back of it and retrace all the lines, in order to transfer a pale version of the drawing onto a piece of smooth hot press illustration board.
Then, I remove the traced print and redraw the lines of the drawing again to make them darker and more permanent on the board. I then add the color with Peerless dyes and water, using them as watercolors. After the long and tedious process of that, I then go over the color with a layer of soft pencil, to add the tones and details of the image.
This takes days, but it's where the magic happens. I use a lot of reference but pick and choose which details are important to what I want to say within the drawing. After the colored image is drawn this way, I trace the drawing again on frosted acetate to create a stencil to protect the drawn parts. I cut the frosted acetate stencil out. I then use gouache to paint the background whatever color I choose.
Using the acetate stencil to cover the drawn portions, I fleck layers of gouache specks that create a lovely texture and allows you to make the background more a part of the whole and relate to the subject of the drawing.
After I get the background the colors I want, I remove the protective stencil and go over the outside lines of the image again to better connect the subject with the background. Then, it's finished and I take a nap.
What did you learn in art school that has put you in good stead, as opposed to being merely talented and self-taught?
I had a great first art teacher, starting when I was seven. Mrs. Oquinn Askew taught me most of what I used throughout my career. She would do things like throw a sheet over a chair and tell me to draw the shading of the folds. She was a sweet taskmaster and I would take her classes once a week and draw mundane things like an old tennis shoe or an apple. It wasn't to make a pretty picture but to learn how to draw. I did this from age seven till my late teens.
How did your late father feel about your work, and do you remember any conversations about it with him?
My dad was a very sweet man and knew that drawing was something I loved. I'd been doing it since I was three. He supported my art study. I was also quiet and out-of-the-way when I was drawing so my mom thought it was a great idea, too. He was proud of my getting published in magazines, even when he wasn't thrilled about my work being in Blueboy or Playboy (he was Baptist). I was sorry he never got to see my work on the cover of Time magazine, but he died a couple of months before that happened.
What is your husband's favorite illustration, besides the image that you've crafted of him?
When I asked him, he told me his favorite is a drawing I did for Playboy magazine of a voluptuous turquoise woman in bed unfastening her bra. There is motion implied with her head in both full-face and profile and her color and the implied intimacy of the gesture give a moody, goddess-like aura to the image. I was surprised and pleased that this is his favorite.
What are your rituals surrounding your work (liquor, substances, music, scents, etc.)?
I usually have the TV on, right next to where I'm drawing, as a distraction from the hours of eye-straining focus required. Sometimes something in a story on TV will inform my work as well. I did a drawing inspired by a "Twilight Zone" episode and frequently use pieces of actor's faces or clothing on characters.
I also smoke weed when I work. When I'm exhausted, that gives me fresh eyes. It helps me go for the hours required and gives me the 'Well, why not?' daring to go places in my work I might not have otherwise. It's a huge help. I taught illustration at a school for a few years and always wanted to mention that, but knew I couldn't.
Regarding your seminal work with Blueboy magazine, looking back, what, if anything, would you do differently, and do you realize how important it is?
I can't think of anything I would do differently. That period is now so long ago that it's obtained a sort of mythic importance in my life. I was new to New York City and was in my late-20s when I started working for Blueboy and those images were the first instances of my being called on to perform outwardly as a gay man and express what that meant to me.
It gave me a visibility as a queer that was undeniable and a huge luxury for me at the time. The cat was out of the bag and there was no putting it back in. These drawings were queer and beautiful and it screamed, 'This is what and who I am, and this is my proof.' I know how important it was to me and have been told by others what it meant to them. There were portraits of now-lost loved ones in those drawings.
A couple of years ago, I was interviewed on film about my work for Blueboy and discovered that I was the major contributor to the magazine, as well as being one of the last contributors alive.
Please explain the wonderful relationship that you've had with Playboy magazine, and Mr. Hugh Hefner.
Someone at Playboy magazine saw my work in Blueboy and got in touch with me. After a couple of false starts with another art director, I was paired with Kerig Pope, this amazingly kind and perceptive art director that I worked with for the next seventeen years.
My first assignment was for a Raoul Dahl story called "My Uncle Oswald." It was a cool story and I did an amazingly homoerotic sketch as my first offering to Playboy. I didn't intentionally do it as a dare, but I do remember thinking, "Well I'll never hear from them again." They loved it!
I was delighted and busted my ass to do a gorgeous, finished drawing for them. The staff at Playboy turned out to be the loveliest bunch of people I ever worked with. I did many drawings for them over the years, and they never once said "This is too gay."
Hugh Heffner's lesbian daughter Christi was the editor during much of my stint at Playboy and I was treated like family. When I won awards for drawings I did for them, they would send someone from Chicago headquarters to go with me to the awards events. I loved working for them. I have a lovely, framed letter from Hugh Heffner congratulating me on my Gene doll.
Please explain your work with Viva magazine, and its importance to your career.
Viva magazine had seen my tiny portfolio and hired me to do an illustration for them while I was still living in Richmond, Virginia. I packed up the next week and moved to New York City and finished the drawing in New York. Viva was a woman's magazine from publisher Bob Guccione and was, in a way, a gift for his girlfriend Kathy Keaton who was the editor.
My first drawing for Viva had an exotic pansexual-looking guy with a hard-on in it and got me work with them for the next couple of years. Blueboy saw my work in Viva and hired me. Then Playboy saw my work in Blueboy and hired me and then Time magazine saw my work in Playboy and hired me and my career just kind of evolved. This all happened within five years. I was very lucky and always realized that!
Let's jump to the present. What was it like to create the portrait of Mrs. Diana Vreeland, former editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar and American Vogue, and how did you feel about her son, Frecky Vreeland, showcasing your image of his mother on his Instagram page?
Short Answer; I was thrilled. Years ago, Diana Vreeland did a marvelous book titled "Allure." I bought a (huge) copy of it and had the nerve to drop it off at her apartment building with a note asking if she would sign it. She gave me the most glamorous (huge) autograph imaginable on the title page.
Overnight, I did a portrait sketch of of her for the autograph she had given me and delivered it to her building. She liked it and (I've been told) it went up in the den of her apartment. It's one of my favorite portraits. I posted it on Instagram and her son Frecky saw it and posted it on his Instagram in a tribute to his mother. As I said, I was thrilled.
And what about your Tori Amos commission?
I am a huge fan of Tori Amos. I've seen her in concert several times. Even though I wasn't going to attend, I dropped off a Gene Doll at the stage door of Radio City when she was doing a concert there. It was a redheaded Gene doll and I wanted to give her or her daughter something for all the hours of enjoyment I'd had from her music. There was a note on a card with it with one of my drawings on it. I doubted that she'd actually get it, but you have to try.
Months later, I got a call from a very British-sounding Mr. Witherspoon asking if I'd be free to do a cover for Tori's autobiography, "Piece By Piece." I thought it was a friend's prank call at first, but eventually realized it was the real deal. I said yes. I communicated with Tori (who was in England) a bit on what she'd like, did a couple of sketches, and did the portrait. It went on the book and I got to meet Tori. I now believe in miracles.
You have illustrated several of Anne Rice's books. How did you garner the commission, and did you receive any feedback from her, considering her legendary eccentricities?
I was just called in to do it. I had read "Interview With The Vampire" when it came out and tried desperately to get the paperback cover commission, but they went with just lettering on the cover instead. Later, Playboy magazine published the first excerpt from "The Vampire LeStat" and asked me to do the illustration for it!
I was thrilled and did a killer drawing (literally). I was then called in by a publisher to do the cover for "Exit to Eden," an erotic novel Anne wrote under the name Anne Rampling. I did a beautiful drawing and was then asked to do the cover for her follow-up erotic novel "Belinda." I was very happy to be doing these covers, but still wish I could've done "Interview." I met Anne once and she was lovely, if a bit wary.
Perhaps one of your most prestigious works of art is with Time magazine of President Ronald Reagan. How do you feel about the portrait, and where is it hanging?
I donated the drawing to The Society of Illustrators. It had been framed for an exhibit and, not being a fan of Mr. Regan, I gave it away. It was my second portrait for Time magazine and I was conflicted about trying to make a beautiful piece of art of a man I sincerely didn't like. At the time, I was giving the people in my drawings little arched dots of light in their hair as a subtle halo. He did not get those dots nor was the portrait used on Time magazine. The White House nixed it. My feelings about him had shown through.
You created the Gene Doll to help raise funds for HIV and AIDS research. Carolina Herrera and Geoffrey Beene created clothing for the doll. How much money was raised, and how do you feel about working with two such legendary fashion designers?
That's almost right. I created Gene Marshall because I love dolls. In 1990, my best buddy, designer Brian Scott Carr, was dying of AIDS, and I needed something completely new and all-consuming to do in order to get through the trauma of helping him to die. His family was out of the picture and I had become his caretaker.
The summer Gene was created, I worked with a wonderful sculptor whose studio was coincidentally three blocks from Brian's hospital. I would go from the mad sadness of visiting Brian in the hospital to Michael Evert's studio and work with him on creating Gene.
His wife was pregnant that summer and one day Michael told me that all his straight-man horniness was going into sculpting Gene. It showed.
When Gene eventually came out as a product in 1995, there was a collector convention for her almost immediately. For the conventions, collectors would design fashions for Gene and the dressed dolls would be auctioned off with the proceeds going to Gay Men's Health Crisis, a not-for-profit helping people with HIV and AIDS.
We raised a couple of hundred thousand dollars for them. I am very proud of this. Gene was named after my boyfriend Gene Bagnato, and the year she came out, I was going from Gene's hospital room at Saint Vincent to Toy Fair. It was a surreal time for me. Gene Bagnato died shortly after.
On a lighter note, who is an unexpected fan of your work?
I couldn't tell you. Demi Moore loves Gene so I guess she'd be the one! She even wrote a piece for my book, "Gene Marshall, Girl Star," so maybe she's not so unexpected anymore.
How do you feel about the recently released Eartha Kitt doll? Who do you feel should be the next icon to receive this honor?
I think she's pretty but I wish she was a bit more, darker skin, more exotic makeup. I know it's very difficult to sculpt on that scale and it's really thankless when it's someone as well known and unique-looking as Eartha Kit. I think it should be more stylized to really look like her, but I love that Mattel does these portraits.
How do you feel about Barbie culture, in general, as the film has solidified it, and with black female artists such as Lil' Kim, Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey and Cardi B celebrating the culture with their various aesthetics?
I think anything that celebrates individuals who excel at being themselves is good news.
Whose album cover would you kill to illustrate?
Annie Lennox.
I have a few a friends who are passionate fans and have some questions for you. First, filmmaker and photographer Bruce LaBruce, who is aware of your love of classic Hollywood. He asks, "Who are your current male heartthrobs?"
Idris Elba.
Sister Inda Beginning, member of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, asks, "Your imagery is key to LGBTQ culture. How do we queer creatives retain a sense of advocacy as queer culture is increasingly commodified?"
I think anything that penetrates a society gets commodified. For better or worse, I think it means we've arrived as functioning citizens. Don't worry, we'll always be abominations to some people. I'm fortunate that I live in New York City where that's not a problem, not like the small town in the South I grew up in, where it would be a major problem. I miss that small-town part of my past, but realize I have no safe house there any longer.
Artist, print maker, fashion designer and musician Lilit Gemini asks, "I know who I am and what I want, but I struggle being visible as an artist with socially polarizing work. The art comes easy, but I struggle to stand behind it. Was there a time when you also had to come to terms with this issue?"
I think every artist has to come to terms with this issue. It's about the work, how you feel as you're doing it, as well how you stand beside it when it's out there in the world.
This book that's just coming out is a great example. To be truly objective, I let Luis Venegas select all the images for it. When I first looked at the selection I saw, among everything else, the beautifully sexual drawing I did for a GMHC safe-sex study and Blueboy magazine among other drawings, clearly explain that I'm a gay man.
I'm thrilled that they are a part of my portfolio and in this book. They should be, as they are a part of my life and what I had to give in that moment. My nude Don Heron Tub Shot is exactly who I was in that instant, for better or worse. I stand by it all. That's what you have to be willing to do.
Cultural anthropologist Bob Mathis-Friedman asks, "Which current artists inspire you?"
Oh gosh, lots. I have so many artist friends whose work I love that I really can't (won't) pick specific ones. I like really personal work that reflects fetishes and loves. And if you can throw in some brilliant or wildly personal technique, I'm yours. Aubrey Beardsley is my favorite artist.
Have you considered donating your work to The Kinsey Institute, The Smithsonian Museum and/or are you going to create your own archive?
I have not. It never occurred to me that they would want it. Just yesterday, I was discussing what I'd like to have happen to my work when I'm gone. To be decided.
What would you like people to say about your work in one hundred years?
'Oh, I loved that movie about him!'
Mel Odom: Gorgeous!' $35, Apartamento Publishing
www.apartamentomagazine.com
www.mel-odom.com
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