Making of Dick's good summer

"It Was a Good Summer for Dick" art by Marc Ngui, part of the Meme Swarm series of images.

Art inspiration is everywhere and sometimes in other art. This portrait of Richard here - friends call him Dick - was inspired by the Mona Lisa's smile. Actually, Marc used the painting as an underlay to his pen and ink drawing during the digital collage stage. Can you see it? Take a look at the image below, with the linework removed. The background of the poster is also from the Mona Lisa.

Coincidentally, news reports out of London last week speculate that a male model may have contributed to the Mona Lisa's smile.

Detail of "It Was a Good Summer for Dick" art by Marc Ngui, part of the Meme Swarm series of images.

"Dick" Pen and ink drawing by Marc Ngui.

"It Was a Good Summer for Dick" art in progress, with some of the digital layers removed.

Dick's sweater is based on a scan of an old sweater Marc actually owned for a while and the wild Hawaiian print on Dick's shirt was generated from photographs of orchids.