Grindhouse: Death Proof — Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike

Pen on paper · 21 Oct 07
Attention!  You are viewing a resized version of this drawing.  There is a larger version available, which is of better clarity.  Click on the image below to view it.
Grindhouse: Death Proof — Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike — Art by Karthik

About this drawing

I'd bought a new sketchbook this weekend, and along with it, some black sketch pens, a black gel pen and a correction fluid pen.  Thought I would use all of that equipment, and the result was four drawings of characters from the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino project, Grindhouse.  I have written about this movie before, but here, it suffices to say that the aim of the directors was to recreate the experience of going to a run-down theatre and watching two sensationalistic, exploitation films back-to-back.  Hence, they made two such "grindhouse" movies, Rodriguez's segment being called Planet Terror and Tarantino's segment being called Death Proof.  These were even shown with fake trailers in between.  I love both movies, and though the project flopped on theatrical release, I hope they'll find due success on DVD release.

I did four faces of people from the two movies.  First is Rose McGowan as "Cherry Darling" from Planet Terror, then Kurt Russell as "Stuntman Mike" from Death Proof, Freddy Rodriguez as "El Wray" and Marley Shelton as "Dakota Block", both again from Planet Terror.  I wanted to try a different style of drawing for these pictures.  They're all done in what might be called a chiaroscuro style, using just solid blacks and whites (no shading).  The reduced details in the pictures meant that I could draw them faster (I don't think it took more than 30 minutes to do one of these faces).  Rough outlines were done in pencil and then inked over with the gel and sketch pens.  The scanned versions were edited in Photoshop to enhance the black and white look.  Normally, I'd have used the Curves tool to darken the blacks and whiten the whites, but Varun showed me one effect called "Stamp" that got the look I wanted in just one step.  So I applied this effect to all the drawings.

While producing the final versions of the pictures to upload to the site, I decided that the Cherry and El Wray drawings would work better if they were part of one picture (that way, I could call it "Two Against the World" like in the movie).  So there are three final images which you can look at: Marley Shelton as Dakota Block, Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike and Cherry and El Wray — Two Against the World.

I've also noticed that these pages show up as results for searches of "grindhouse font".  The "Grindhouse" font used in these drawings is this one: Living Hell by Christopher Hansen.

Date added 22 Oct 07

Comments for this Drawing

#1
29 Feb 08 · 01:09 PM
very nice I felt what I expected. continue
#2
Archana
1 Mar 08 · 10:57 PM
Perfect balance of the right and the left brains.....this is what i attribute to you!
Very impressive art work. Re-Creation of Nature's creation!!!
#3
27 Jan 15 · 09:28 PM
Yes! Finally something about quotes about life.
#4
28 Jan 15 · 04:45 AM
I am truly glad to glance at this blog posts which includes plenty of valuable information, thanks for
providing these kinds of statistics.
#5
28 Jan 15 · 08:13 AM
Currently it sounds like Drupal is the best blogging platform out
there right now. (from what I've read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
#6
28 Jan 15 · 02:36 PM
I want to to thank you for this very good read!!
I certainly loved every bit of it. I have got you saved as
a favorite to look at new stuff you post_
#7
29 Jan 15 · 11:20 PM
It is not my first time to go to see this web site, i am browsing this website dailly and take pleasant
data from here everyday.
#8
4 Feb 15 · 02:22 PM
Great site you've got here.. It's difficult to find good quality writing like yours nowadays.

I really appreciate individuals like you! Take care!!
#9
6 Feb 15 · 06:48 PM
naturally like your wweb site however you
have to check the spelling on quite a few of your posts.
Many oof them are rife with spelling issues and I find it very troublesome to inform the reality on the other hand
I'll definitely come again again.
#10
6 Feb 15 · 07:35 PM
An intriguing discussion is definitely worth comment.

I do believe that you should write more on this subject, it might not
be a taboo matter but typically people do not discuss these issues.
To the next! Best wishes!!
#11
9 Feb 15 · 08:05 PM
I am sure this piece of writing has touched all the internet people,
its really really fastidious post on building up new website.
#12
15 Feb 15 · 03:14 PM
I needed to thank you for this fantastic read!! I certainly enjoyed every little bit of it.
I have you saved as a favorite to look at new tuff you post_
Recent Comments
Recent Posts
Latest Doom Map
Dark Fate 2 — a Doom II map by Karthik Abhiram

Dark Fate 2 is a singleplayer level for Doom II, replacing MAP01.  It's a small-sized hellish level — and there's a walkthrough video as well.

Popular Videos
Other Destinations
Favourite Posts
Some Statistics
  • news posts two · 173
  • news posts one · 301
  • comments · 1168
  • drawings · 77
The Author
Karthik

Karthik Abhiram

27-year old Taurean (birthday 15-May-82), Assistant Manager - HR at Tata Consultancy Services Ltd in Hyderabad, India.  Previously, did Post Graduate Diploma in Management from T A Pai Management Institute (2003-05) and before that, Computer Science Engineering from Sree Nidhi Institute of Science and Technology (1999-2003).

Email: karthik82 -AT- gmail -DOT- com
orkut profile
Facebook profile
YouTube channel
deviantART page
Google Reader Shared Items

Disclaimer: The views expressed on this site are purely my own.

Warning: This site occasionally contains profanity.

Creative Commons License