New Piece of Art in Progress Honoring Celebrities

Hi, everyone.

Over my past few messages, I've been asking kind of weird questions like "does Jerry Nelson like popcorn" and "what kind of soda does Dave Goelz like to drink?"

Well, these questions and more have to do with a piece of "fan art" I'm creating. It will be a drawing, in colored pencil, of many celebrities gathered together (along the same wavelength as the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band cover). It honors a bunch of celebrities, including Jim Henson. I can't reveal much more than that at this point, but I can tell you that this piece of art will be auctioned off for charity.

Each celebrity will be rendered with great respect, care and honor. I am in the process of sending out letters to the different celebrities that appear in the picture. This is to ensure that they don't have any reservations about being a part of the artwork. I did run into some difficulty with some celebrities. Originally, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley were to be a part of it, but at the request of their families, I had to remove them.

For those interested, here is the list:

"There's John and Liza, Sly and Bob, and Elton J., who wasn't bad..." Oops! Wrong list!

Alan Zweibel (author)
Gilda Radner
Anne Bancroft
Carl Reiner
Cheech Marin
Bill Murray
Chevy Chase
Candice Bergen
Thomas Chong
Dave Goelz
David Letterman
Paul Shaffer
Gilda Radner
Dom Deluise
Don Novello (who played Father Guido Sarducci on SNL)
Garrett Morris
Frank Oz
Gene Wilder
Jane Curtin
Jerry Nelson
Jim Henson
Madeline Kahn
Marty Feldman
Mel Brooks
Richard Hunt
Lily Tomlin
Alan Alda
John Candy
Steve Martin
Dan Aykroyd
John Belushi
Laraine Newman

There's more people than this, but I can't mention them now, otherwise it would give away what I'm doing. Mainly, I thought I'd let you guys know what I'm doing with the Muppeteers. Firstly, they all look like they did back in "The Muppet Show" days, and I used my copy of "Of Muppets and Men" (the book) as my main reference. If you have a copy, I'll provide the page numbers I used as references. If you don't have a copy, I'll give you the best descriptions I can of them:

Jim Henson--resting his beard on his knuckles, with that soft, chuckling, "Jim grin" (on p. 130)
Frank Oz--smiling and looking to the right (kind of like on p. 73)
Jerry Nelson--grinning big, wearing his hat from the early 80's (he wears it in the Down at Fraggle Rock documentary) and sunglasses. In the drawing he's holding a bag of popcorn (title page photo spread and p.134)
Dave Goelz--sipping a soda, and facing us (title page photo spread and p. 84--the photo with Bunsen)
Richard Hunt--with a facial expression almost exactly like the one on p. 33, but in an entirely different outfit that is in reference to an old Muppet gag. He appears out in front, goofing off and just being Richard.

After the wall I hit with the "Lucy" people, I'm wary of continuing on until I hear from more celebrities. Do you think any other celebrities might object to being prtrayed in this piece of fan art? Namely, the Muppeteers? Do you think Frank, Jerry and Dave would be "cool with it"? How about Richard and Jim's families? What do you think Jane Henson would say? I really want to get across that I am trying to honor them in this piece of art. I haven't written to Frank, Jerry and Dave about it yet, and I'm nervous. I await responses from the celebrities with Telly-like anticipation...

Any feedback on this would be appreciated.

Convincing John

Sounds like a really cool project. I hope you don't hit any more walls! They should be flattered.
Erin

Me, too.

Right now, I'm working on another art project while this one's on the back burner.

Oh, and also, in the picture, Candice Bergen is going to be holding a camera, similar to the one she took pictures of with on TMS.

When I wrote to the celebrities that worked with the Muppets, I mentioned in my letters how much I enjoyed their Muppet involvement, whether it was Candice in "Put Another Log on the Fire", Chevy Chase as the "Follow That Bird" newscaster, or Lily Tomlin singing "I Got You Babe" with Scred on SNL.

I just sent out my letters to David Letterman and Paul Shaffer. Hmmm...maybe Dave'll read my letter on the air!

Convincing John

That would be so cool! Dave and Paul ROCK!!!
Erin

WHAM! Another wall...

I hit another wall...sigh...

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?p=205735#post205735

Convincing John

Sounds like a great project anyway!

Hey, wow. This is a cool project, I never saw it before today.

Are all your celeberies older ones? Or do are you having some younger ones too, Owen Wilson, J Lo, Ben Afflick, and stuff...

Well, good luck, anddon't let the sneezing secretaries stop you.

Beau

Just heard back from the Late Show. No word on Dave yet, but Paul read my letter! He wants me to alter how he looks slightly, but otherwise, he likes it! He's letting me include him! WOOHOO!

Convincing John

Beauregard said:

Hey, wow. This is a cool project, I never saw it before today.

Are all your celeberies older ones? Or do are you having some younger ones too, Owen Wilson, J Lo, Ben Afflick, and stuff...

Well, good luck, anddon't let the sneezing secretaries stop you.

Beau

Click to expand...

Good question, Beau. The celebrities I chose are all ones that Gilda knew and/or worked with. Since the world lost Gilda in 1989 she never got a chance to meet the celebrities of today.

I began by brainstorming a list of people, and emailed it to Michael Radner (Gilda's brother) who helped me add a few people and gave me suggestions. It's a fun project!

By the way, I'm writing to someone else who knew (and I believe still knows) Mel Brooks, so hopefully she can bypass the "sneezing secretary". She was a good friend of both Gilda's and also Gene Wilder's (Gilda's husband).

Convincing John

Oh, I see. Didn't realise it was a Gilda thing.