Time Out New York: Jeff Bridges

I was asked to do this week's "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York, the subject this time being film legend Jeff Bridges!

It only took a few seconds after finding out who the subject was to decide to do this in the same style as my "Tough Guy" series, since now that Mr. Bridges has aged a bit, he's moved into that sort of phase of his career--plus, he was promoting his role in the new Coen Bros. movie True Grit, and these seemed very True Grit-y colors.

I had fun adding all those crazy strands of hair--it adds a nice looseness to my style, and its really hard to put down a "wrong" line. Overall, I finished this piece pretty darn happy with it.


And that's a good thing, because odds are this is the last Hot Seat I will ever do for Time Out New York. As I write this, the magazine is undergoing a face lift, both in content and look, and from what I understand the Hot Seat feature is going away. Now, I heard that once before, back in the summer, and somehow not only did the feature survive, but I was back doing the portraits on fairly regular basis.

So you never really know, but for now I'm going to assume this is it. This week's Jeff Bridges makes for 275 Hot Seat portraits, an extraordinary run for one client. And while there was (of course) some weeks that I wasn't proud of what I ended up turning in, they were almost always fun and at times the results were some of my finest work. I'm happy to have been such a staple of the magazine for so long.

Time Out New York: Ewan McGregor

I was asked to do this week's "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York, the subject this time being actor Ewan McGregor!

Mr. McGregor was promoting the long-delayed film I Love You Phillip Morris, so I first thought of putting the PM logo on his t-shirt. But when crop-wise it worked better like this, I added it to the background and faded it a lot so it didn't conflict too much with the central portrait.

Time Out New York: Aasif Mandvi

I was asked to do this week's "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York, the subject this time being actor/comedian Aasif Mandvi!

Like most people, I'm familiar with Mr. Mandvi as a correspondent on The Daily Show, but he's also an actor, having appeared in a number of films and has several more to come.

Since starting the Hot Seats back in 2006, I've had the chance to do portraits of Stephen Colbert, Steve Carrel, Ed Helms, Rob Riggle, and Olivia Munn. I can only hope TONY taps me if/when they interview Jon Stewart, Lewis Black, Samantha Bee, Jason Jones, or Larry Wilmore!

Time Out New York: Kristen Stewart

I was asked to do this week's "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York, the subject this time being actress Kristen Stewart!

All the Hot Seats I've done lately have been in black and white, so I was more keen than usual to change that up and do this one in color. And since I didn't want to make too much of an explicit Twilight connection, using mostly soft colors and gentle fades for the portrait seemed the way to go.

Time Out New York: Johnny Knoxville

I was asked to do this week's "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York, the subject this time being actor/comedian/professional jackass Johnny Knoxville!

I had all sorts of ideas for this one, including a portrait of JK hanging upside down, Houdini-style. But I had a bunch of other assignments on my plate that week, and if that idea was deemed a little too out there, I really wouldn't have time to re-do it, so I went this, which I thought was a little more straightforward.

That said, I still managed to work in a little of that Jackass-danger and violence into the piece. I thought why not combine the hoary old arrow-through-the-head bit, but make it an actual arrow fired into Knoxville's skull? Once that I had that in place, the rest--the colors, the design--was easy.

Time Out New York: Susan Sarandon

I was asked to do this week's "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York, the subject this time being legendary actress Susan Sarandon!

For whatever reason, I had a real Andy Warhol-ish concept in mind for this one, with a rougher look than I usually go with for female portraits. But if anyone would work being portrayed like that, it would be the no-nonsense, tough-as-nails Sarandon.

I fiddled around with this for a while, trying to hit the sweet spot between too rough and too smooth. I originally had the dark grey tone much lighter, but when I darkened it to what you see here it gave the piece a harder edge, one that I liked a lot. Plus, it looks a little different than the stuff I normally do, which was a bonus. I also had extra detail in the hair, but finally settled on a flat red shape, which I thought contrasted nicely with the bright yellow background.

I think Ms. Sarandon is a great actress, and many times has been outspoken when I'm sure it would have been easier on her to keep quiet. I have no idea if she'll ever see this piece, but if she does I hope she likes it.

Time Out New York: Ed Westwick

I was asked to do this week's "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York, the subject this time being actor Ed Westwick, who is a cast member on Gossip Girl.

Not being familiar with Mr. Westwick, I searched around the internet for pics and info on him. I noticed that while he was squeaky clean in his PR shots, he looked much scruffier in more informal pics, so I thought it'd be more interesting to go that route for the portrait.

I knew I wanted to keep it monochromatic, and I think this came out as one of the best Hot Seats I've done in a while. I like the rough gray tones, the messy background, and the squiggly lines for his jewelry. I've already put this one on the "best of Hot Seat" list I have in my head.

Time Out New York: Justin Long

I was asked to do this week's "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York, the subject this time being actor Justin Long.

I originally had a dot pattern behind the straight-ahead portrait, but since I had a little extra time to work on it (a rarity) I set it aside and opened it up a few days later.

When I did, I immediately ditched that background and added this kid-like, cartoon drawing of a heart, which obliquely refers to the new movie Long was promoting, Going The Distance. That seemed to fit perfectly, and another Hot Seat was ready to go!

Time Out New York: Zach Braff

Last week, I was asked to do another "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York, this time actor Zach Braff.

I toyed around with this one quite a bit, but eventually settled on the hot/cool contrast of the blue portrait with the orange background. I added a (very)faded mosaic effect, but otherwise I wanted to keep this simple, clean, effective.

Time Out New York: Olivia Munn

Last week, I was asked to do another "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York, this time actress/host Olivia Munn, who is mostly known for Attack of the Show, but has just started doing segments on The Daily Show.

When doing a portrait of someone famous for their looks (Google "Olivia Munn" and see how many pages of images you find), you really just try and make them look as glamorous and/or dynamic as possible. So I kept it fairly simple, putting her in a dotted red dress, with a slight tilt to the whole thing.

I'm not sure what the background means (nothing, really), but it looks good, and for whatever reason seems to fit with the portrait.

Time Out New York: Alexander Skarsgard

Sooner than I expected, I was asked to do another "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York, this time actor Alexander Skarsgard, who is currently starring in True Blood.

I knew I wanted some splash of red on here, but not make it look like blood specifically. I like using the subject to bifurcate the frame and have two separate fields of color; it's a look I think almost always works, and I think it worked again here.

Time Out New York: Michael Emerson

My final "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York is actor Michael Emerson!

After five straight years (plus about a month), Time Out New York is changing their back page features and told me that I will no longer be needed to do a weekly "Hot Seat" portrait. Disappointing to be sure, but after five years and over 250 portraits, I figured this was going to happen eventually.

This is my final regular portrait, of Michael Emerson from Lost. Nothing against Mr. Emerson, but I wished it had been a subject I could've gotten a little more energized over. I don't watch Lost, never did, and actively don't care about it, so combine that with the knowledge this was my last piece kind of left me a bit demoralized. I barely remember working on this, and it was just last week.

Overall, I don't think its too bad; I just wish I could've really gone out with a bang, you know?

Time Out New York: Chelsea Handler

Back in the saddle again! This week's "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York is comedian/host Chelsea Handler!

I didn't want anything too complex for this; just a simple glamorous portrait. The background color isn't one I use much, if at all. But it matched Handler's eyes and I thought it looked good, especially when I added the slight glow behind her.

That hair took forever!

Time Out New York: Sam Rockwell

This week's "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York is actor Sam Rockwell!

In every photo of Rockwell I saw that wasn't a still from a movie, he was unshaven with a wild mop of unkempt hair. So I decided to stick with that, and only cleaned him up a little bit.

My favorite part is the old-school IronMan t-shirt I put him in (Rockwell is in Iron Man 2). You used to see a lot more of it, but when I was deciding where to place him in the frame, this was how it looked best.

Time Out New York: Michael Caine

This week's "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York is film legend Michael Caine!

Usually TONY doesn't get the chance to interview a legend (since, after all, there aren't that many of them left), but Mr. Caine definitely fits the bill--from Alfie to The Man Who Would Be King to Sleuth to Hannah and Her Sisters to modern films like The Dark Knight, Caine has one of the greatest filmographies in all of Hollywood.

He was promoting a new film called Harry Brown, where Caine plays a vigilante. So I decided to use a shot of Caine from the film, taking out some of the more specific elements (him holding a gun, for example) and adding some Saul Bass-esque buildings in the background to give it a retro feel.

Also, by having the buildings be so cartoony and simple, the realistic portrait of Caine made for a good contrast. This ended up as one of my favorite Hot Seat portraits fro the last couple of months.

Time Out New York: Chris Rock

This week's "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York is Chris Rock!

I was really excited about this one, since I'm a big fan of Rock and that always adds an extra layer of fun to doing the portrait.

Even though Rock is a comedian and he was promoting a new comedy he's in (Death at a Funeral), I didn't want anything goofy or light--instead I wanted a straightforward, powerful look, with Chris looking you right in the eye.

The portrait part was easy, but for whatever reason it took me forever to find the right background. I tried all kinds of approaches--some very busy, some very simple--but none of them really looked right to me.

I finally settled on what you see above. I'm not sure what (if anything) it signifies, and less than a week later I'm not certain this was the way to go. But at the moments before I turned the piece in I thought it looked cool, and that was enough!

Time Out New York: John Goodman

This week's "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York is actor John Goodman!

I've actually liked John Goodman--even when the movie or TV show he's is bad, he's always entertaining to watch, and I loved him as Dan Connor on Roseanne.

Anyway, he was promoting several projects, and while I didn't want to push any one of them too hard, I dropped in a faded promo shot from the new HBO series he's on, called Treme.

Time Out New York: Christian Siriano

This week's "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York is fashion designer Christian Siriano!

This was one of those times with the Hot Seat portraits when I have not the slightest clue who the subject is. So I did some quick research on Google, and once I saw some of Mr. Siriano's work I had an idea of what I wanted this portrait to look like.

I had first thought of doing it in stark black and white, but I've done a lot of monochromatic Hot Seats lately and plus, Siriano's work is very colorful and bold, so I thought full-color was the right way to go this time.

Time Out New York: Alfred Molina

This week's "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York is Alfred Molina!

Like most people my age, we know Alfred Molina from his more popcorn movies, like Raiders of the Lost Ark ("Throw me the idol, I throw you the whip!") and Spider-Man 2, where he actually managed to make Dr. Octopus kinda scary. Now that's a good actor!

But for his Hot Seat interview, he was promoting the play Red, about Mark Rothko. So of course it seemed only logical to try my hand at a Rothko-esque piece in the background. I kept Mr. Molina black and white since the overall piece worked better with that greater contrast.

Time Out New York: Joan Jett

This week's "Hot Seat" portrait for Time Out New York is Joan Jett!

This portrait was one of those ones whose whole approach clicks as soon as you learn who it is. I knew the best route for a Joan Jett portrait was rough, scrappy, and black and white.

Its maybe not quite as scrappy as I first imagined, but I still thought it came out okay. Put another dime in the jukebox baby!