Home » Archive by category 'Illustrations'
» Illustrations
"And to All — Good Night!"
"And to All — Good Night!"
I pointed out to Aldo that The Night Before Christmas closes with the line  ”…and to all a good night.” Dropping the “a” leaves Santa’s farewell open to interpretation: He might even be saying, “And to all—the hell with you!” The Santa in this illustration certainly doesn’t look as if he’s full of the milk of Christmas kindness—he’s full of whatever red wine is in that bottle. And I think the elf has a certain poignant look of childlike concern. Aldo says this is simply a portrait of a hard-working man at the end of a long day of dropping down chimneys and shouting orders to reindeer.

» Illustrations
"The Harvest" by Aldo
"The Harvest" by Aldo

Another of Aldo’s drawings of the eternal feminine. Here she gathers up the year’s vintage in such a way that the grapes conceal her bosom. You could argue that she gazes down on them as a mother would on two infants,  or she may have dozed off. As to that bird showing off its profile in the corner, Aldo says it’s a crow, not a pigeon, and functions as a memento mori. He thought a skull would be depressing.

» Illustrations

Rose, Unaccented
Rose, Unaccented

Aldo did this little illustration in celebration of the EU’s decision not to allow—and so cheapen—the definition of rosé  to include blends of white and red grapes. Admittedly, this is a drawing of a rather demurely happy garden-variety rose, which is not the same thing as rosé. But Aldo says he’s tired of drawing bottles, and besides this is a fairly accurate depiction of his emotional state when sharing a good rosé. And I’m not sure I disagree. It seems to be beckoning others to join it.

» Illustrations
"Biodynamic Spring"
"Biodynamic Spring"

I asked Aldo to provide one of his sketches on the theme in the title. I think this is closer to Teletubbies than biodynamism, but Aldo says it is a tribute to the sun and nature in the new season, and what more could you ask for? The moon-like head in the lower right, he says, represents winter, now dormant. Aldo, by the way, loves the Teletubbies.

» Illustrations
Reindeer Gamay

Some people like to draw their own holiday cards—Aldo sketches seasonal labels for wines that exist only in his mind. The reindeer looks as if it were developing a headache from the bulk of its antler vines.

© copyright 2009 billyvivos, all rights reserved