With my sincerest apologies to Theodore Gericault. I had always been fascinated by his masterpiece ‘The Raft of the Medusa’ ever since I laid eyes on it in my art history class so long ago. In it, Gericault depicts the real life account of a famous shipwreck of the French naval frigate “Medusa” in 1816. After the ship ran aground off the shore of West Africa, at least 147 passengers went adrift on a makeshift raft. By the time they were rescued 13 days later, only 15 survivors remained–they had resorted to cannibalism to stay alive. Naturally, I couldn’t help but think of another famous shipwreck from my youth–and so the most beloved and ubiquitous TV series from the 60’s, ‘Gilligan’s Island’, became the inspiration for this parody–is there something wrong with me? As usual, check out some close up details… 
My latest Must List illustration for Entertainment Weekly is of the reality TV series ‘The Bachelorette’. Featured is bachelorette Rachel with her trusty dog Copper, and a couple of suitors Peter and Bryan. I’m glad I didn’t have to illustrate the “Whaboom” guy. Thank you AD Ruby Parra.
Mike Tofanelli’s Art Blog 