American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
It's about time I did an illustration from American Psycho. I'd say it ranks in my top five novels. It's a rather brilliant, if extremely shocking satire on the materialism and disparity of New York upper class in the 1980s.
Our psycho, Patrick Bateman is doing pretty well for himself as an investor on Wall Street. Living a rather high life, with an expensive apartment and extravagant lifestyle, Bateman describes to us his daily routines. These routines show us how shallow the environment is: drugs, sex, lies, etc. No one can remember anyone's name, even their "friends." Everything is disconnected from everything else, and people just focus on themselves and their credit cards.
But that's not the entirety of it. Bateman is also a serial killer. He knows it; he factors it into his schedule. He detachedly leads the reader through some very intense, very graphic scenarios. As the novel progresses, his cravings increase and so does the danger of being discovered. But in such a calamitous and uncaring society, who will take the time to stop a killer? Probably no one, as long as their is money left to spend.
This novel was adapted into a movie, starring Christian Bale. It's about a third as shocking as the book, maybe even a fourth, but still gets across the same effect. You have to love that scene near the end with Bateman frantically leaving a voicemail.
"Tonight I, uh, I just had to kill a LOT of people..."
This illustration was done with Micron Pen and a dab of red watercolor.
6 comments:
and i'm reminded of the huey lewis masterpiece, fore. don't know if that was in the book since i never got around to it, but the movie is always just as good as the book, right? cool illustration.
Haha yes sir, there were whole chapters dedicated to talking about music highlights. Usually right before killings.
That pool of red really makes a statement... gruesome!
And I like the touch of red on the briefcase and tie, too. Nice!
Have a great day!
Denise
I love how you captured his indifference towards the blood seeping out of his briefcase. I could barely handle the movie, so I'm glad I skipped the book.
It's a neat thing when a book is actually more graphic than a movie, which is just primarily graphics!
Yeah, it's time I finally read the book.
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