Jimmy Angelina: The Last Coloring Book

On the surface, The Last Coloring Book seems aimed at the segment of the adult coloring book audience who are cult film aficionados, and while it certainly will more than satisfy on that level, to me it’s a much more significant work. 

“As someone who treasures my old sets of trading cards such as Drew Friedman’s THE ED WOOD JR. PLAYERS and Robert Crumb’s HEROES OF COUNTRY MUSIC, I’m blown away by Jimmy Angelina’s artwork here–with a style that has echoes of woodcuts or etchings (I just saw an exhibition of Goya’s etchings dealing with war and insanity, in Austin last year, and it was stunning) but at the same time is hyper-real, the portraits seem to truly plumb the depths of feeling found in the performances of the 130+ actors presented. And unlike those smaller trading cards, these works are in full 8″ x 10″ format. It’s an amazing collection of performers, inspired by their most riveting roles (usually NOT their best known)…what can you say about a collection of portraits which includes TIMOTHY CAREY in MINNIE AND MOSKOWITZ, ROBERT BLAKE in ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE, WILLIAM SHATNER in IMPULSE, ROCK HUDSON in SECONDS, and even JAMES DARREN blowing the trumpet in Jess Franco’s VENUS IN FURS. There’s no list or guide to what actors and films are being depicted, but that only adds to the fun. That’s artist Jimmy Angelina’s part of the book.

“The other part is the quoted dialogue from each film, chosen by Wyatt Doyle, found on each page with the portrait. With classic cult films such as SECONDS, MINNIE AND MOSKOWITZ, MARJOE, BAD LIEUTENANT, TOUCH OF EVIL, and PLAY IT AS IT LAYS represented, each well-chosen line of dialogue perfectly communicates existential truths, and it works EVEN IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE. Trust me, I have not figured out who all these people are yet let alone what all the films are, and the ones I don’t know work just well as those I do. However, when you DO know the film, you get new depths of meaning from the work.

“THE LAST COLORING BOOK is a brilliant concept executed brilliantly. I can’t imagine the book ever getting old, and I’d guess it will also lead the reader back to films worth seeing over and over. The pairing of Angelina and Doyle is a match made in cult-film heaven.”

The vast selection of drawings below were all published in THE LAST COLORING BOOK, and this is the first time they’ve been exhibited for sale – presenting an incredible opportunity to purchase an original, provenanced illustration by Jimmy Angelina at shockingly affordable prices. By virtue of each being a full, published page, they are ALL (by definition) Splash Pages. They ALL measure 9 x 12 in. and MOST are only $300. That’s what you can expect to pay for a quickly rendered convention sketch, not a fully-rendered, published page.