Ellen Marcus

Category: Marilyn Monroe

  • Marilyn Mon-What?! (Copyright)

    Oil on Canvas – 16″x20″

    Zazzle did it again.  It removed another one of my fishy parodies while claiming that I infringed on somebody’s copyright.  This time, it was my rendition of Marilyn Mon-Fish-Roe (image to the left).

    I decided to reply to their ‘notice’ and inform the ‘kind folks’ at Zazzle that my intellectual property is parody.  I also told them it was inappropriate and rude to remove my work without some kind of discourse.

    A parody-illiterate guy at Zazzle replied and informed me that my “content violates Marilyn Monroe’s rights of celebrity/publicity”.

    See image below for an illustration of my facial expression after reading his response.

    Oil on Canvas – 8″x10″

    Since, obviously, I wasn’t going to educate the incompetent, simple folk at Zazzle on the nature and definition of parody, I replied with:

    “I’m sorry to inform you that Marilyn Monroe died a few years back, and, because of this, is unable to file a [copyright] complaint”…I then asked where the actual complaint came from (considering that the real Marilyn was dead and all).

    The simple folk at Zazzle replied with: “Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you”.

    From this point on, I’m going to recommend that if you wish to buy prints of my work, buy from Redbubble, because the people at Zazzle are incompetent (and I’m no longer posting any of my future works with them).

    Thanks!

  • Marilyn Mon-Fish-Roe

    Oil on Canvas – 16″ x 20″

    Last night I went out to see “Cabin in the Woods” and it was a good time (good acting, story, effects, and, of course, comedic moments that were actually funny).  I’d highly recommend it.

    This has nothing to do with Miss MonFishRoe.  She’s alright.  Her dress was not easy to create and my inner critic is fantasizing about eating this painting for dinner.  I meant to place her shoulders lower and closer to her hips, but, as I started working on her head, her shoulders seemed to feel more at home from a higher point (closer to her head).  This change had the negative effect of making her legs appear too small.  I have this tendency to make legs disproportionately small to begin with.  Maybe it’s because I’m only five-foot-tall myself, or, the more likely reason is that my figure drawing skills have gotten rusty.