Going back so far, things are 'sketchy'...

Greetings On Ripley readers.


Mike C. here, with another autobiographically bent bit of Ripley love from the very summer -- the very day -- we first got to see Ripley in action after a 57 year long nap.

Like many of you who were lucky enough and old enough to be around and able to do so, I went to see Aliens the day it was released nationally, which was just 26 years yesterday -- happy Alien-iversary, Ripley!

I think it changed me forever. I know it changed much about how I view women, motherhood, cooperation and basic human failings like cowardice, disloyalty, and greed.

But it also inspired me -- I should say, she inspired me -- to set ink to paper the very hour I returned home.

And I still have it.

Ellen Ripley

pen, ink and watercolor on paper, 7-18-86

I wasn't even going to attempt recreating that incredible face -- I wanted it to be more like a wardrober's or conceptual designer's sketch.

I also love that, since it was from memory, I had much of it almost right. Sort of.

I did note the red in her shoes, to my credit, though I cannot explain why I forgot so quickly that they were those hightop sneakers and not the nearly-kneehigh boots you see here.

I knew I wouldn't get the gun right, and as you can clearly see, I didn't feel strong enough about the overall look to really finish it right.

But it's my first real Ripley tribute, and it was made the very day I saw her become a real hero.

Thanks for indulging the in-love-teenaged-artist I was.

Enjoy-

--SIGNING OFF --