Just in time for Eve’s and my twentieth wedding anniversary, here is a selection of illustrations in which I have used our family as models (a tradition which goes back at least as far as Norman Rockwell). First, Eve and the children pose for a Modern Love piece in the New York Times, about a family abandoned by the father. It appears that Ben is a bit grumpy at having to stand in for a nine year old girl.
Next, Eve poses with plastic bags under her shirt for another Modern Love piece, by Canadian writer Rebecca Eckler, about a flirtation she indulged in during her pregnancy. This illustration drew the attention of the gossip site Gawker, which noted that the model in the drawing does not resemble Eckler, insinuating that the Times had intentionally substituted a more glamorous blonde for the brunette author. Not true; when illustrating personal essays like this one I almost always try to make the central figure look like the writer, when I can find reference, but in this case copy arrived without any author’s name on it, so I was free to use my glamorous wife.
l did not have to change Ben’s sex for this New York Press illustration, just invent a screen door for him to stand behind.
- New York Times piece, 2006
Lastly, Rebecca poses for this slightly creepy Modern Love piece, about a coed who agrees to go out on a date with her professor.
Thanks, Eve. These have been the best twenty years of my life.