An illustration for Nescafe cocktail contest

The client asked me to draw a barman. I did. He came out dressed in nice clothes with a dignified phiz. He kind of resembled one TV announcer, but oh well. Honestly speaking, I am better with drawing cute chicks, and guys are not my strong point.

The client told me: “That’s the sort of barmen you have over in Moscow.” He should be more fun. A T-shirt, jeans and stuff. And a more common face.

So I do that. The eye sharpness is lost, and the respectable visage turns into a weird grimace. You see, drawing such “prepossessing” guys is no cakewalk—one wrong move and he looks like a transvestite.

They suggested that the guy should resemble Tom Cruise.

I can’t stand Tom Cruise. So I attempt to picture a young man who’d be attractive to women.

I make him a Brad Pitt. But his hair is somehow grayish instead of blonde. I’m asked to remove the name from his shirt. The head undergoes strange metamorphoses. The eye sharpness still lost.

Now they want the “old” nice clothes back. And a kerchief around his neck. And his hair not so khakiish.

I change his clothes. It’s hard not to draw a transvestite.

They want him to be wearing something “fashionable” (a T-shirt maybe), some neck beads and a handkerchief this time around his wrist.

I’m finally satisfied with his head proportions. I carry out a survey—most girls at the studio would agree to marry him.

The beads didn’t make it. And I was also asked to “clean under his fingernails.”

That’s it, I guess.