Barry Blitt's Drawing 'Illegal Procedure'
A recent cover of the September issue of The Newyorker depicts an enticing image all about scandalous football. The image details a football player running from the police and winning. The picture pertains to the recent actions of domestic violence and all around poor behavior demonstrated by NFL football players. More specifically the illustration depicts the current episodes of Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson, who both performed acts of domestic violence towards loved ones. These events caused a ruckus throughout media and inspired the artist of the cover, Barry Blitt, to create a message to his audience about the NFL. Blitt named his drawing “Illegal Procedure” to reveal the scandal of the NFL in itself. The image of the football player escaping the police validates the inability of the law to control the erratic behavior of NFL football players, and Blitt achieves this message through the captured motion, the overall tone of the picture revealed through colors, and the appeal to the audience.
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The basic message of the cover photo is the idea that many players are running from the law as a result of their actions; however the law, which is represented by the police, is losing the battle.
The football player is running away from the police who is trying to catch him, however the player appears to be far ahead of them and winning the game. The fact that the football player is still holding a football and located in a stadium shows that the player is actually still playing the game despite his recent hold up with the law. The player is a symbol for the NFL as a whole having too much power through money and media. The NFL is shown to be able to escape the law and cover up potential criminals all for the sport to continue its own legacy. The visual of this message is conveyed by the atmosphere presented in the photo, which leads to
tone. Tone is important in this particular photo to ensure the audience receives the essential purpose. The use of subtle colors such as blue and white easily presents the tone of the image. The overall tone of the illustration is passive. The tone is presented as passive to show the lack of attention the scandals of football has received. Diluted, calm colors signify how the not a single person is taking a more aggressive stance when fighting the issue. A passive tone is delineated by the colors which represents the NFL as a whole. The simple colors cannot distinguish a certain team and makes the player part of any team in the NFL. The tone of the image depicts the passiveness of the whole situation and wraps the entire NFL in a circle of blame for the recent circumstances.
Since the football events are so current, Blitt’s drawing involves evidence of motion to provide an idea to the audience of big scandal happening in their time. The motion presented in the picture is mainly running. Running is implied by the position of the football player and the police officers. The police seem to be struggling with the chase after the football player as shown by the hat flying off of one officer on the left side of the photo and awkward position the officers are running in seem to show a struggle. On the other side, the football player seems to be having an easy time running away from the police. The chase appears to be not a struggle at all for the player since he is leaping off the ground almost as if he is depicted to be above the law. The football player is also still holding a football and has his hand out in a defensive position to display that he is still playing the game disregarding all the commotion behind him.
These actions made an appearance in Blitt’s illustration to appeal to the audience of The Newyorker. The audience of the magazine is simply people who read the magazine and football fans who would take an interest in the magazine if passing by. However the cover photo on the magazine is really directed towards the NFL, the law, and media. Blitt makes a mockery of all three sides in the scandal on how they handle the domestic violence and other problems regarding the football players. The image appeals to the audience by drawing in people and bringing attention to the situation. Blitt is trying to bring awareness to the lack of action being taken for the cases of football players acting out.
The NFL is known to have a lot of money and simply sweep problems under the rug, Blitt tries to get readers to understand that everything is being said and nothing is being done. The whole purpose of the image is to depict how the NFL, with their money, are more powerful than the law and how they can easily escape their penalties. The illustration intends to mock the NFL, the media, the players, and the police. Through tone, Blitt shows a passiness of the situation with subtle colors. By involving motion, the struggle of the law to catch up with the players is revealed. Lastly, the image appeals to the audience and brings awareness to the cause by overall making a mockery of those involved in the scandalous events of NFL football.
The basic message of the cover photo is the idea that many players are running from the law as a result of their actions; however the law, which is represented by the police, is losing the battle.
The football player is running away from the police who is trying to catch him, however the player appears to be far ahead of them and winning the game. The fact that the football player is still holding a football and located in a stadium shows that the player is actually still playing the game despite his recent hold up with the law. The player is a symbol for the NFL as a whole having too much power through money and media. The NFL is shown to be able to escape the law and cover up potential criminals all for the sport to continue its own legacy. The visual of this message is conveyed by the atmosphere presented in the photo, which leads to
tone. Tone is important in this particular photo to ensure the audience receives the essential purpose. The use of subtle colors such as blue and white easily presents the tone of the image. The overall tone of the illustration is passive. The tone is presented as passive to show the lack of attention the scandals of football has received. Diluted, calm colors signify how the not a single person is taking a more aggressive stance when fighting the issue. A passive tone is delineated by the colors which represents the NFL as a whole. The simple colors cannot distinguish a certain team and makes the player part of any team in the NFL. The tone of the image depicts the passiveness of the whole situation and wraps the entire NFL in a circle of blame for the recent circumstances.
Since the football events are so current, Blitt’s drawing involves evidence of motion to provide an idea to the audience of big scandal happening in their time. The motion presented in the picture is mainly running. Running is implied by the position of the football player and the police officers. The police seem to be struggling with the chase after the football player as shown by the hat flying off of one officer on the left side of the photo and awkward position the officers are running in seem to show a struggle. On the other side, the football player seems to be having an easy time running away from the police. The chase appears to be not a struggle at all for the player since he is leaping off the ground almost as if he is depicted to be above the law. The football player is also still holding a football and has his hand out in a defensive position to display that he is still playing the game disregarding all the commotion behind him.
These actions made an appearance in Blitt’s illustration to appeal to the audience of The Newyorker. The audience of the magazine is simply people who read the magazine and football fans who would take an interest in the magazine if passing by. However the cover photo on the magazine is really directed towards the NFL, the law, and media. Blitt makes a mockery of all three sides in the scandal on how they handle the domestic violence and other problems regarding the football players. The image appeals to the audience by drawing in people and bringing attention to the situation. Blitt is trying to bring awareness to the lack of action being taken for the cases of football players acting out.
The NFL is known to have a lot of money and simply sweep problems under the rug, Blitt tries to get readers to understand that everything is being said and nothing is being done. The whole purpose of the image is to depict how the NFL, with their money, are more powerful than the law and how they can easily escape their penalties. The illustration intends to mock the NFL, the media, the players, and the police. Through tone, Blitt shows a passiness of the situation with subtle colors. By involving motion, the struggle of the law to catch up with the players is revealed. Lastly, the image appeals to the audience and brings awareness to the cause by overall making a mockery of those involved in the scandalous events of NFL football.