Neocon Series: Tom Ridge. A One Day Painting.

Thanks, lauhal.

Unfortunately, there are too damn many neocons, so fortunately, this series will continue.

Phase two, though, is a bit different. Not the people - the events.

Exploding Tomatoes from Jupiter, coming this Spring to a theater near you...

Thanks, Robin.

I guess I could take that as a compliment, although I'm better than Photoshop.. ;-)

Stick a tube in a USB port and squeeze really hard.

I see a lot of Warhol and Lichtenstein influence in your work.

Most of my paintings aren't done in this style, but since these Neocons are basically cartoon characters anyway, it seems fitting. Also, many years ago I worked with Andy at the factory for almost a year. He rubbed off on me.

Since the thread is quiet, and because others may be interested, I'll tell you now.

During the time I was there, he was mostly doing portraits because he was spending most of his time on the magazine. When someone commissioned a portrait, he would photograph them. First, he would cover their face with white makeup. Then, after the hairstylist, etc., were finished he would shoot them with high contrast black and white film.

The film would be sent to the lab, which would send back large, painting-sized negatives. The negatives would then be projected onto a wall, so we could all look at them, and take notes. After that, we used india ink to block out any skin imperfections, wrinkles, etc.

Canvas would be laid out on the floor, and areas would be painted in solid colors. The areas were transferred from a tracing of the negative.

The negative would be used to shoot an acetate, which would then be shot onto a screen using photo-emulsion. Once the canvas was dry, we would print the screen over it, and Andy would come back and take a look. If everything was cool, he signed it. If not, we would do it again, incorporating any needed changes.

Assembly line portraits.

The really cool thing is that the silkscreen is permanent. You can "print" as many paintings as you want.

Now you know how Andy did his serial images. It's really just a series of prints over differently painted backgrounds.

I would do portraits in a similar fashion if I had the equipment, and a larger studio, and assistants, and....

Thank you, Pamela.

I haven't had a show in NYC in a very long time. I'll have to see if any of my contacts there are still active.

Thanks, Jim. Nice pun, too.

As I was doing this, I wasn't just thinking about Ridge. I was thinking about the Ministry of Fear; and the psychological damage that it does. People afraid of "Terrorists" while their liberty is eroded. What happened to "The land of the free, and the home of the brave?"

Thanks, dreaming.

GREAT picture of Coulter! Definitely a keeper. And yes, it does fit in with this series. She's a mouthpiece for the neocons - spreading their propaganda to easily swayed.

Your paintings would make fantastic illustrations for a the story of our nightmare.

I'm, um, flattered?

It's still too early to paint that series, my friend. We're not out of this nightmare yet.

Sure I would. If you hear of anything like that happening, let me know, ok?

Some years ago, early 90's, I donated some paintings to an organization in Chicago called Christmas Is For Kids. It was a charity run by JAM productions. They would ask rock stars to sign something (anything) then they would auction it off. The money went to buy Christmas presents for homeless children, and equipment for shelters.

Lou Reed donated a painting I had given him. Next thing I know, I was painting people for JAM on a fairly regular basis. Pretty cool.