Edgar Allan Poe

46"x46" oil on canvas ••• I'm torn between writing about the above painting or about how The Spousal Unit has developed a nasty habit of coming into the studio and taking unauthorized pictures of my work (e.g., see the photo above of my under drawing of Mr. Poe's eyes). You will notice I did not accuse Her of sneaking into the studio. There is no need to sneak, because, quite frankly, you could crash a train into the studio while I'm painting and I probably wouldn't notice. • Since I do not want to risk miffing She Who Supplies Me With Cookies, let's talk about the big painting of a dead guy. (Yes, I know it is a bad habit of mine calling them my dead guy paintings, but let's face it, I am a walking bad habit.) • Mr. Poe is a seminal personage whom I revere AND he had a forehead the size of a dining room table, so how could I resist painting him? This painting is actually the third in a series of three big dead guy paintings I did. The other two were Albert Einstein and Abraham Lincoln. My intention was to have all three displayed together in an upcoming gallery show. A "Raymond's Wall O' Dead Guys" kind of thing (see picture below). The problem is—and it is a great problem to have—the other two gentlemen sold before the show. As it was, Mr. Poe went solo to the show while he was still technically wet. • You know, I shouldn't complain about The Spousal Unit taking Her photos. The Abraham Lincoln piece sold from a picture She showed a collector on Her iPhone. Cell phones are not amongst my favorite things, but I have developed a fondness for that particular phone. I was already very fond of the phone's owner.

  
Posted May 26, 2017