Isn't it much more interesting to draw what's not there, rather than what there is?

And so it happened, that I distributed your portraits, which you have so diligently chosen and uploaded, onto a blank sheet of paper. To discover what there really lurks behind the clipping frame.

Or at least, that's what I had imagined. And the first ideas were quickly formed, the theme of the work soon obvious enough. Soon after beginning to sketch it all out though, it became apparent enough that the austere, dignified quality I had imagined for this painting wouldn't hold. Too crooked were the various perspectives. Too random the distribution of light and dark, of line and texture.

Let's not even start to speak of the models.

And so it happened, that a lightness overcame my heart, and soon thereafter my hand. And knowing that all the lofty resolutions had long gone over board, and merely floated in the backwash of the project, I began to follow the erratic flow of inspiration.

And this is what happened:


(Click this link or on the image for size)


Yes, there is an angry unicorn mermaid figurehead. And a walrus mermaid. And the wind is blowing from all directions at once. There are always casualties where great art is involved.

And I apologize to all those who do not find themselves among the actors. There is always room for a Second Best Boy and a Personal Grip to Mr. Lincøln and a Doom Operator in the cast list.