One of my other personas...

In which I did not waste 7 years of art school

Many people on the inter webs know me as a proliferator of panda pastiche. Panda satire is a big part of who I am and have been for the last 14 years. Those who have been around me a little longer know that I studied painting and have both a BFA and an MFA in painting. In fact, I just passed my 36th anniversary of throwing off the yoke of oppression by a certain coffee company, and painting became my day job.

Along with my regular painting practice, in which I make paintings that I show and sell at The Rob Schouten Gallery and Fountainhead Gallery, I sometimes dabble in art forgery. I guess it would be more accurate to call them master copies, since I’m not trying to convince anyone that yes, that is an actual Vermeer painted on 21st century illustration board with 21st century paint.

Still, it is a fun exercise and one that artists can learn a lot from. There is nothing like trying to replicate a painting you love; the colors, the composition, the quality of the brush strokes.

Now, I can look at this and find several places where my drawing was off by 1/32nd of an inch, but there is also the lookee what I did!!! feeling I get when I look at it in my living room.

I’m lucky enough to have seen the real thing, which is only 9” x 7” and resides at the National Gallery in DC. Mine is smaller at 7” x 5” so along with the modern materials issue, would make it harder to switch it for the original. Not to mention those pesky security guards.

Sometimes worlds collide and I use my skills for evil….

No one can prove that Sargent didn’t do a version of this painting with pandas…

On a trip to Brussels in the before times, we stumbled into a room that held one of my favorite paintings from art history classes. It’s kind of a macabre painting, but it is so beautifully painted, that I’d always loved it. Of course, when I got home to my studio, I decided I had to do a copy. I usually endeavor to use the same proportions even if I don’t do the exact same size, but in the case of this painting, I made the choice to crop a bit from the top of the painting, mostly because of the size frame I had available.

I thought about doing a version of this, or maybe Artemisia Ghentileschi’s Judith and Holnefernes with TFG’s head, but then I remember the stuff that Kathy Griffith went through, so if I do it, you won’t see it here!

So, to all the artists here, have you ever done master copies? If you did, whose work did you try to emulate? What did you learn from the experience? what painting would you most like to copy?

All above paintings were done by me

BTW, if you would like a Vermeer or Sargent of your own, get in touch! We can talk.