Illustration Friday: Similar

It's eery how similar Brad Pitt and I are to one another. It's actually getting kind of old. I like my space, you know what I mean?  But what's really weird is how my mom looks nothing like Mrs. Pitt.

Happy Birthday Howard Finster! Rest in peace.

Today would be the 92nd birthday of the Reverend Howard Finster, the eccentric artist who claimed in 1976 that a smudge of paint on his finger told him to "paint sacred art". Finster is credited with fueling the "outsider art" movement. He went on to paint thousands of paintings, of which I'm privileged to own a couple. He counted as his friends David Byrne of the Talking Heads and Michael Stipe of R.E.M. He painted album covers for both bands. The song Maps and Legends by R.E.M. is a tribute to Mr. Finster. I painted the above painting of Howard Finster in 1992 as a baby gift for my friends Scott and Lori, who are fans of his art, after the birth of their daughter Beatrice. I showed a polaroid of the painting to Howard during a visit my family took to his Paradise Garden in Penville, Georgia. He said that a lot of people have drawn his picture, and that mine was "real good".  Howard Finster died October 22nd, 2001. So, happy birthday Howard, I hope you're happy at whatever planet you landed on.

Painting the portrait of Howard Finster.

Howard giving me a brief drawing lesson.

This is Howard holding my daughter Kelly, 

who is now 17 years old.

I've been tagged. (Is there a cure?)

Click on image to enlarge.

I'm somewhat of a novice to the blogosphere, but this week I've found myself "tagged" by the Great Kate of Chicago. And what that apparently entails is that I post 7 things about myself, and then proceed to tag 7 others, and so on, until everyone in the world knows about everyone else. Well, here are my 7 things, but I don't know how to tag others yet, but I will, because I know if I break the chain, 7 plagues will fall upon the world, and a Republican will be voted in as president again.

Boulevard Bolt on Thanksgiving morning.

Okay, there's this Jew, a Baptist, and an Episcopalian. They get together, and they put on a race. Well, actually it's many Jews, Baptists and Episcopalians, coming together to put on a race in Nashville to benefit the homeless. The Temple, Immanuel Baptist Church, and St. George's Episcopal Church are putting on the 15th annual Boulevard Bolt 5 mile race on Thanksgiving morning. I had the privilege of designing and drawing the first shirt back in 1994, and again last year, for the 14th annual running of this race, with almost 8,000 participants!

Illustration Friday: Opinion

I know people who take it as a personal affront if your opinion is different than theirs. One definition I liked: Belief stronger than impression and less strong than positive knowledge.

Illustration Friday: Pretend

I drew this sketch of myself during church yesterday, where I was pretending. Or was I pretending to be pretending? Maybe I was pretending to be pretending to be pretending! Ouch, my head hurts...

The Trifecta is COMPLETE!!!

First: My daughter's high school soccer team defeated the evil FRA Panthers to win the regional championship! Second: The mighty Tennessee Titans defeated the Green Bay Packers to go 9-0! Third: Good guys win! Good guys win!!!

About the above illustration: I drew those angels for a book I wrote back in 1999. Ironically they are pumped about the birth of the coming saviour. Note that these are not Southern Baptist angels. When there is an illustration assignment depicting angels for LifeWay (Southern Baptists) you do not show wings, feet, or make it female. My publisher for my book was Thomas Nelson, and they let me be a maverick. Let's all get down and get mavericky!!!