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I didn’t have the camera that I do now when I photographed the painting above. I know it’s a potato quality picture, sorry!
Part 1: Periscope On a random morning when I was still living in Maine, a very famous comedian showed up to my Periscope: Bert Kreischer. At first blush I thought the @bertkreischer tag was a joke and couldn’t possibly be his real account. I finally believed him as my view count went nuts, and commenced freaking out. At one point my phone was dying and I was struggling to find a charger. I was worried at the time that I would lose the crowd that Bert so nicely brought in if my connection cut out. Eventually I managed to plug my phone in and get it together for the remainder of the broadcast. Despite this shit show that ensued, Bert retweeted my broadcast that day and followed me on Periscope. Very cool! By the way, the periscope that I'm talking about is: here Part 2: A Mention on YouTube I got a notification from Instagram when leaving the movie theater a while later. It was a comment that went something like : I saw the Bertcast with Owen Benjamin and I’m from Maine too. So cool that he mentioned you, and so on. I allowed myself to melt down/freak out for a second or two and then got to researching on YouTube. The dude was right! Bert mentioned me in the episode of Bertcast Featuring Owen Benjamin starting at the 1hr, 9m mark. Part 3: Portrait After I moved to Louisiana and got settled in, I was able to begin painting again. I first painted Doug Benson’s portrait and we’ll talk about that some other time I bet. The second person I painted in a similar style was Bert, and I was (and continue to be) in a learning phase of portraiture so I used a photo I found easily on his website as a reference. A few months after I completed this piece, I built up the courage to send Bert a message via his website contact form. I crafted what I felt was a nice but not creepy email saying thank you and that I would love to send him his portrait as a thank you. To my delight, I received an email just a short while later from Bert’s wife LeeAnn. She said she thought it was so cool that I had done this and that they would like to have it. I sent it off and haven't heard much since but I remain hopeful that they liked it. I am not 100% positive but am pretty sure that I saw the painting a few months back hanging on his wall in the background of an Instagram story. I only caught a glimpse for a second. I hope that he at least liked it enough to keep it. Fingers crossed!  The above image is a portrait in acrylic of Doug Benson on 24”x36” canvas. Some of the white paint (eyes, teeth) on this canvas glows in the dark!
I have been inspired to paint Doug Benson’s portrait twice, and I had the courage to ask him if he’d like his own portrait sent to him just once. (He kindly said ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’) I think I decided to paint him after I saw him for the second time live in New Orleans and I actually had to courage to say ‘hey’ in the green room after the show. He was kind to me when I was very nervous to meet him and I appreciated that. Doug Benson is a comedian that I’ve always had a lot of love for- he consistently makes me laugh and I value that beyond most things. I have watched and listened to a wide range of everything he’s ever recorded and I think it’s fantastic how he’s found a way to make money from each ‘thing’ in life that he enjoys. It meant a lot to me when I realized that anyone with enough heart and persistence can do apply the same equation to their own life. I’m inspired by his work and so I attempted to pay tribute by creating his portrait, twice. I have been experimenting with larger canvas sizes recently and this was the first portrait of a comedian that clocks in at 2 ft. By 3 ft on stapled canvas. The background imagery was created by making a stencil of Doug’s favorite leaf and repeating that same image in the background. For aesthetic reasons these leaves are somewhat stylized and there’s a light blue, diagonal stitch-type pattern radiating from the middle of the canvas. The clock on the bottom of the canvas features Roman numerals, the clock is conveniently set to 4:20.  Interested in this artwork? Click to begin your purchase via eBay. I paint comedians I admire and respect the most and Joey Diaz is on that list in bold letters! It was my goal to contribute to Joey’s legacy by immortalizing him in a painted portrait.
I created this artwork in early 2019 and it’s made with acrylic paint and metallic paint pen on a 16”x20 canvas. Periscope is a main theme of this work because Joey broadcasts there often and is well-loved on the platform. This portrait of Joey Diaz (JoeyDiaz.net) is one in a series of comedians I have painted and this piece has been reworked twice because I didn’t quite like the lettering in my first iteration. I ended up doing some research, changed my technique slightly, and started over. The reference photo I used was a simple screenshot from Periscope when Joey was laughing a hearty “HA!” into the camera. I absolutely love Joey Diaz for being not only a hilarious genuine king of comedy but for also being a very positive influence in my own life when I needed it most. Does he realize he’s such a good motivational speaker? I sincerely hope so. It has helped me out tremendously (see what I did there?) to just listen to Joey speak from the heart on Periscope, especially on days where I felt down. In the past few years, there have been days upon days that his broadcasts shifted my perspective for the better and I’ll always be appreciative of that.  This item is for sale. Please click to photo above to start your purchase.
This painting exists among a series that were created in a stream-of-consciousness style. This means that I clear my mind through meditation or other means and then set to work creating markings in pencil or paint directly on the canvas. This initial abstract design isn’t usually what takes the longest, it simply sets some boundaries up and alleviates the anxiety attached to painting the first brush stroke. The shapes created during the initial stages eventually give rise to objects, forms, and patterns that tell a story. The longest part in creating a painting this style is in all the details lovingly placed on the canvas. Tiny brushes lend to the small details of this painting and help to create thin outlines, dots and dashes. I also changed the direction and orientation of the canvas several times throughout her painting session in the hope of creating a balance of form and color. |
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