When Obama was a candidate I started a portrait of him in oils

[Cronus Protagonist]

A few weeks ago, I painted over it. I just didn't have the desire to finish it. I'm sure there's a metaphor there, but I can't see it clearly.

[tridim]

1. Paintin' with Palin

:shrug:

[Jakes Progress]

3. How sad that the only defense you have

is "Hey. At least he's not Palin."

Sort of pathetic.

[uponit7771]

5. It's more pathetic bashers ignore effects of crazy congerss

[Cronus Protagonist]

8. You should write headlines for newspapers

...Mr. Murdoch's newspapers... that way no one would know WTF they contain.

:pals:

[trueblue2007]

16. Bashing the President = STUPIDITY! knock it off

[primavera]

54. It is?

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly as necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but it is morally treasonable to the American public."
- Theodore Roosevelt

[Jakes Progress]

35. Parse that sentence. I dare you.

We all make silly spelling errors on line. It is easy to get all huffy and dart out stupid things.

My suggestion is that you try writing by long hand first. Slow down and try to read what you wrote as if you hadn't written it. You know what you meant, but your prose doesn't come across. If you don't like pencils and pens, try writing your responses in a simple word processing program. Let it sit for an hour or more. Then read it and if it still seems to mirror your thoughts, you can copy and paste into DU.

Just as soon as you can figure out what it is that you have to say, I will try to respond. Otherwise I would just be taking a wild leap at trying to decipher you reply.

Good luck.

[tridim]

11. Well no, that's not what I meant.

Think Palin's middle name.

[Cronus Protagonist]

13. What is her middle name then?

Do I have to go google it?

[tridim]

36. "Quitter" nt

[11 Bravo]

50. "Louise" n/t

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[QC]

27. Yes. n/t

[Lindsay]

2. I was thinking you were gonna say

that the portrait had changed, like the one of Dorian Gray.

:evilgrin:

[uponit7771]

4. hate?

[Cronus Protagonist]

7. I don't hate the man.

In fact, I like him. Poor president, though.

[Whisp]

6. o dear...

you should have youtubed it instead of getting a still.


:rofl:

[Bluenorthwest]

9. there was a great outpouring of creative energy for him

I ran into an artist who made a really idealized canvass back then and the first thing he said was 'please forget the Obama series'. I did not agree, it was good work and remains so, although now with much irony and unintended meanings. It is not the subject that make a work of art great, it is the artist's point of view of the subject in the moment.

[DevonRex]

10. I love cheese enchiladas.

[Cronus Protagonist]

14. Me too, but less cheese, more substance

I'd like a little meat with mine....

[ClarkUSA]

12. Oh, the pathos! I know how you feel. I started a cupcake decoration but couldn't finish it, either.

I was too hungry and ate it.

I guess that symbolizes my impatience that President Obama hasn't created Heaven on Earth yet.

Sigh!

[krawhitham]

15. Hope you do not do this for a living because you are slow at it

[dennis4868]

17. I am also a painter...

and I just proudly finished my painting...think I did a good job and will give it to my son.

[cottonseed]

18. I'll take "Things that never happened" for a $1000 Alex

[Wait Wut]

19. Wow.

I still like the man and have faith in him as our President. I campaigned, voted and will vote again for him.

I was never obsessed enough to paint a picture of him. Maybe that should have been your first clue. The last time I painted a picture of someone famous was in high school. Geddy Lee. Won first prize. The year before I won second with Ted Nugent. Yeah. I know.

[CakeGrrl]

20. Not a metaphor that parallels the President. He gets things DONE.

Otherwise, I'd say for you, this speaks to a lack of commitment.

If you start a portrait of Bernie Sanders, will you finish it right away, or wait to see whether he gets things done with the Congress that President Obama has to deal with?

[Cali_Democrat]

21. I'm sorry to hear that. n/t

[quakerboy]

48. If I could rec a response

yours would be it.

[EC]

22. Should have just left it unfinished for now.

But if you needed the canvas...

[Raine1967]

24. I'm an artist as well.

I never paint over what I started. I set it aside -- And then I go back to it later.

I'm pretty sure you know the metaphor you are saying, but I think you, as an artist cut off your nose despite your face.

-- signed ,

a Fellow artist.

(I never give up, I just know sometimes that I have to walk away. )

[JoePhilly]

28. Very Well handled.

My father was an artist and the only time he ever painted over anything was at some point after it was finished.

But he'd often have 3,4,5, unfinished works sitting around.

The think I find odd in the OP is that most artists use emotion in their work ... and conflicted emotions are just as powerful, maybe more powerful in that regard.

You might start a work in a positive frame, but finish it in the negative. And the complexity of emotion adds to the work.

Of course my dad was also manic depressive ... so his emotional states were all over the place, so maybe that made his works more emotionally complex.

[Raine1967]

32. Agreed. +1

Emotions are powerful. Painting is powerful.

So is making art.



I would propose it's not the subject matter -- it's the opinion -- and I know for myself, I don't erase my work based on how I feel about my subject matter.

It's sad that no one will ever see that portrait. Good, bad or whatever. The op erased it. The history is gone.

[AtomicKitten]

25. Fenster: "Oh, is that the one about the hooker with the dysentery?"

Fenster: "I don't know anything about no fuckin' truck."

Interrogation Cop: "Oh, yeah? Well, your friend McManus told us a different story altogether."

Fenster: "Oh, is that the one about the hooker with the dysentery?"

[treestar]

26. Starting it says something

about you being better at hero worship than at reality.

[Raine1967]

33. I would kindly disagree.

It's about inspiration.

As I said up-thread -- it's about emotion. I think truthfully, this is the deal.


Where I disagree with the OP is that he.she is saying his disappointed with POUS and because of that -- he.she is not inspired. Not all artists have hero worship.


(speaking on behalf of artists, Raine)


PS: most people I know in the creative community don't erase the work they have done. They set it aside.

And ALL people I know in the creative community don't use Obama as an excuse for not making art or for deleting art.

That's a cop out.

[Kahuna]

47. Holler!

:fistbump:

[woo me with science]

29. I resonated with that,

in my own way, of course, but it was a powerful image.

I hope the next one exceeds expectations.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

30. What was the point of starting this flamebait thread? You trying to start some unnecessary shit?

[great white snark]

31. Hey, at least one of his or her bad Obama OP's didn't get locked.

Yet.

[CakeGrrl]

34. It's one of the daily "Please join me in describing the many ways the POTUS sucks" threads.

Maybe people are concerned that their umpteenth post about how disappointed they are wasn't seen.

[Fire1]

42. Oh, I get it! Another pony post. Gotcha. n/t

[Bluerthanblue]

37. metaphor: that you make people you are disappointed with disappear?

:shrug:

That you idolized someone who is a human being, and blame him for all your unfulfilled expectations?

There are more than a few things that have disappointed me about the way things have gone over the last 2+ years. But the blame for that goes a LOT wider than the POTUS.

Pres.Obama is doing his best, and doing a pretty decent job given the crap that he's dealing with from 'friends' and 'foe' alike.

[Arkana]

57. Your post title made me chuckle for some reason

[alcibiades_mystery]

38. You're like, the slowest painter ever

It's been 3 years since Obama was a candidate. What are you painting, the Crazy Horse monument?

[Wait Wut]

39. Almost choked on my gum.

My sister has been working on a charcoal drawing of a damned train station for over 10 years. It's beautiful and very romantic. A 1930ish woman sitting alone on a bench waiting for a train that never comes.

My sister's a bit melodramatic, but a great artist...that never finishes anything.

[Fire1]

41. roflmao!

:spray: :rofl: :rofl:

[bigwillq]

44. That's funny.

LOL

:rofl:

[Tarheel_Dem]

55. Dammit! There went my tea!

:spray:


:fistbump:

[Fire1]

40. And you told us this because ?? n/t

[FrenchieCat]

43. Note to self......Miracles only happen on 34th Street in the movies!

We gave President Obama 2 years to work miracles and then came the disastrous midterm elections, the results of which we are living under today. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. First it was the Blue Dog DEMS who refused to go along with the President because they were GOP in disguise by the way they refused to support him. With healthcare reform they had difficulty sticking together, and when the President tried to make it bipartisan but couldn’t. Now the GOP controls the House, several states and the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has been bought and paid for based on its conservative majority including Clarence Thomas who should be impeached for being a puppet to the good old Corp boys and his Tea Party wife. So now the GOP has changed a lot of laws and rules of the game because the DEMs gave up too early on our President.
http://www.politicususa.com/en/stop-obama-bashing

[MrMickeysMom]

45. Why don't you go with that?

I'm serious....

Layers on top of layers..... in the end, you'll never be able to reveal this piece of work... this this person who we were counting on SO much.

[Sheepshank]

46. 2 1/2+ years and still working on it?

How many times did you change his hair color before you painted over it? The grey didn't appear because he was living on easy street since he took the oath of office.

[Tarheel_Dem]

49. Yup. That'll learn 'im.

:rofl:

[Name removed]

51. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kind of Blue]

52. I'm an artist. When I stop working on

a painting it's always because I can't figure out yet how to take it where I want it to go. But disappearing one? Not yet.

Painting over it it seems to me you want him gone and you made it so :shrug:

[dionysus]

53. cool story, bro.

[Arkana]

56. So you're the Sarah Palin of painting?

Cause that's what it says to me.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

58. that is really sad. He's doing the best one person can overseeing

a congress with two factions that are diametrically opposed to each other. He's a
pragmatist and he knows when the numbers are there and when they are not. His
biggest mistake was thinking he could get them to agree. No one, no one will
get them to agree just like I would never ever go to the side of my wingnut
in-laws.