A couple of weeks ago, John came to the door of our apartment. He said he lived here for four years and just wanted to see what we had done with the place. He saw some of my paintings. He asked me if I took orders. I said that I could. I rarely received any. He proceeded to take his Deadhead badge off his jacket pocket. I told him he could probably buy a nice print for cheaper than I could do a painting. He wanted a painting. We arrived at an agreeable size and price. He asked me to paint a couple of roses with it, on a 14″ square canvas.
I had a hard time getting to it. My heart was not in it. Don’t tell the Grateful Dead I copied their trademark. Of course, I will gladly pay their artist the customary 7% royalty on profits for sale of copies of their work. I wonder if they collect on all of the tattoos and car stickers. Anyway, I finally got to it yesterday and finished it today.
I have never painted using primary red, white, and blue, before. I think I understand why they are used for so many national flags: France, Britain, Russia, Norway, US, Australia, Norway, the Confederacy, etc. Red and blue are from opposite ends of the spectrum. They clash with each other. When they are set next to each other, the line where they meet can look like it is moving, because the frequencies of the light reflecting are so different. Intersperse some white for contrast and the red and blue look even brighter than they would otherwise. It is an exciting combination.
So, I didn’t charge as much as I should have for how long it took. I probably shouldn’t have done it at all. I’m not particularly proud of it. I think John will be happy with it. All in all, it has been a good experience.