GRAHAM 2015

I have to talk about this piece.

I was not satisfied with the original. The face was off. Handsome, yes, but off and that kind of off didn’t sit well with me. Also, he had no horrendous scar in the first version - unacceptable.

Will Graham is a bitch. Why? Because his face is near to impossible to draw or paint. He’s so asymmetrical that you reach pure insanity trying to get him done. And he’s not easy. You’d think all that pretty would be willing, but he’s not. I can never get predict him, or how my strokes are going to render him. I’ve painted him so many times before that you’d think I could do it with my eyes closed, but, no.

But here’s the thing - I don’t just paint him because he’s good looking or interesting to me - I paint him for the same reason I paint Mads - these faces are impossible to understand, and as an artist, I want to understand.

I want to break the code that is Will Graham’s face. And I know I never can, which is the greatest thrill I can imagine.

Anyway, here we have a man who is the phoenix risen. That’s no pretty scar, that’s a reminder of a vulgar wound and the surgical staples it took to hold it together. This piece is all about intensity. Will Graham, 2015.

Oh, and bigger than Will Graham in bitch world is Corel, which is a bitch like none other. This is no easy program. But I’m going to understand it too.

DHartley, 2014