Sunday, December 13, 2009

Alonzo Maxile, Jr, with a title and proper respect


Alonzo / Trudeau 09
Originally uploaded by trudeau
In Albrecht Durer's age, artists sometimes put the name of their subject on the canvas beside the portrait. It was a variation that has always attracted me, somehow.

I've taken the idea of painting the name of the subject on the canvas and made it larger, bolder and more modern. Subject-wise, Alonzo is no longer a characterful black man, a stock figure. This piece proclaims his name in attention-getting form, both with a classic calligraphic edge to the lettering as well as with an idiosyncratic spacing of the letters on the canvas. In the spacing I was influenced by an antique map that I found online of Terra Incognita America.

This is my idea of a good Christmas card. Happy holidays, Xmas 09, all!

Please check the fresh link in the title box to viewing a range of my sketches.

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