three brothers
Three Brothers, 12" x 8", oil on linen
A while ago, I was looking to buy a Christmas present for my brother. He was living out of state, and so I wanted to find him a Christmas present that would remind him of home. I decided to paint him something. But what to paint...
I sat in the window of a warm pub in Islip on Christmas Eve, sipping a pint of Guinness, stumped by the question of what to paint. Then I realized, I could do a triple portrait. I asked the bartender, Lanny, if I could buy three glasses off of him- a Guinness glass, a whiskey glass, and a Stella Artois glass. He asked me what in the world I wanted them for. I told him, and he gave them to me for free.
Three hours later, I had this triple portrait of me and my two brothers, as seen by our respective drinks. I intended to bring the painting to a higher level of finish, but my brother preferred the brushiness. So, there was his Christmas present.
I've been asked by a few people if I could give them rights to reproduce this painting. They say it has a spontenaity and simplicity that gives it a wide market appeal. It's funny to me that, after all those years studying Baroque elements of pictoral design, this is a design that captures attention.
