Norman Mailer

Here's the final Norman Mailer portrait. I looked at fair amount of early Chuck Close paintings and daguerrotypes while I was working on this. At first I was going to try to include a concept that would make reference to Mailer's latest book, but the further into the painting that I got, the more I enjoyed just having the focus itself be the...well, focus, I guess.

I struggle with wanting this sort of piece to have photorealistic elements while still leaving evidence of the hand that created the work in brushstrokes. Working digitally, it's easy for people to dismiss a piece, thinking there must have been a button I pressed to get the end result.

When I can, I try to have my caricatures have the feel and dignity of a well painted portrait. I suppose you could say it's like dressing up a chimp in a tux, but it's what I do.