“The art lover”

This is an alternate version of a strip I first published in Watusi #8 (Oct. 2003); it appeared with this frame in 2004’s KC-centric anthology Show & Tell #2. But more exciting than its black and white print publication(s) was its full-color street painted version that happened during the weekend of October 4-5, 2003…

 

That weekend found me and Wendy Griswold (the author of our Invasion of the Space Amazons from the Purple Planet collaboration) in the parking lot of Kansas City’s Union Station, creating 6 x 9′ mural version of this strip as part of Kansas City’s sixth (and, sadly, final) annual street painting festival, La Strada dell’Arte! It was my third time creating art for the event, and was probably my favorite of the four drawings I did there over the years. It was a beautiful weekend for drawing, and Wendy and I stayed pretty busy for both days (but I still don’t think I could have painted a 6 x 9′ canvas in that length of time). I was really happy with how it turned out, and it got a positive response from those who saw it, corny as it was.

I really enjoyed my time at those street painting events, joining with artists of all ages, skill levels, and interests to bring brightly colored works of art– from fine art reproductions to wacky original designs, from abstraction to photorealism– to life on parking lots and sidewalks. I’d like to revisit that experience and give that media another try at a different street painting festival, but the timing just hasn’t been right for the events that are within my travel budget. Who knows, maybe next year…

(“Watusi in Oz” resumes Wednesday, January 3, 2018!)