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| "A Happy Little Hitler" inks on bristol |
Initially, I had my subject with the classic cold stare you see in photographs. My wife and I decided to opt for a smile to not only make the work less menacing but to give face to another side of him (the sick bastard had to smile sometime in his life, right?) For my photo reference of a painter, I used a picture of Bob Ross... which also inspired the work's title. The work is curtained at top and bottom with the flags of all the countries Hitler invaded, conquered, and controlled during his reign.
In my portrait, Hitler is painting an image I found in a real Nazi propaganda cartoon depicting The Giant Jew-Bug taking over the world. The Germans used cartoons as propaganda just as the Americans did even via Disney cartoons.
UPDATE 10/07/2010
Here is the thumbnail sketch of the original concept for my Happy Little Hitler. I found it rummaging around this morning and thought it was neat to compare. With more complex works such as this, I'll often do a couple of thumbnail sketches before I move on to my final sketch.
"Adolf Hitler will forever be one of the most notorious faces and images of hate, evil, and racism to ever exist."
ReplyDeleteThat is all I needed to read to know your site is just bogus BS spin and useless propaganda. You obviously know very little about Hitler. Good luck with your site. Bye!
Soooooo, are you disagreeing that Hitler's reputation is notoriously associated with hate and racism? I don't believe I put a spin on this.
ReplyDeleteBrandt, don't even be bothered by it.
ReplyDeleteI'm so annoyed that EVERY TIME Hitler is mentioned, there has to be at least one person who feels they have to come up with some kind of comment about how IF you REALLY knew or IF your were REALLY SMART you'd understand Hitler's genius.
The man could not understand the basic concept of not killing people just for fun or because they are different from you. That's an ignorant, pathetic, hateful asshole right there. I don't care how anyone tries to explain it.
I couldn't agree with you more... I was afraid people would initially think I was defending him rather than making a satirical commentary on his madness. I never though anyone would come by defending him. Everyone has a fan club in today's warped world.... even me, right?
ReplyDeleteYour sites as lame as your brain
ReplyDeleteLame Anonymous, your grammar is as poor as your manners.
DeleteCan't we just say he was an 'Evil' Genius, leave it at that, and all get along? =*
ReplyDeleteHitler was indeed a brilliant man, but sadly and shamefully he decided to use that intelligence and power against humanity.
ReplyDeleteWho knows what elements can truly change a person since every mind is its own little world, but i highly doubt he became was he did in his life based on his rejection from art school.
I do understand your point and humor behind it, and artistically speaking i think you did a magnificent job :).
As for the other comments, i think people really need to say things in a smart and respectful manner.
Was=What ^_^
DeleteDebbie, we may be all subjects of our own fate and/or inner evil but it was indeed my intention to just explore the "What If?" Thanks for such a constructive comment!
DeleteAs of nowadays, we see a lot of wannabe Dictator Hitlers, As they try to justify him and his actions!!!!
DeleteThere will always be someone in the wings to justify the horrors of war and poverty no matter the time or the powers who be.
DeleteI think surviving WW1 after seeing your unit wiped out time and time again some how you survive would effect someone's psyche pretty deeply, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many men saw their units wiped out in WW1 in the trenches, or crossing "no man's land?" WW1 was horrible and brutal and untold thousands, hundreds of thousands experienced all of that. How many Hitlers came out of that? Oh, right: one. Funny freaking art, man. The Bob Ross-ism kills me.
ReplyDeleteHappy Little Anonymous, I'm certain many men found themselves in dark places after such an experience as a World War, but had other means and motives for how they handled their lives afterwards. Thanks for seeing the commentary in the artwork.
Deleteany person can proclaim themselves a genius when they have a brute army at their beck and call. Any person. If you have tens of thousands of young men willing to take orders, you need no genius, just madness
ReplyDeletePsychiatric Anonymous, isn't this the case with all positions of power. Doesn't every government function on indoctrination?
Deletehitler was only as bad as the press describe him, who owns the press??? history is my favourite subject, you can learn from history but it seems certain people cant, i also believe in history repeating itself so be careful
ReplyDeleteWe are certainly at the mercy of the history books and press in regards to learning from the past. Hopefully with the power of the internet, we can have a better grasp of current events. Hitler was probably as bad as he's been described but we do have to take context into consideration. We don't demonize our own leaders for the sordid history of the near eradication of an entire race. Only in our case, it was the Native Americans rather than the Jews.
Delete(...concerning North Korea, or fill in the blank) Oftentimes I wonder if rogue nations, small third world countries view the U.S. as being a country full of rich and powerful white guys that want to keep the rest of the world submissive to their own agendas. Much like they did to their very own, namely Native Americans and Blacks. Even our so called christian nation has a history of being not so righteous--and an abundance of equally corrupt little dictators.
ReplyDeleteThankfully for the most part, our system of government had kept us from experiencing true dictatorship however the World-view of the good ol' U.S. of A. is certainly tarnished considerable over the past twenty years as we've dug our dick deeper and deeper in the sands of the Middle East. In a dictatorship, the voice of the people isn't represented but neither are we represented in Capitalism. War profiteering is a powerful force and the main reason we've designated ourselves as the world's Police. Wall Street knows that policing is profitable. The parallels are frightening of how we've treated races in the past to how we treat foreign countries now, exploiting their labor and resources.
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhFRGDyX48c
ReplyDelete