12″x16″, Acrylic and Gloss Polymers on Canvas, November 2008

The lizard’s leg is broken — as is his instrument — but the audience is happy and keeps listening to the song anyway. Are they watching his still gleeful “playing through the pain” or is it a sort of “we’re laughing at you, not with you” jeering? Is his vision false from his medication or is it of unusual clarity?

This painting was done very quickly, over a few days, using the technique of painting it fairly flat and cartoonish, and then doing a series of brushed gloss polymer glazes combined with additional acrylic work to increase the texture and tonal range. I should add that many of the paints used are iridescent and interference colors.