I was invited… to offer a piece for a show titled “Monsters?” I looked at the list of invites and then imagined all of the usual takes on what a monster is thought to be. Perhaps some will be cute, some ugly. I went in another direction. What if I were to paint a realistic version of something usually thought of as cute and benign?
Further to Pixeloo’s “detooning” of Homer Simpson, here’s Tim O’Brien’s oil painting of Charlie Brown.
I think it’s the eyes that do it. There’s tragicomedy, sure, but with just a hint of potential serial killer... Via Drawn!
"with just a hint of potential serial killer"
That's one worrying 10 year old. When he hits 30 he'll be stalking Lucy.
Posted by: John D | July 18, 2009 at 08:10
And Charlie’s the son of a barber. Somehow, access to sharp blades doesn’t bode well.
Posted by: David | July 18, 2009 at 08:26
You just knew he'd finally crack, eat Snoopy and burn down the school.
Posted by: James S | July 18, 2009 at 12:26
He looks a bit like Alfred E Neuman in that painting.
Posted by: wayne fontes | July 18, 2009 at 15:15
Jesus, that's creepy.
Posted by: ECM | July 18, 2009 at 18:16
It can't be unseen.
Posted by: Wm T Sherman | July 18, 2009 at 19:22
If anyone’s interested, I wrote something on Peanuts ages ago for Bookmunch:
“Charlie Brown’s search for tenderness is invariably met with disappointment and scorn. Indeed, the character is overwhelmingly defined by the things he cannot do - among them, winning a baseball game, kicking a football and flying a kite. In 1958, Charlie Brown did, finally, get his kite to fly, only to watch it spontaneously combust due to the event’s sheer improbability.”
http://www.bookmunch.co.uk/view.php?id=1338
Posted by: David | July 18, 2009 at 19:35
That's a really nice article. I like this bit:
"It was to run without interruption for the next fifty years, becoming the most successful comic strip of all time, appearing in 2,600 newspapers in 20 languages across 70 countries. In 1969, income from Peanuts and its countless spin-off licenses was estimated at $50,000,000 a year. Books reprinting the strip were handled by no fewer than seven different publishers, with 200 million paperback collections thought to be in print… It's somehow pleasing to discover that one of the greatest cartoonists of the twentieth century studied art via a correspondence course run by Art Instruction Inc of Minneapolis, Minnesota."
Posted by: James S | July 19, 2009 at 13:51
I like this guy's monsters.
http://www.themonsterengine.com/art.html
Posted by: stevieray | July 20, 2009 at 05:47
"You just knew he'd finally crack, eat Snoopy and burn down the school."
LOL. It's a great painting. If Charlie Brown was real that's how I'd imagine him.
Posted by: Anna | July 20, 2009 at 07:56
In the comic strip Charlie Brown is implausibly devoid of guile. That’s what prevents a Columbine situation. But children grow up and most of them *learn* guile fairly quickly. I tend to think Charlie’s teenage years would be the flashpoint of some horrific urban bloodbath.
Posted by: David | July 20, 2009 at 08:06