Paging Dr. Syntax

Paging Dr. Syntax

13.5 x 11 in.

Acrylic, oil pastel, ink on print

One of my absolute favorite things to do is re-purpose things and paint on them. Such as this framed antique print I had lying around. I bought it years ago because it was cheap and thought it looked classy (klassy with a "k"). But, after about four years of looking at it, I thought it could use a sprucing-up. What's cool about re-purposing is a.) you get to take something otherwise mundane and mass-produced and make it your own, b.) the underlying source material gives you a unique jumping-off point for the work, and c.) in this case...it comes in its own frame!

If you look closely, in the center, you can see remnants of the original print. It was called "Dr. Syntax at a Review." After about 10 seconds of research I found out Dr. Syntax was a fictional 19th century British "comic" character, who appeared in newspapers having all kinds of adventures that I'm sure in 19th century Britain were considered "wacky." I imagine he was something like an antique version of Mr. Bean or something. 

However, I didn't even realize this until I was nearly done with the painting and I actually, at first, thought Dr. Syntax was a horse. So you see, it almost doesn't matter where you start or what gets you started as long as you MOVE.