Earned My Stripes

This was my first oil painting I did in 2024. It was the most difficult painting at the time. I just started painting in 2023 using acrylic. The next year I switched to oil. The process was very difficult because everything felt like it was sliding. I felt like I had no control. To be honest, I didn't. That was the best part. Not having control and being able to complete the painting after a month. This was on of my pieces that sold during Butter 5 Fine Art Fair in 2025. 

The subject is my late Uncle Vernard Rubens. Uncle Vernard is the reason I am an artist today. Seeing his works since a child captured my creative spirit. I was very observant and curious of what art meant. Why did people make art ? The title is the perfect testament to where I am currently as an artist, an oil painter to be exact. I had to develop my skillset to become the artist I am now. It is also playing into the image of Uncle Vernard wearing a striped shirt over another striped shirt sitting on a bed with a striped sheet. 

During this painting I had to make some color decisions to give it more saturation. The colors were picked to resemble the Simpsons cartoon, vibrant yellow, red, and blue.