A Good Deal Done

Started December 1997 Finished September 1998 Size approximately H 54in W48 H137cm W122cm Acrylic on Reinforced hardboard with integral painted frame Price: £4,000 OR $5600 Sources: The picture of the bus driver clutching looted currency in Kisangani, Zaire during the civil war is by Popperfoto, photographer Alexandra Joe (The Times 22-3-97). The bus is from Corel Draw Professional Photo Library. The characters have been created from numerous sources but they were originally photographed in Central Africa.
In the original photo, the main character is beaming broadly and clutching armfuls of Zairian 5,000 thingy notes worth about £120 paid by the military for transporting his men to the front line in his truck. That is a painting in itself. But I wanted more atmosphere so I found a picture of a bus somewhere in South East Asia from the Corel Photo Library, full of people going to market or something. I superimposed my driver on the picture then had the huge task of finding 30 or so Negroid African characters to paint in place of the Mongoloids. Each character including hands, feet, clothes, faces, hair etc., or headgear takes up to two days to paint. I have difficulty judging the end result in terms of artistic merit. I like it and it is one of the few that sit comfortably in my house so I have hung it in my lounge.	Detail

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