Before I divulge let it be known that I am not obsessed with Abraham Lincoln. However Abe and I were slowly acquainted after my car broke down in Illinois in 1994.
At that point, I had no desire to paint Abe. I didn’t even go near the guy in fear that I would only be known for painting him; painting him and only him. It was not until 2008 that I warmed up to Lincoln’s visage. I started to sketch him, numerous times whenever I felt the urge. Then, eventually An idea blossomed. I can practice just about every style of painting with him a sole subject. Forcing myself into a repetitive practice that I would never normally do. A discipline I was missing before was now being made in me by a man posing for my paintings over a century ago.
At the time I discovered Abe’s versatility. At this time my “studio” was on top of a parking garage. I “commandeered” the garage in downtown Springfield because my flat was very small and no good lite for painting so I set up a full working studio on the top parking floor for the summer of 2009 with the downtown of Abe’s town bustling below.
During that summer, Barrack Obama’s Senate office was just two blocks away from my artistic perch and they could see me plain as day painting up there all day and all night. While he was busy running for President, I was up painting Lincolns across the rooftops. I found that to be inspiring.
That is the ultimate discovery I felt when I found Abraham Lincoln as a subject. He can be so many things to so many types of people. Really rather fascinating I should have painted him years ago. All it took was for my car to break down in Springfield, Illinois to finally paint Lincoln.
To celebrate my finishing 111 Lincolns, I am painting some murals in downtown Springfield. My gift to the city that made me an artist, amateur historian, and overall… a Springfieldian.
Below you will find different styled Lincolns, (all very different) that are available to be purchased as original paintings and prints.
The last several Lincolns will be a series large murals. Please check back here to see how to help with the mural through donations, supplies, or dinner for the artists. 🙂 …and sometimes breakfast, (artists work all night into the next morning sometimes!).
To read about the Lincoln Murals please follow this link.
Each signed print is on Acid Free Archival Paper and will be personally signed by me and numbered.Signed prints are limited to 100 made and come with a Certificate of Authenticity and will be archived upon purchase. Please allow 21 days for delivery.
Scroll down to see ones posted so far. Thanks for your support!
I love #14 of Abe in the outdoors. Is it possible to get a print of this and if so how much?
Thank you
Do you sell any of your Lincoln prints?
Lincoln Number 4’s smile kind of reminds me of Bruce Willis. I think it’s my favorite.
Thank You! All prints are 100.00 and are limited to 16 printed of each painting. I am currently updating the order form to make it more specific to which painting you like. Check back later this winter.
Dear Michael.
I’ve been meaning to leave a comment here for a while, so I’m relating this back to last year. I’m from South Africa and was in he the States for the first time a number of months back. As part of my travels I went to Springfield IL and when there picked up the “tourist” guide for the city with Hipster Lincoln on the cover, I didn’t even realise the painting was called “Hipster Lincoln” until I actually looked for the cover art information in the guide, the painting really speaks for itself. Anyway, I was just wanting to say how great I think that painting is and what a lovely cover it made for the guide, I’ve kept the guide just for that. And after looking at this page all the other paintings are great too! It really speaks to what a large part of Springfield is about.
Sincerely
An international fan