Objets d'art: "The Groceryman"

In lieu of Monday's usual Sideburns comic, I thought I would share something special with you.

In doing Sideburns, I have decided to focus my art into a specific format: namely, a black-and-white, four-panel weekly comic. But sometimes, an artist (or, indeed, an artiste) creates something that cannot be bound by convention, something that cries out for its own unique presentation.

These objets d'art (literal translation from the French: "This is not a dart") are anomalies when compared with the rest of the artist's body of work, but because they are formally challenging, they are often more rewarding.

I have here for you an example of such a piece that hangs in my home. Take a minute to really breathe it in.

This is the whiteboard where my wife and I make the shopping list. The "Chopin list" pun is, of course, delicious, but let us draw our attention to the figurework.

He transcends expectations; he contains contradictions. His wisened face (those are supposed to be jowls around his mouth, not a mustache) contrasts with his muscled physique. His long, flowing locks contrast with his male-pattern baldness. His elaborately detailed torso contrasts with the arms I couldn't be bothered to draw properly. His gruff, devil-may-care expression is juxtaposed with the mundanity of reminders to buy milk and the peanut butter with Omega-3 in it. What does he signify??

Frankly, this started out as a drawing of George Washington without reference, and it kind of got away from me. When the guy from the phone company came to fix the line the other week, I flipped it over so he wouldn't think I was some kind of weirdo.