Back Story:
As a political activist, I run into many different kinds of people; politics is supposed to be inherently inclusive. However, not everyone thinks politics should be inclusive, and so from time to time, I encounter a person who believes that they have the sole right to certain activism. While helping out with the Bernie Sanders campaign I met and aligned myself with such a person (let us call him “the sixth planet”), not aware at the time what kind of person he is. Anyways, we eventually had a falling out which led to me suing him (with other parties) in order to reclaim a non-profit we had started; an organization he unilaterally decided should be renamed and set on a different mission. The judge ruled he had no legal right to the organization and that myself and others were the rightful governors of the non-profit. The end, right?
A few days before Christmas 2017 there was a holiday event scheduled for a separate organization, which I serve as the graphics director. I planned to attend the event, as did the Director of the hosting organization. The Director was an early ally in the lawsuit mentioned above and a recent addition to the board of the non-profit. The sixth plant decided that he would file anti-harassment complaints against me, the Director and another party to the previous lawsuit for the purpose of barring us from attending the event and perhaps to have grounds for having us evicted from other events as well. The claims in his complaints were ridiculous and his “supporting evidence” demonstrated none of what he alleged. Even still, he had a court date to hear his complaints and get a ruling on potential anti-harassment orders against us. Despite only one of us having been served a complaint (the Director), all three of us being friends and colleagues, we decided to waved service requirements so that the complaints could be heard together in the same hearing.
We had brought a lawyer, which our lawyer characterized as bringing a gun to a knife fight. We sat and listened to the sixth planet fumble through his statement and then our lawyer went through each item in each complaint and asked us what we knew about them. It was actually very satisfying to answer each allegation. In the end, the judge gave his ruling. He indicated that he found my testimony particularly credible, he found the Director’s testimony equally credible, and the third he found a bit defensive but felt that was understandable and that her testimony was credible as well. The judge did not find the sixth planet credible and felt that his complaints were likely retaliation for the lawsuit a month and a half prior. Smart cookie, that judge!
After the judgment, we went out to a nearby hotel bar to have drinks with our lawyer and just talked about random stuff. It was there I found out our lawyer likes her alcohol a fair amount. On the ride home with my friends, we talked about how grateful we were to our lawyer and I suggested I should paint her something connected to her fondness for alcohol to show my appreciation. One of the two suggested an Absolut Vodka bottle that says “Absolut Attorney”.
The Painting Process:
I started this project by “photoshopping” an Absolut Vodka image that I liked from the web. This helps me visualize how I might want my painting to look when it is on the canvas. Since there was text involved, I thought that it might be helpful to have something I would project on the canvas for more precise placement.
Starting with outlining the bottle and the main text “ABSOLUT ATTORNEY”, I used the projector to help me get the approximately correct placement and dimensions. I also used the projector at the end of the project to help with the placement and shape of the cursive text lower on the bottle.
I used two different size round brushes, two different size flat brushes, and a fan brush. The round brushes were mostly used for the more detailed work, a larger flat brush for the large portions of black and a smaller flat brush for work on the bottle. The fan brush I used to create the blotchy areas that are supposed to appear ice-frosted. I also occasionally used the fan brush for a bit of blending.
For colors, I kept it fairly neutral. Black, White, Metalic Silver, and Cobalt Blue (only non-shade). Oh, a touch of red mixed with black for a slight accent on the neck that is faint, to say the least. I combined these colors arrive at my final composition. Cobalt was mainly used for the “ABSOLUT ATTORNEY” text as well as lightly coloring the bottle and a bit of the light shining below the bottle.
Summary:
Absolut Attorney was inspired by gratitude to my attorney and her affinity for alcohol. The painting was completed on 12/26/2017 in my home on Capitol Hill in Seattle, WA. It is Acrylic on Canvas and pre-stretched 24″ w x 30″ h. It likely took 24 hours to complete in all. The painting was meant to be presented to my attorney but is now available. It currently resides in my home.
ABSOLUT ATTORNEY, by Ryan Whitney / Painted in Acrylic on 24″ x 30″ Canvas