These paintings were made with spray-paint from the can like graffiti. Initially the portraitees were aquaintances who had stopped by. I'd make a painting of them for fun on any available scrap of board. Later I thought of these images as a series called "Friends". The scale of the mark made by a spray-nozzle dictated the scale of the painting. This limitation produced a ratio of one face to 4 ft X 4 ft, allowing room to paint something like a proportionate eye, and becoming the standard for the series.

My friend would sit adjacent to the spray-booth beneath some sort of rigged light. We chatted as I painted their graffiti scale likeness from about an arms length back. The 4 ft X 4 ft panels obstructed my view which combined with the cramped space and bad light made capturing a likeness fairly difficult. Dissapointingly many paintings came to nothing. These are a selection of some that worked. They were exhibited at Nexus Gallery, Philadelphia 1998/9. On opening night using an extractor fan and some elaborate ductwork I graffiti-ed some sketchy portraits from life. It was a First Friday Art Walk and my easel was positioned in the gallery window. The performance caught a hundreds strong crowd, jamming the gallery sardine solid and stopping up the entire street.

This is "Sheilah" a painting on two 48" X 48" panels. To exhibit these panels in this configuration would require a wall at least 18 ft tall X 18 ft wide. These paintings have been exhibited, though until now they have never been seen in this their intended diptych format.