The Battle of Hollister, 1947

Just found out that my brand-new painting "The Battle of Hollister, 1947" got juried into the Oakland Art Gallery's upcoming "California History Walk" exhibition. I worked hard on this painting, an atypical one for me, and finished it two hours before the deadline. Though now I wish I had put yellow stripes down the troopers' legs.

Above is the most brilliant part; Meredith Hunter, shown here in his peacock green suit an instant before being stabbed by a Hell's Angel at Altamont, has morphed into Linc Hayes, running with his Mod Squad buddies Julie & Pete. I was going to give Pete a dickie but I forgot.

A little bit of everything: Lee Marvin & Brando from The Wild One, Geo. A. Custer, Rodney King, Dennis Hopper, Reno 911 & Electra Glide in Blue just in this area alone.

I like this guy's hairline. It's all done with Testor's & Humbrol model paints.

Originally I had only a few of the police interceptors burning, but my pal Dr. Susan Greene pointed out that the flames, the layout & the approach to perspective (cribbed from Sioux paintings of Battle of Little Bighorn) were reminiscent of Buddhist thangka paintings. She was absolutely right & so I painted flames on all the police cruisers. Her suggestion really helped the painting.