the art of a thankless job

Thankless Job 1 - digital painting - Dan Beck 2007

I am not sure why I left this piece finished where I did - but I think I on some level I wanted the art to be as thankless as the subject itself.

Weeding the mound of dirt between the fields and the road is a thankless job. It is kind of like sweeping the dirt - but it is a job I have witnessed. That it reads like the field worker is spanking his or her own butt - was accidental at first, but left intentionally.

The flying weed - which looks more like a strange anatomical growth - must be my subconscious at work here as well -

I painted the digital painting and thought the style a bit cartoonish - and it wasn’t what I wanted - so I probably won’t ever offer original prints, but it was something I had to do.

There are many thankless jobs in this world - creating original art often fits into that category too.

See Also

• Field of Hoes - similar cartoonish feel - but I think the art works a little better - well it was received better anyway
• Thankless Job - Art Journal: Directors - a different aspect of no thanks in art
• Caught In The Town’s Most Thankless Job - TIME - a bit of history shows how different such a phrase can be interpreted and how “the grass is always greener”