Preston Craig - Doesn’t Play Well with Others

Medium: Acrylic

 Dimensions (height, width of artwork): 24x18 inches

The image is of a child’s playroom. The playroom is constructed of two walls, which form the corner of the room and the floor tiles, which are all in shades of gray. The wall on the left side of the piece is a darker gray that disappears into shadow. The wall on the right side of the painting has textured bands of various gray colors running in vertical stripes up the wall.  This wall also gradually disappears into darkness. The floor tiles are a mottled mix of gray colors and spots and as it progresses toward the viewer, it disappears into shadow as well. On the upper left wall almost hidden in the shadow, hangs a painting of a family portrait. In the lower left portion of the painting, is a yellowish brown, wooden rocking horse with a black mane that serves as a crest. The horse is almost lost in shadow but the viewer can see a part of its face and one of its eyes as it glances back, looking out at the viewer. In the lower right of the painting, sits a child’s small, inflatable play ball that has a red star on the top side and a narrow blue band that wraps around the center of the ball, but it too almost disappears into shadow. Off center at the top of the image is a domed light that hangs from the ceiling. The light’s shade is a pinkish coral color while the light itself is a bright, white yellowish color. The light illuminates the image in sort of a teardrop shape and casts a pinkish tone on the scene. In the lower 2/3’s of the painting sits the central figure, banished to the corner of the room. It is an 18” panda teddy bear sitting down with its legs splayed out in front of its body. It has a drop of blood dripping from its mouth and onto the white fur of its belly. This panda doesn’t play nice.

Most of the painting is painted in thin layers of color, layer on top of layer. The central figure in the piece is more textured to give the illusion of fur. The piece is surreal and darkly humorous.