Plant a Radish

Plant a Radish comes from The Fantastiks, a very sparse musical that ran off-Broadway for 40 years.  Two fathers pretend to war in order to fool their children into rebelliously falling in love.  This song has to do with raising children and the ways you control genetics.  You plant a radish, you get a radish.  You grow a child, who knows how it'll turn out to be?

This painting exhausted me.  The play has virtually no scenery, but there is a constant allusion to the wall dividing each father's property.  I decided that a composition full of walls would be most fun and, boy howdy,  I was right--joy.  But man, I had to move fast!  My kingdom to redesign the dad in the middle.  I had about 15 minutes remaining in order to paint both fathers and although the top dad is pretty good for the time allotted, that middle dad is compositionally awkward.  Values, too were also a battle.  Still, I'd do it again.