one of the oldest paintings i had after i started getting serious about art (so old you can see my old signature at the bottom right corner). this is actually a multimedia piece. it uses paint, markers, pencil, and some glitter pens i got on christmas.
i'm a sucker for primary colors, so trying my hand at pop art was perfect for me. i had to look at a lot of reference pics but honestly this is still one of my favorite paintings ive ever made. its about the toll (no pun intented) that car-centered infrastructure has had on america but specifically my home state WA.
i drew this in my sketchbook ages ago as a joke, and like all jokes i put way too much effort into it. if you're familiar with the Heaven's Gate cult, you'll know that this is their logo but with the words "among us" instead of "heavens gate," hilarious i know.
"A khrushchevka (xpyщёвкa) is a type of low-cost, concrete-paneled or brick three- to five-storied apartment building which was developed in the Soviet Union during the early 1960s, during the time its namesake Nikita Khrushchev directed the Soviet government."
—Khrushchevka, via Wikipedia
with the advent of the "tiktok industry plants" (mgk, tramp stamps, tx2) it reminded me of the radio days of music where bands would make their songs "radio friendly" in order to get more plays and exposure. and it just kind of reminded me of the social space where i feel those same effects. yt shorts, censoring and bastardising harsh language in order to appease algorhithms, people choosing to video things in 9:16 instead of 16:9, etc. and this was just kind of an exploration of that.