Michelle Obama's Official White House Portrait Unveiled

Yes. One can only hope to see a modern version of Sherman's March except in South Carolina.

Sherman did march in South Carolina as well. But no, that's not what I was talking about.

Battle of Sherma Dam FTW:

Fair enough. My mistake.

It's different. Of course, that's bad. She doesn't look like other first ladies either. That's REALLY bad. He doesn't look like other presidents and that's just too much too handle.

Dear @Anduril :

My left nut is requesting you cease and desist walking around in public. Due to uncanny resemblance between you two my left nut is getting a bad reputation. It would be nice if you could disguise yourself in some way, or perhaps light your ass on fire and then bury it in a hole that would be awesome.

Thanks a bunch.
Your superior in every possible way
Me

It's a nice painting.

It's definitely impressionistic. My impression is that the dress was colored in with markers.

It's a pretty good portrait.

For a second year art student.

The one with Barack Obama - it would be funny if he were sitting in a big patch of poison ivy! Or better yet "stinging nettles" like they have in Germany!

Found him.

One could say the same thing about term limits prohibiting people from voting for who they want.

They have stinging nettles in the US you know. I am not sure if the German version is worse, but those are some nasty plants to just brush up against. That shit was worse than jellyfish stings and i barely touched it. It is a plant you learn to spot real quick. I would figure they have them in Georgia too considering you have some very similar foliage. They were never common, but I can still remember where the patches around my house were. Poison ivy wasn't terrible if you washed with dawn right away after coming in. Dawn breaks up oils like nothing else. It is actually great for any grease including taking off car grease. It is the oil that gets you. The nettles sting was instant and painful itchy firey rash. There were some other weeds around that would cut the sting of the nettles and fight the poison ivy oils. We called it jewel weed. It was actually pretty useful like aloe.

Yes, I grew up in the woods and had grandparents and parents that taught me what some of the plants were and how to deal with things immediately with certain plants. Despite being near the city we lived in a large wooded area of new York and I grew up in the forest and on farms. I got a nice mix of knowing how to deal with the woods and how to deal with urban environments living on the edge like that. My parents saved money by cutting their own wood for wood burning stoves in the winter. It amazes me sometimes how people can be so stupid in nature. My dad was told his family was part native American. I don't know why that would be because the grandparents were all either first gen Americans or fobs from Germany. That DNA testing shit was a real disappointing gift when he learned nope there is no American Indian dna in his body.

The picture of Obama would have been great had he not been covered in leaves. Put him with the same expression behind the Oval Office desk. Or if he HAS to be in that chair and you want to make some kind of historical statement, show him in that chair with a long dirt road behind him leading to the White House.

Just my thoughts.

Well, sort of.

I'm for term limits. I do think it's dangerous to have the same person in the same position of power for too long. It's probably less an issue for the legislative branch than it is the executive branch, as the legislative branch doesn't have an enormous bureaucracy at its disposal.

I do like the dirt road idea.

Oh, are you one of those? Recent=better? I wouldn't think that of you, knowing your history on Wordforge.

There's actually quite a lively debate going on in the art world on the merits of realism vs impressionism. Impressionistic artists tend to view realism as simple illustration rather than "art," while the realists look askance at the impressionists, few of whom exhibit much in the way of technical skill.

My personal favorites are the Dutch Masters, for the simple reason that there were no cameras. They are our view into their world, and that's irreplaceable, IMO.

Power corrupts. If the people have all the power, they will become corrupt. If the government holds all the power, it will become corrupt. If a family holds the power, they will become corrupt. Far better to force a minor limitation of one's choices in life if it means greater freedom for all.

did the artist(s) who painted this picture paint their portraits?

You mean Dora Maar didn't look like this? My world is shattered!

Vermeer did.

Lincoln's long-lost official portrait.

More is better; variety is better; options are better. If they had commissioned a painting from a different school and received it, possibly a realist one, I would have no objections. But to criticise this portrait for not being that is no different than criticising it for not being a video game instead.

There is a case to be made, though, that realistic representation of rulers is historically connected to non-democratic ideas about government. And when it comes to that, then yes, I think modern democracy is better than the old monarchies.

Again, that debate hasn't been lively for about a century; and as a standard for portraits, mere depiction was gone by 1650.

Yeah neither of those portraits are very good, kind of embarrassed for the artists

if I were the Obamas I would be in the upper levels of pissed off. Granted they want to take the high road and be classy, but realistically they must be biting their lips and disappointed as hell.

I actually like Barack's picture. The leaves and flowers surrounding him are native to Hawaii and Kenya.

Michelle's, I don't appreciate as much, but I do understand that the painting is impressionistic so it is what it is.

Say what you want, but these are actual works of art instead of "portraits." I predict that these paintings may appreciate faster in value than their predecessors.

The bar for art is very low nowadays. Modern art is a tax scheme and a way to launder money.