Disabled Rights

This was for an essay in Atlanta Magazine which compared the past struggles for human and civil rights to the current struggle for rights for the disabled and handicapped. Art director was Eric Capossela.

Here are the roughs. Eric picked the strongest.


My idea was sparked by memories of seeing the above painting and drawing. Although I wasn't familiar with the the Wedgewood jasper-ware medallion. It was commissioned by the Quakers in 1788 and is particularly beautiful, I wish I owned one.


The reference was helpful but not enough though, for the pose I was after.
So I had to shoot myself, "disrobed" in art school parlance, since I couldnt' find my loincloth, for reference.
Not to worry, those photos will not be posted.



After a color study I realized it would read better in full white more like the familiar handicapped logo. My technique of embossing paper and running paint over doesn't work well at all for white.
So with the help of photoshop I figured what the reverse would look like and painted it like that.

The actual painting, before a simple invert in photoshop for the final.