Personal Note – I painted this prior to Elon’s involvement in Twitter, his subsequent statements and actions around his questionable interpretation of “free speech” (as it suits his views only), and his ugly public leaning into politics, anti-wokism, covid-denialism and idiotic shitposting to name just a few things. Originally, I thought his push for affordable electric cars, and aggressive vision for mankind’s future in space was admirable and the sort of thing that we needed to help advance society and push boundaries. I still think that, but unfortunately his behaviour and views since have overshadowed them, and show someone who is worryingly thin-skinned, prone to petulant comments when he’s pushed back on and unable to control his desire to be loved by an unquestioning fanbase. He is desperately latching onto Trump’s (and the far- rights) notoriety like a leech, for what? More adulation from people he doesn’t give a shit about? More fame so he can be idolised like those the Right pretends to loathe? More …power? (ah, that’s closer to home, I think..). So while I stand by the things I paint, because the technical act of painting is in itself as important to me as the final product, I no longer consider this painting as part of my Saints series, and leave it up only as a (rare disappointing) record of my work, and as a reminder of the more positive ideals he promoted prior to his fall from grace. I hope he keeps reaching for the stars. I hope he continues to push for space travel and just as importantly, I hope he keeps providing the sandbox for people like aerospace engineer/SpaceX founding employeee/CEO of Impulse Space Tom Mueller, so they have the room they need to create great things for humankind. I also hope he shuts the fuck up, gets off Twitter, and goes back to doing cool shit. These are my personal views only.
As usual, this Saint was painted digitally in Photoshop from scratch, and is not a lazy photo manipulation like so many other saint paintings on the net (or lazy Ai generated shit).
Hidden throughout this painting of Elon are references to: his many companies (Tesla, Boring, SpaceX); his child’s (very unique) name; Elon’s interest in crypto – specifically Doge coin; his desire to colonise Mars, and more..