Trumps Doug Washington
Phase two of the "Doug Washington" project really found its look through this "playing card" format—dual portraits facing off in a mirrored, symmetrical dance.
Looking back, it was a direct reaction to the Cubist vocabulary that had started to take over my work. I found myself leaning into fractured planes and sharp, geometric angles that I hadn't planned for. Since I usually work without a fixed concept, this sudden shift toward such a structured, mirrored layout felt completely uncharacteristic—until it all finally clicked.
The format actually grew out of the abstraction of a general’s uniform. My process was purely physical: I was working from a reference, painting the top half, and then literally spinning the canvas around to work on the bottom.
It wasn't until I had fully worked the portrait—blending those Cubist edges with the symmetrical layout—that the playing card format just snapped into place.The composition felt so balanced and final that I left it exactly as it was, with almost no reworking.
