Eight Reasons Why You Should Give Brandon Bird Your Money

I don't remember exactly when I first laid eyes on a piece of Brandon Bird's art. It was sometime between the years 2003 and 2005 when a good friend/college roomie turned me on to his work. Something about the absurdist way his projects combined subtle hilarity and random bits of celebrity culture hooked me instantly. Since then, I've done my best to spread the word about his oddball creations, checking his website every so often to see the latest.

That site, Brandon Bird's Bird-O-Rama, includes Bird's drawings, paintings, art shows and events, and much more. In the interest of keeping this List of the Day to a reasonable length, I'm going to limit it solely to some of my personal favorite Bird paintings. Visit his store for prints, t-shirts and more that feature the below works and many others. Vote with your dollar, people; it's the only way to ensure that creative voices like Brandon Bird's will continue to be heard.

[A note: Clearly, the sized-down versions of these paintings below don't even begin to do them justice, but each title links to the particular work's page on Bird's site where you can view a larger image, etc.]

"Lazy Sunday Afternoon"
Created a year or so before the Lonely Island dudes unveiled an also-funny digital short of similar name, Bird says the impetus for this piece was a lame party. Extra credit: "Lazy Sunday Afternoon" was used for a cover of Seattle alternative weekly The Stranger.

"King of the Cage"

On one hand, I probably love this because I hail from the Land of Lincoln, where we name museums, colleges, first borns and anything else we can get our hands on after the 16th president of the United States. On the other hand, this painting is bad ass.

"Waiting for Adventure"

Sometimes, just sometimes, you need a television-talking-head-turned-new-age-contemporary-keyboardist to make things right. Sometimes.

"Those that Bind"

I'm not sure which I like better: the abstract style he used to depict the characters of the show or the title of the piece itself. If the inspiration for the painting doesn't hit you right off the bat, here's a hint.

"The Last Supper"
Bird has created multiple pieces for various individuals, including but not limited to Jerry Seinfeld, Edward Norton, Christopher Walken (see above or here), Harrison Ford (see below or here), and Chuck Norris. James Woods is one of those illustrious folks to get more than one inspired-by work. Robocop's inclusion here is anyone's guess, though.

"The Anguish"

Another painting of which perhaps my predisposition to was influenced by my upbringing (my mom watched inordinate amounts of Little House on the Prairie), Bird provides the following blurb for "The Anguish": "My sister's husband says Michael Landon refused to cut his hair because his father's name was Sam, and he felt this literally made him 'Sam's son.'" Fair enough.

"Killing Machine"
Again, in Bird's own words: "Who's wrasslin'? Bea Arthur's wrasslin!"

"No One Wants to Play Sega with Harrison Ford"
Perhaps the most self-explanatory of any of Bird's titles, this piece was created for a classic-video-games-themed show. You can purchase prints and posters of this one in five different colors!