This is the worst thing I've ever done.

#sideshowbanner #circusart #painting #art #circusart #acrylicpainting #artist #canvas #lgbtqartist

Work on progress: a four by five foot sideshow banner depicting TEGAN, the worst little girl in the world. She has one eye on her face and one more on each hand. I'm standing next to the banner, with similar hands.

Working on this sideshow banner of Tegan, but it's slow going because of my hideously deformed hands.

#sideshowbanner #circusart #art #canvas #painting #traditionalart #lgbtqartist #wip #artist

Work in progress: a four by five foot sideshow banner depicting TEGAN, the worst little girl in the world. She has one eye on her face, and one more on each hand.

Work in progress: a four by five foot sideshow banner depicting TEGAN, the worst little girl in the world. She has one eye on her face, and one more on each hand. Also picture: me, Matt Fagan, sticking my tongue out and making the rock and roll devil 🤘 sign

Tegan's face.

Made some solid progress on the new sideshow banner today. I'm really starting to dig it.

#wip #art #sideshowbanner #artist #lgbtqartist #painting #canvas #circusart #traditionalart

Just starting a new sideshow banner

Artist working on a four by five foot sideshow banner with a pink border

WIP: another 4 x 5 foot sideshow banner. This one features a character named TEGAN.

Squeezing in one more sideshow banner before the weather turns sour!

#wip #painting #canvas #art #circusart #sideshowbanner #artist #lgbtqartist

I am in my painty clothes, posing with the basically-complete sideshow banner. The scroll at the top of the banner says MEAT MONSTERS! and below that in green letters are the words "80 ft. TALL" The main image of the banner shows two meat monsters (they have appeared together in my paintings before) One monster, though blue in color, basically looks like a raw plucked chicken, except that it has the nose and mouth of a cat. The other monster looks like a big red steak, but with humanoid eyes and mouth. It has stubby legs made of fat, and is able to extend a meaty pseudopod whenever it needs one. The monsters appear to be wearing matching engagement rings. At the bottom are white letters spelling out "IS IT LOVE?"

This is a basically-complete sideshow banner. The scroll at the top of the banner says MEAT MONSTERS! and below that in green letters are the words "80 ft. TALL" The main image of the banner shows two meat monsters (they have appeared together in my paintings before) One monster, though blue in color, basically looks like a raw plucked chicken, except that it has the nose and mouth of a cat. The other monster looks like a big red steak, but with humanoid eyes and mouth. It has stubby legs made of fat, and is able to extend a meaty pseudopod whenever it needs one. The monsters appear to be wearing matching engagement rings. At the bottom are white letters spelling out "IS IT LOVE?"

The outdoor banner painting season will be over soon. 😭

#artist #sideshow #circusart #art #painting #canvas #sideshowbanner #freakshow #traditionalart #lgbtqartist

A grinning maniac brandishing a portable steamer

Steaming the wrinkles out of a canvas before painting sideshow banners, just like Snap Wyatt used to do!

#circusart #sideshowbanner #painting #canvas #snapwyatt #sideshowbanners #circus

Work in progress: a 4 by 5 foot draped canvas circus banner. This one shows a kid and his pup watching Saturday morning cartoons. The television is reaching out at them with menacing gloved hands. The bullet points at the bottom read ROT YOUR BRAIN and FREE YOUR MIND

Work in progress: a 4 by 5 foot draped canvas circus banner. This one shows a kid and his pup watching Saturday morning cartoons. The television is reaching out at them with menacing gloved hands. The bullet points at the bottom read ROT YOUR BRAIN and FREE YOUR MIND

Closeup of the kids hypnotized, slackjaw expression

Made some good progress on this sideshow banner over the weekend!

#circusart #wip #canvas #painting #art #artist #traditionalart #lgbtqartist #sideshowbanner

Work in progress: a 4 by 5 foot draped canvas sideshow banner. There appears to be a kid and a dog watching cartoons on TV, but the TV is being uncharacteristically aggressive. The ribbon scroll at the top says CARTOONS. The bullets at the bottom say ROT YOUR BRAIN and FREE YOUR MIND.

Started the third sideshow banner for my show yesterday!

#wip #sideshow #circusart #sideshowbanner #canvas #acrylic #painting #wip #traditionalart

Work in progress: 4 by 5 foot draped canvas sideshow banner, depicting MY BROTHER'S GHOST.

Picture taken behind my back, as I contemplate the latest changes I've made to the banner.

After several days away, I'm back to work on my sideshow banner of MY BROTHER'S GHOST, and it's nearly finished now.

#circusart #wip #sideshowbanner #canvas #painting #acrylicpaint

Working on a sideshow banner. The ribbon at the top says MY BROTHER'S GHOST and the main picture is exactly that. Ian's ghost is transparent. Behind him, two figures lean in from either side. These are me, and my brother Ted. We are looking out through Ian's ghost.

Working on a sideshow banner. The ribbon at the top says MY BROTHER'S GHOST and the main picture is exactly that. Ian's ghost is transparent. Behind him, two figures lean in from either side. These are me, and my brother Ted. We are looking out through Ian's ghost.

This afternoon, the weather was great so I put in some work on the sideshow banner of my brother's ghost.

#wip #sideshowbanner #artist #circusart #painting #traditionalart #canvas #sideshow #ghost #art #lgbtqartist

Posing comically in front of a work in progress, a sideshow banner where the main figure is my brother Ian's ghost. My surviving brother Ted and I are behind him, looking out through his transparent form. In this photo, I am adopting the pose that my painted form takes on the canvas.

Detail of the sideshow banner, showing the full figure of Ian's ghost.

Posing comically in front of a work in progress, a sideshow banner where the main figure is my brother Ian's ghost. My surviving brother Ted and I are behind him, looking out through his transparent form.

#painting #wip #canvas #artist #circusart #artsky #sideshowbanner #lgbtqartist

Detail of my brother's ghost

Detail of the face of my brother's ghost

Me working on my sideshow banner

Today I did some work on this sideshow banner of my brother Ian's ghost. It's funny and sad, I hope, and not just sad.

#art #canvas #painting #traditionalart #lgbtqartist #artist #circusart #sideshow #sideshowbanner

Finally got back to painting this sideshow banner called MY BROTHER'S GHOST. It's a picture of my brother's ghost. His name was Ian.

#art #circusart #painting #artsky #traditionalart #lgbtqartist #canvas #sideshow #sideshowbanner #artist

Me, posing with my basically-finished sideshow banner. It has a candy-pink border, and depicts a monster they is essentially a screaming cat Halloween decoration, with tentacles. The scroll at the top reads THIS THING. Circular bursts at the bottom proclaim ALIVE and WEIRD. This is all painted in a combination of acrylic paint and latex house paint, on a four by five foot canvas dropcloth.

King of the circus!
Working on my show for 2027 is the thing that keeps me going every day. I relish the opportunity and I can't wait to share it all with you.

#artsky #art #sideshowbanner #circusart #artshow #sideshow #circus #artist #traditionalart #popart #lgbtqartist

Working on this Thing in my back yard! There's basically nothing I like more than sideshow banners.

#art #artist #painting #lgbtqartist #canvas #circusart #sideshowbanner

Posing with the sideshow banner I've been painting in my back yard

This Thing. It's coming along.

#painting #art #traditionalart #sideshowbanner #circusart #artist #canvas

Me, posing in front of a circus banner I'm painting. The banner has a weird critter with a screaming cat face on it, so I'm trying to make a monster face too.

Managed to fit in about 90 minutes of painting on this sideshow banner, after work, when it wasn't so beastly hot in the yard.

#wip #painting #sideshow #circusart #art #artist #canvas #sideshowbanner #freakshow

A picture from a few days ago, penciling the main figure into my circus banner

Picture of me this afternoon. I'm finally starting to paint the main image into my first circus banner in probably 15 years. The gallery show I'll be doing in 2027 will primarily consist of stretched canvases, but there will be about a dozen circus sideshow banners too.

Picture of me this afternoon. I'm finally starting to paint the main image into my first circus banner in probably 15 years. The gallery show I'll be doing in 2027 will primarily consist of stretched canvases, but there will be about a dozen circus sideshow banners too.

A few shots of me in the back yard, painting my first sideshow banner in many years. I expect to include about a dozen of these in my 2027 show.

#wip #art #painting #artist #canvas #traditionalart #circus #sideshow #sideshowbanner #circusart

Spent a little time in the back yard today working on This Thing.

#art #sideshow #circus #artist #traditionalart #sideshowbanner #circusart #monsterart #painting #canvas