So my dear Beverly started a "favorite paintings" meme, and in the fine tradition of Implosion Explosion, I am posting two favorites, which are total opposites. One is an oil painting, the other was created on a computer; one is full of tension and even hostility, the other is wistful and even sad. The first is a portrait, "Therese Louise de Sureda," by Goya, c. 1803/04. According to The Story of Painting by Sister Wendy Beckett--I used to love her show in high school--her husband was a drinking buddy of Goya's, and Sister Wendy and I think that she and the painter hated each other. Sister Wendy says, "There can be no comparable portrayal of a woman at once so attractive and so hostile." And I agree.

The second is from explodingdog, which I love. You can send in a title for a picture, and he'll draw it. I love the simplicity and I think the message is always perfectly clear. If you like this one, my other exploding dog favorites are "i am building a world for you," "it is okay because i don't really mean it," and "oh god what have i done," which used to be the screensaver on my computer. (I have thought about painting them as murals in my apartment.) This one is called "you will never know what i saw." Click the link to go full-screen.