Take your protein pills and put your helmet on

I'm changing the name of the thing to "Astronaut In A Snowstorm: 1:00 AM".  Or something like that.

Always the question is when to quit.  You could argue that now would be the time.  It woujld be fallacious, but you could do so.  The argument woujld run something like this:

The image is clearly an astronaut, so that aspect of the painting has been achieved.  Once you've written "The Myth of American Exceptionalism" across the top, the editorial point will have been made.  So enough already.

The painting, by the way, is going horribly.  So words to that effect do ring in my head.

But what the argument ignores is the fact that I think it would -- will -- be good fun to more thoroughly depict the source image ...

And lest you judge me too harshly, let me say in my defense that the bottom margin of the painting is higher up the torso than the bottom margin of the photograph.  Just below the fingers of his right hand.

Furthermore, did you see Virginia crush Duke the other night?  Lovely.  They performed this deed in Charlottesville, Virginia in what is called the John Paul Jones Arena.  Which isn't named after the famous American naval hero but, rather, Wall Street wizard Paul Tudor Jones' father.  The second Mr. Jones being the guy who footed the bill for the arena.

Nonetheless, every time I think about it I'm reminded of the famous line "I've not yet begun to fight."

This from Wikipedia.

Serapis was commissioned in March 1779 under Captain Richard Pearson. On 23 September she engaged the American warship USS Bonhomme Richard under the command of Captain John Paul Jones in the North Sea at Flamborough Head, England. At the time of this battle, the ship carried 50 guns, having an extra six 6-pounders.^[3] The two vessels exchanged heavy fire and Bonhomme Richard lost most of her firepower, but by attaching the two ships together, Jones was able to overcome much of Pearson's advantage of greater firepower (although the Bonhomme Richard was a larger ship with a considerably greater crew).^[4] The famous quote, "I have not yet begun to fight!"^[4] was Jones's response to Pearson's premature call for Bonhomme Richard to surrender. The battle raged on for three hours as the crew of Bonhomme Richard tenaciously fought Serapis, raking her deck with gunfire. Eventually, Alliance, a frigate in Jones's squadron, began firing at both the attached ships indiscriminately.Bonhomme Richard began to sink, but Captain Pearson, unable to aim his guns at the frigate because he was tied to Jones's ship, surrendered, handing Serapis over to the Americans.^[4]

Exciting stuff.  Although after the fact I think, were I Jones, that I'd dispatch a sternly-worded letter to the captain of the Alliance.

And you and me, dear reader?  We've been through tougher scrapes than this.  I'm certain that this painting will turn out okay in the end.  Although it does make me want to vomit when I look at it now.

You could make a country western song out of those last two lines.
Yes I could.