Drunk Man Holding Onto Post

 

Sometimes when I'm painting I need a little diversion so I go onto Youtube and watch compilations of drunk people falling over. They fall into bushes, roads, bins, holes, ponds and ditches in near slow motion. I don't like beer and have never been drunk so I'm not sure what it's like. I couldn't recall painting a drunk person and thought it was time I did one. Here it is.

 

As a lad on holiday at a Butlin's holiday camp I remember walking back to the chalet one evening and seeing a drunk man. He was probably the first drunk person I'd seen and I was a bit mesmerised. At one point he got down onto his knees and crawled along a path like a baby. When he reached a post he stood up and clung to it. He seemed to be concentrating hard on the metal post and clinching on as though he was on a boat rocking violently in rough seas.

 

Anyway I've painted the man from memory on a small canvas in oils. There aren't many details here to get wrong so I completed it quite quickly without conflicts. I made up the windows in the background. A nice British Bulldog I thought for that window on the right (note its ball.) Jackdaws are probably my favourite birds so I put one on the street sign looking down at the drunk man. I wasn't sure what to put on the street sign but an AA for alcoholic Anonymous felt apt. Perhaps you know a rampant boozer who'd like this for their birthday. Surely you have £6,882 in cash hidden under a roll of insulation in your attic or behind that 1988 tin of sardines in the back of your cupboard?