# Thomas Kinkade, Painter of Light--revisited... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 16, 2001, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-painter-of-light-revisited/54804 "2001-02-16T21:47:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2001, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-painter-of-light-revisited/54804/41 "2001-02-21T00:58:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lux Fiat \* > If he’s not already doing it, I predict that at some point, he’ll begin offering prints in frames with actual lightbulbs in or behind the myriad light-points in his paintings: “Now you can have _actual_ light vomit forth from the every available window on your copy of Thomas Kinkade’s mass-produced accessories to your white leather living room set.” \*\* Hallmark recently offered a Thomas Kinkade ornament. It was a half-sphere with one of his paintings inside, and a Christmas tree bulb behind it to light up the scene. ---
**Author:** ![tbea925](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@tbea925](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tbea925)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2001, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-painter-of-light-revisited/54804/42 "2001-02-21T05:04:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > **It’s not the paintings. IF someone likes his paintings, fine. There are a few I think aren’t so bad. They’re kind of pretty. BUT, it is HIM and his whole franchise thing that I don’t like.** I do see your point. He shows up on QVC regularly for their “Collectors Day.” He always struck me as being rather smug and condescending. Not really a stellar personality. The TK calendars used to be halfway decent, my mom even framed a couple prints from a calendar or two. Then they plunked this HUGE logo for his Lightpost Publishing brand on the calendar print (it’s really obvious - on a 11x11 calendar print, the logo is a couple inches tall), to prevent people from using the calendars for framing. Dratted annoying. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2001, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-painter-of-light-revisited/54804/43 "2001-02-21T08:29:34Z")
> **[The Kinkade Crusade](https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/december4/6.48.html)** > > America's most collected artist is a Christian who seeks to sabotage Modernism by painting beauty, sentiment, and the memory of Eden. Here is a wonderful link that gives us more reasons to hate Mr. Kinkade. Apparently he considers his “art” to be a crusade against evil modernism and an evangelical tool. He wants to use traditional techniques to “restore dignaty to the arts, and by extention culture,” (I wonder how his painter-sweatshops figure in to that). He claims that “the art culure is so inbred” and touts his “art” as a solution. He reckons his sickening portrayals of cottages to be an artistic revolution on the par of impressionism. It also mentions that they are building a Thomas Kinkade themed houseing tract. Scary stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2001, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-painter-of-light-revisited/54804/44 "2001-02-21T20:31:06Z")
I will give CT props on the other hand for an article they wrote about the Simpsons being the most Christian family on TV-including Ned Flanders! It was pretty interesting. Although they can’t make fun of Catholics on the Simpsons anymore-the damned Catholic League had to go bitching and moaning. Argh. This guy is annoying. I mean, fine, the paintings, are cute, no one’s saying they aren’t. But get off your fucking high horse, Kinkade! Hey, he makes sketches while sitting in church! Hey-you’re not supposed to be drawing in church! Bad artist! > [@](#): > > “Art as a form of expression > in Western society is dying,” he said Yeah, and you’re killing it off, dickweed! > [@](#): > > Kinkade leans forward, his voice rising in intensity. “The disintegration > of the culture starts with the artist,” he says. "In a way, Modernism in > painting is responsible for South Park and gangsta rap. um, okay. :rolleyes: _bangs head on desk repeatedly_ YOu, Kinkade are no Claude Monet! Dammit! (I have a Monet Calender). You are not Van Gogh. You are NOT John Waterhouse (my favorite artist of all time). You are not Norman Rockwell (as others have said, the guy was one hell of an artist, and his pieces were really pretty cool, if you ask me-folksy, I would call it. Kinkade’s just aren’t.). Rockwell’s were simple and folksy, kind of cute, funny, everyday. Kinkade’s are just…blah-and he keeps comparing himself to Rockwell. Will it ever end? ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2001, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-painter-of-light-revisited/54804/45 "2001-02-21T23:28:56Z")
Thanks for the link, **even sven.** Now my eyes are bleeding and my hemorrhoids are very, very angry. This guy is having a _village_ built? Where people can actually _live?_ Good Goddess, who in the world would be so utterly HIGH on GLUE that they would shell out six-digit dollar amounts to live totally surrounded by him and his crap? This guy has a real ego problem. It shone like his “light” throughout the entire article. He honestly believes that his paintings (I refuse to refer to them as “art” any longer) are going to change the world. His Foundation wants to have an Oscar-style awards ceremony for artists? Riiiiiiight. AS IF artists will be coveting _his_ seal of approval. That’d be like **DavidB** asking _me_ to cover his ass in an evolution debate. Argh. Excue me, I must go lobotomize myself. I suggest you all do the same. In the article, Kincade says he already “owns the hearts of the people.” No way in Hell is he getting anywhere near my brain. ---
**Author:** ![sorrel554](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@sorrel554](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sorrel554)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2001, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-painter-of-light-revisited/54804/46 "2001-02-23T01:02:16Z")
I just had an unpleasant experience. I was doing a Google search, because I am trying to find someplace that sells Barbara Kruger “Your body is a battleground” t-shirts. What was one of the first links pulled up? That article posted by **even sven**. The Painter of Light is so insidious! ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2001, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-painter-of-light-revisited/54804/47 "2001-02-23T02:10:36Z")
You see?? You see?? What did I tell you! He’s trying for your brain now! Just like I said! [sub]aaieeeeeeeee!!![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2001, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-painter-of-light-revisited/54804/48 "2001-02-23T04:55:22Z")
Okay, something isn’t comfortable with me anymore. In **even sven** ’s link I find the following: > [@](#): > > The success of the book led to a stint in film animation, and Kinkade learned more about the effects of light. After the release of the film, _Fire and Ice_, Kinkade decided to devote his professional efforts to creating and marketing his own art. _Surely_ they can’t be referring to [**this**](http://www.imdb.com/Title?0085542), could they? Tell me it ain’t so, pleeeeeze!!! :eek: [sub]Of course, it doesn’t actually _say_ that he worked on the film, only that after its release he went on to annoy the hell out of us. Maybe I panicked.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Lux\_Fiat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc79bd/32.png) [@Lux\_Fiat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lux_Fiat)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2001, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-painter-of-light-revisited/54804/49 "2001-02-23T08:23:47Z")
Ye gods. I’m a prophet of doom. Take this cup from my lips, Lord; it’s more burden than blessing. (Is there a “Woe is me” smiley?) ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2001, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-painter-of-light-revisited/54804/50 "2001-02-24T17:11:08Z")
Well, I went to the place my wife works on the weekends now (an art gallery/framing place) and discovered they had a full wall of Thomas Kinkade’s ‘art’. They also had some paintings from some guy with the initials G.H. which were of old cityscapes, they were kinda reminiscent of one of the Kinkade paintings that was mentioned in the old thread, but I kinda liked them. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2001, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-painter-of-light-revisited/54804/51 "2001-02-24T17:31:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dijon Warlock \* > \*\*Okay, something isn’t comfortable with me anymore. In **even sven** ’s link I find the following: > > > [@](#): > > > > The success of the book led to a stint in film animation, and Kinkade learned more about the effects of light. After the release of the film, _Fire and Ice_, Kinkade decided to devote his professional efforts to creating and marketing his own art. > > _Surely_ they can’t be referring to [**this**](http://www.imdb.com/Title?0085542), could they? Tell me it ain’t so, pleeeeeze!!! :eek: > > [sub]Of course, it doesn’t actually _say_ that he worked on the film, only that after its release he went on to annoy the hell out of us. Maybe I panicked.[/sub] \*\* I’m afraid it is so, actually. From other bios: > [@](#): > > He once spent a summer on a sketching tour with a college friend, producing the best-selling instructional book, “The Artist’s Guide to Sketching”. The success of the book lead the two young artists to paint background art for the animation feature, “Fire and Ice”, where Kinkade was able to explore light and imaginative worlds with abandon. OK, he was a background painter on a Bakshi animation early in his career. BTW, Bakshi comes in for his share of criticism, too, usually for being a derivative rip-off artist. I once saw an excerpt from author David Brin concerning Bakshi that was unbelievably vitriolic. ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2001, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-painter-of-light-revisited/54804/52 "2001-02-24T23:48:32Z")
Yah, but “Fire and Ice” was based on the artwork of _ **Frank freakin’ Frazetta** _, man! Frazetta and Kinkade shouldn’t even be in the same UNIVERSE!!! It saddens me…it really does… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2001, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-painter-of-light-revisited/54804/53 "2001-02-25T03:52:29Z")
There is a KinKRAP gallery at Ross Park Mall, across from Suncoast Video. What a perfect waste of good shop space! I didn’t really look at it-it just seemed mostly paintings. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2001, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-painter-of-light-revisited/54804/54 "2001-02-26T08:52:57Z")
From Thomas Kinkade’s lightposts for living calendar My life shines with God’s radiant blessing when my heart is the color of joy. [sup]and try as I might, I cannot find that color in with my colored pencils!![/sup] The color within us can color the world around us. _living in the light of abiding happiness–January_ During the summer, place a bouquet on the bedstand and enjoy the delicate fragrance all night long. [sup]Painter spice, meet Martha Stewart. so all i need do to increase the romance in my life is to have flowers in my room? Life is meant to be lived- the essence of the romantic’s creed. [sub]same shit, different day – cynic’s creed.[/sub] _Living in a romantic light --February_ Blocking off space for the important concrenc in your life will do wonders for your sense of peace and harmony. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves to relax more, worry less, to remember the big picture, and to not let details overwhelm us._living in a balanced light --March_ \*\*[sour] is that why he gets the big bucks? that was really enlightening[/sour][sub] Thanks heaps schmuck!! [/sub] that was all i managed to copy before my nausea got the best of me. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2001, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-painter-of-light-revisited/54804/55 "2001-02-26T08:55:09Z")
what have i done to my coding ??? Can someone fix it ??? Please? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-painter-of-light-revisited/54804.md?page=2)