# Upping the ante on Kinkade horror **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 10, 2007, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523 "2007-04-10T19:08:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/61 "2007-04-12T21:58:43Z")
…plus he’s got that '70s era Porn mustache… ew. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/62 "2007-04-12T23:05:52Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] deep-fried Twinkie covered in Kool-Whip. [/QUOTE] Mmmm… Twinkies and Kool-Whip. I know what I’m having for dinner! ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/63 "2007-04-12T23:56:06Z")
[QUOTE=nashiitashii] I’m only slightly unsurprised that my future MIL doesn’t have [that “stained glass” cross](http://www.collectiblestoday.com/ct/product/prdid-102469001.jsp?_/_prod/_120/_/_/_1062&endeca=true&abbr=tk&FP3). It would be fitting to her tastes, but, well, it’s not an Orthodox icon, so it wouldn’t be able to be blessed by the priest. [/QUOTE] Oh, hold my head, I’m going to vomit! That is the worst Kinkaid I’ve ever seen. _And It Lights Up?!!!_ Kinkaid has been a hack (a very rich hack) for quite awhile now, but that is the absolute nadir of his commercial drek! Thanks so much for placing that image in my head, **nashiitashii**. That spectre will probably visit my dreams tonight . . . and it will be _your fault!_ ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/64 "2007-04-13T00:01:13Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] Promise and ye shall [receive](http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/001201.html). [/QUOTE] Now, these were not too bad. Not something I could live with on my wall, but not offensive. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, is it? ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/65 "2007-04-14T02:33:13Z")
Wow, pretentious, self-satisfied much? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/66 "2007-04-14T03:25:53Z")
[QUOTE=Operation Ripper] Wow, pretentious, self-satisfied much? :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Just expressing an opinion, Sport. The fact is I think most of Kinkaid’s work is putrid. Is my opinion somehow inferior to yours because you don’t agree? Seems to me the you are the self-satisfied one, with obviously less justification. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/67 "2007-04-14T03:45:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Any competent artist can do what what Kinkade does. I don’t thing the same could be said Pollack. If you think his paintings are that easy to copy, why don’t you give it a shot? Actually, Pollack’s paintings are among the hardest to copy: Many artists have tried, and all have failed. A genuine Pollack has a great deal of fractal structure (though of course he didn’t call it that, having worked before the development of the mathematical theory) which is both very easy to measure and very difficult to replicate. One can argue about whether Pollack’s work is art, or good art, but at the very least, it demonstrates a very rare technical skill. ---
**Author:** ![valleyofthedolls](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a4c791/32.png) [@valleyofthedolls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valleyofthedolls)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/68 "2007-04-14T06:02:54Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] That, more than the glurginess, is why I find Kinkade’s work somewhat offensive. He has talent and training and can really paint, yet he has sold out. If I were to find that evenings he, in the privacy of his study, paints for the pure pleasure of it my distaste would be ameliorated some, since we all need to make a living. Further, I could find it in my heart to forgive his kitschiness if he were sincere in his beliefs but, based on his truly offensive personality and actions, the tone of his paintings is a con and he is, therefore, evil. [/QUOTE] I understand what you’re saying but I do think it’s important to separate the artist from the art (no matter how much of a hypocrite he/she might be). If Kinkade were a great painter, his personal missteps would be overlooked. I love everything Caravaggio ever painted. The fact that he was a pretty nasty piece of work does nothing to diminish the greatness of his religious paintings. [QUOTE=Chronos] Actually, Pollack’s paintings are among the hardest to copy: Many artists have tried, and all have failed. A genuine Pollack has a great deal of fractal structure (though of course he didn’t call it that, having worked before the development of the mathematical theory) which is both very easy to measure and very difficult to replicate. One can argue about whether Pollack’s work is art, or good art, but at the very least, it demonstrates a very rare technical skill. [/QUOTE] Yes, I know this. That’s why I wrote what I did. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/69 "2007-04-14T06:13:41Z")
Some of Kinkade’s landscapes are very good: • [Days of Peace](http://www.thomaskinkade.com/magi/servlet/com.asucon.ebiz.catalog.web.tk.CatalogServlet?catalogAction=Product&productId=195&menuNdx=0.9). • [Autumn Snow](http://www.thomaskinkade.com/magi/servlet/com.asucon.ebiz.catalog.web.tk.CatalogServlet?catalogAction=Product&productId=62373&menuNdx=0.9). • [Dusk in the Valley](http://www.thomaskinkade.com/magi/servlet/com.asucon.ebiz.catalog.web.tk.CatalogServlet?catalogAction=Product&productId=201&menuNdx=0.9). ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/70 "2007-04-14T06:26:19Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] Some of Kinkade’s landscapes are very good: • [Days of Peace](http://www.thomaskinkade.com/magi/servlet/com.asucon.ebiz.catalog.web.tk.CatalogServlet?catalogAction=Product&productId=195&menuNdx=0.9). • [Autumn Snow](http://www.thomaskinkade.com/magi/servlet/com.asucon.ebiz.catalog.web.tk.CatalogServlet?catalogAction=Product&productId=62373&menuNdx=0.9). • [Dusk in the Valley](http://www.thomaskinkade.com/magi/servlet/com.asucon.ebiz.catalog.web.tk.CatalogServlet?catalogAction=Product&productId=201&menuNdx=0.9). [/QUOTE] Those are really nice. If he’s that good, why resort to that soulless ordure that he sells for all those millions of . . . never mind. ---
**Author:** ![valleyofthedolls](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a4c791/32.png) [@valleyofthedolls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valleyofthedolls)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/71 "2007-04-14T06:50:33Z")
Edited b/c I’m having trouble with links. Moderators, could you please remove this post, if possible? Thank you and my apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/72 "2007-04-14T06:52:10Z")
Better than… what? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/73 "2007-04-14T06:58:38Z")
The links don’t work and I didn’t want to copy/paste all the urls to check them out, but I hated the first two, so I’d have to say “uh, yeah?” ---
**Author:** ![valleyofthedolls](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a4c791/32.png) [@valleyofthedolls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valleyofthedolls)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/74 "2007-04-14T07:07:50Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] The links don’t work and I didn’t want to copy/paste all the urls to check them out, but I hated the first two, so I’d have to say “uh, yeah?” [/QUOTE] My apologies. I thought the site I used allowed hyper-linking but I was wrong. In any event, I was just curious how landscapes that I personally like would be viewed by people who like Kinkade’s landscapes. IIRC, the first 2 links were supposed to be for Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s The Harvesters and Hunters in the Snow. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/75 "2007-04-14T07:11:48Z")
The site probably does allow linking–the links were just improperly coded in your post (they all went to “http:///”). When I copy/pasted the urls into a new window (because the urls showed up as the linked text) I was able to see them. ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/76 "2007-04-14T08:47:06Z")
[QUOTE=valleyofthedolls] My apologies. I thought the site I used allowed hyper-linking but I was wrong. In any event, I was just curious how landscapes that I personally like would be viewed by people who like Kinkade’s landscapes. IIRC, the first 2 links were supposed to be for Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s The Harvesters and Hunters in the Snow. [/QUOTE] Funny, they didn’t show up here, but I got them all on the notice of this post in my mailbox. Beautiful. The first two were Bruegel and the last was a Turner of the Grand Canal of Venice. Thanks for those. Cleans the pallet, as it were, after the more egregious Kinkaids. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/77 "2007-04-14T11:46:49Z")
Something Awful made a bunch of improved versions of various Kincaid paintings. [Part I](http://www.somethingawful.com/d/photoshop-phriday/paintings-light-part.php?page=1) [Part II](http://www.somethingawful.com/d/photoshop-phriday/paintings-light-ii.php?page=1) Note: Some parts of the site may not be work-safe, but these pages should be fine. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/78 "2007-04-14T14:01:37Z")
Wait a sec. From Kinkade’s own description of one of his paintings (Autumn Snow, which I think it pretty much as drekky as anything he’s done, but at least there’s no architecturally unlikely cottage in it.): “Autumn Snow recalls a moment when nature offered a rare variety. It happened years ago, but lives in my memory still. Nanette and I heard reports of an early snow, which had fallen east of our hometown of Placerville, where the American River winds its way out of the Sierra Mountains. We laced up our boots and set off to see for ourselves.” Rare variety? In _nature_? What’s this guy’s glitch? Someone needs to send him a link to the anglerfish/blobfish debate, ‘cause if there’s one think nature has an abundance of, it’s variety! How can a man be any sort of artist and not see that? He’s a frickin’ automaton with a paintbrush, gorram it. That just ground the teeny kernal of respect I grew for him after **tdn** ’s link into the dust of despair. At least it’s never going to grow into a putrescent pearl now. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/79 "2007-04-14T14:47:09Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Rare variety? In _nature_? What’s this guy’s glitch? [/QUOTE] Man alive, calm down. Seeing a significant snowfall while the autumn colors are still at their peak is unusual to most of us. Where I’m from, those events usually come about two months apart. Cut him a little slack, will ya? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523/80 "2007-04-14T14:53:51Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] Man alive, calm down. Seeing a significant snowfall while the autumn colors are still at their peak is unusual to most of us. Where I’m from, those events usually come about two months apart. Cut him a little slack, will ya? [/QUOTE] I would, but it illustrates the problem behind the work. The problem: his work all looks the bloody same, no matter what the subject or intent or theme. Why? Because he thinks NATURE provides no variety? It’s just mind-boggling. I don’t get it. I also don’t care much, of course. But I thought it was at least illuminating. So to speak. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-the-ante-on-kinkade-horror/399523.md?page=5)