“ It ’ s challenging to put a little story into one image . I used to like this comic called “ The Far Side ,” and it was just one picture . It ’ s not like four or eight panels ; it ’ s just a single panel . That just changes what you can do . Basically , you get one shot . It ’ s part of the fun .”
Travis sells more paintings that feature popular movies and characters than anything else . He says he thinks people like the familiarity ; it makes the painting and the story easier to relate to on a more personal level . “ There ’ s already a story there , people know the backstory and so then you can make a funny joke on top of that , using characters people already know or even current events .” With social media it ’ s hard to predict exactly which pieces will find an audience to resonate with , but he tries to keep up with trends and current events whenever he can . “ If no one has done it before , if you ’ re quick on a new thing , you can be the first at something . Sometimes I think ‘ oh this is going to be something .’” He had a lot of success with this approach when working on his collection of meme paintings .
There is a lot of value in taking a piece of the collective culture and twisting it a bit or satirizing it . Taking something that ’ s made you laugh so many times and turning it into a more permanent fixture . Artists have been doing it for centuries . Famous works of art , on the canvas , stage , or screen , almost all rely on the audience ’ s prior knowledge and experience . Art often capitalizes on people ’ s emotions and what they know , stories they are attached to . Whether it ’ s mythology or a Bible story , old masters often made themselves famous by bringing the familiar to life . “ It ’ s like recognizing the image of Venus coming out of the foam . You already know what it is , and you don ’ t need to explain the story so you can make a complex painting and people aren ’ t like ‘ uh what ’ s with the shell ?’ They already know . I guess it ’ s a bit like that . Maybe a little less masterful .”
“ It is fun and satisfying ; it will still make me laugh and sometimes I ’ ll sell one that ’ s been sitting that I haven ’ t looked at for a long time and it ’ s funny . It ’ s like telling your own joke or a joke you ’ ve already heard ; it has to be pretty good to make you laugh again .” Part of the excitement of Chapman ’ s work is the way that it has the capacity to appeal to somebody so personally . “ I ’ ll sell originals that are the weirdest . Like the most obscure two references and I ’ ll post them and be like ‘ nobody is going to get this .’ Those originals sell because the only person in the country that it ’ s perfect for sees it and is like , oh , this painting has to be for me because I sell
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