“The Sinker”

11x14in acrylic painting on panel.

Occasionally I like to revisit the deep-sea diver. He is such a playful character to mess with! About a year ago I wrote an illustrated short story called “Things Above” (available on Amazon!) and on one of the pages, the diver was deep in thought, so naturally I covered him with crustaceans and algae to imply the passing of time in a funny way.

After finishing the book, I knew I wanted to revisit that illustration, because there’s a lot of contemplation power in that image. I’ve called this painting “The Sinker” for a few reasons. First off, it is modeled after the sculpture “The Thinker” by August Rodin, and so there’s a definite homage to the masterpiece. But changing the name to “The Sinker” conveys an even deeper idea. The diver is deep in thought, deep underwater and because he spent too much time thinking and not enough time acting upon his thoughts, critters and crustaceans have fused to his immovable form. And now, this diver is in trouble. He was so trapped in his thoughts that he is now trapped in his body.

We all have been there. Sometimes this is caused by analysis paralysis, other times it’s because we spend too long in a land of make-believe. If we spend too long in that place, it will get harder to move. We must be doers, not just thinkers. Otherwise we will become frozen doomed to sink to the bottom of a sea of regret.