bill_romanowski_painting
Table of Contents
Bill Romanowski Painting
“Romo” is a 16“ x 20” oil painting of linebacker Bill Romanowski with a flaming horse, illustrated by Thomas Console in 2003.1) It's affectionately known as the 'Painting of a Horse Attacking a Football Player' by fans of Andrew Hussie,2) who purchased the $425 painting in 2008.3)
Background
“Nice 16 x 20 oil painting of Raider's linebacker Bill Romanowski. This fantasy painting pits Romo against a fiery stallion. I think Bill can handle the task at hand. He is one of the toughest guys in football. This is a first in a series of paintings featuring sports heroes in fantasy situations.”
– Thomas Console4)
In 2002, the Broncos released Romanowski, who then signed a 7-year contract with the Raiders5) that were headed to Super Bowl XXXVII but lost, then Romanowski ended up retiring around 2004 due to his age, rising health concerns, and other issues.6) During his stint, Console was presumably inspired by Romanowski and the Broncos–Raiders rivalry, thus the flaming horse and mountains behind him.
Sale to Andrew Hussie
“Everything about this is fucking amazing. Oakland Raiders linebacker Bill Romanowski fending off a wild, flaming black steed, in a mystical snowcapped mountain setting.”
– Andrew Hussie7)
On August 10, 2005, Hussie discovered and reviewed Console's works on Team Special Olympics, admitting that his Romanowski painting was the sole inspiration for Humanimals.8) Two years later, Hussie revisits the painting, failed to haggle the $425 price tag that it always had,9) and held a fundraiser that ran for three weeks during the period of time between Bard's Quest and Problem Sleuth.10)
The painting was secured on January 18, 2008, which he recorded in a blog post,11) and showed off in a new Jandrew Edits video12)13) before its better known inclusion in Homestuck.14)15) On December 19, 2013, it was supposedly left with Ryan North16) after the credit card swap.17) The current status of the painting remains unknown, though it has been referenced in the post-canonical Homestuck: Beyond Canon.18)
Notes
- The Denver Broncos use a 'Sunset Orange' (#FC4C02) color. Dirk Strider uses '#F2A400'.
- If anything, Dirk's text color is closer to 'Gold' (#FFB612), used by the Washington Commanders, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Green Bay Packers, but the question is sorta pointless as he lives in a time after Earth was invaded and flooded, plus he's never shown an interest in sports.
- “Hey, steed, the glue factory called. They have a message for you, on line 53.”21)
External links
- Painting of a Horse attacking a Football Player on the MS Paint Adventures Wiki
5)
"Romanowski stays in AFC West -- with Raiders" (February 27, 2002). ESPN.
6)
"SPORTS AND DRUGS / Romanowski's revealing ruminations" (May 18, 2005). SFGate.
9)
Hussie claims that Console had “actually raised the price over the years” in his blog post, but the archives show that Console always had the price set at $425 from the moment it was uploaded in 2003.
12)
"The Next Generation episode 8 - "Fine Art" [Archive] (January 7, 2009).
13)
"The Next Degeneration" (January 8, 2009). Penny Arcade Forums.
15)
"AH: Engage in highly indulgent self-insertion into story." (April 15, 2010). Homestuck.
16)
"@andrewhussie stayed a week with me and he just left and I'm sad but he left something for us to remember him by" (December 19, 2013). Twitter.
17)
For context, Hussie and North traded credit cards around July–October 2013, which were documented at thingsnorthbought and thingshussiebought on Tumblr.
20)
"Barack Obama joins the Manning Cast on 'MNF' to talk 85' Chicago Bears | Week 7" (October 24, 2022). YouTube.
bill_romanowski_painting.txt · Last modified: by namelessrumia