When I was in college, I painted a work I called “The Cadaverous Mona Lisa.” She was quite pale and ashen—lots of people in my dorm liked it. It disappeared one day, but luckily I took pictures of my dorm room, and it was in one of the pictures.
Not exactly a charming, enigmatic smile, but Bernice looks really good dressed like that. I wonder if Nil wants to do like Francis Bacon, starting by being inspired by a portrait famous for its tranquility and rational composition and then transforming it into one of the most distressing images of torment, fear and despair that painting ever had. If that’s the case, I’d be curious to see Bernice’s reaction. I’m afraid she wouldn’t understand and would be angry. This might push her to go to meet Piro!?
You’d think as intelligent as Bernice is supposed to be, she’d know the difference from whatever you’d call that smile she’s displaying, to a true “mona Lisa” smile.
Wow! Was I wrong! Ivan and J Puzzle got it right. Mona indeed! There’s always a story behind the smile, what’s Bernice’s? Artistic frustration ahead? ;-)
I am quite frustrated with LuAnn. Greg Evans insists on keeping both Bernice and LuAnn shallow and limited. He won’t let them grow, although occasionally there will be moments of maturity and wisdom that come from nowhere …… and disappear just as quickly. The most interesting character today is Tara, and storylines involving her tend to evaporate for some reason. While I am at it, what happened to the letter from Piro to Bernice? ……. I mention these things because I recognize that LuAnn has the potential to be great, but I guess its just too risky - and inexpedient.
This is often overlooked, but upon covering one or the other side of Mona Lisa’a face, the two halves are quite asymmetrical and show very different moods of expression. Methinks Leo Vincent deliberately did this.
why oh WHY is she insufferably ignorant of her own obnoxiousness? She never really listens unless there is an opp to snipe Luann or make a 3rd party observation. She does fine when around Luann’s mom……but around her own age group? Not so much….
All around nope. Bernice being insufferable – be quiet, muse, and let the artist work. It’s impossible to see how he gets inspiration from her. And Nil using the Mona Lisa as subject matter? Truly lacks imagination. This arrangement just seems like contrived yuckiness to me.
Okay, so it was a “Mona Lisa” costume and wig, as someone had foreknowledge of yesterday! But Nil’s problem is not just Bernie’s glasses, easily enough removed, but rather her corny broad smile! Maybe she doesn’t comprehend “enigmatic” smile. Perhaps a hand-mirror will help….
And now, an unknown fact of art history. I think that Vincent van Gogh tried to cut off his ear because he had a distracting chatterbox model like Bernice.
lvlax almost 2 years ago
Woot! I was right… Mona Lisa!! lol
I don’t think Nil’s idea is going to work out. He doesn’t have the right model.
I will say this.. The new Mona outfit looks better than her Muse look. lol
.
So will he paint Bernice or give up on using her?
Namrepus almost 2 years ago
That pose is more like “Why so serious?”
sallymargret almost 2 years ago
Just as Max/Ivlax predicted yesterday.
J. Scarbrough almost 2 years ago
Well, the future has been predicted correctly!
Tyge almost 2 years ago
No way this sequence can be saved! (how’s that for a challenge?)
J.J. O'Malley almost 2 years ago
“No, it’s the spinach caught between your teeth!”
beb01 almost 2 years ago
Bernice is hopeless. What does he see in her?
Pointspread almost 2 years ago
The only thing enigmatic about that smile is why Bernice would think anyone would want to paint it.
ronaldspence almost 2 years ago
Bernice…let the artist be the artist please…thank you
Panufo almost 2 years ago
You made me laugh, Evans.
Argythree almost 2 years ago
I was wrong; I really thought that Piro would somehow show up as part of the art project. Too bad; that would have been fun…
Alabama Al almost 2 years ago
C’mon Nil … didn’t you watch “Titanic”?
kenhense almost 2 years ago
“Is it the glasses?” No – it’s the gasses…
Joe1962 almost 2 years ago
Bernice loosen up your smile.
sallymargret almost 2 years ago
When I was in college, I painted a work I called “The Cadaverous Mona Lisa.” She was quite pale and ashen—lots of people in my dorm liked it. It disappeared one day, but luckily I took pictures of my dorm room, and it was in one of the pictures.
Brdshtt Premium Member almost 2 years ago
Raw meat would run from that ‘smile’.
BayReader almost 2 years ago
Oh Bernice! Just listen to Nil and do as he asks, instead of assuming how he wants you to pose.
Busrayne almost 2 years ago
Why does he need Bernice? Why not a picture of the real Mona Lisa?
live2read almost 2 years ago
In the last panel, she kind of looks like “Weird” Al Yankovic.
Rhetorical_Question almost 2 years ago
Wrong Smile
Jacob Mattingly almost 2 years ago
No its the constant layer of smug
Walter Kocker almost 2 years ago
She’d need to shave her eyebrows to be Lisa del Giocondo, as it was the style of the time.
Bernice could use a Sharpie™ between her ’brows and be Frida Kahlo . . .
Grandma Lea almost 2 years ago
Or ask her to remove her classes and shave her eyebrows
Enter.Name.Here almost 2 years ago
Scary grin.
Mordock999 Premium Member almost 2 years ago
Does Bernice know that by the time Nil is done, all that will be seen is her right nostril?
The Reader Premium Member almost 2 years ago
Give her time to get bored.
OneTime59 almost 2 years ago
Keen foresight for whoever called the Mona Lisa role for B yesterday.
luann1212 almost 2 years ago
Now here is hilarity ensueth.
Aladar30 Premium Member almost 2 years ago
Not exactly a charming, enigmatic smile, but Bernice looks really good dressed like that. I wonder if Nil wants to do like Francis Bacon, starting by being inspired by a portrait famous for its tranquility and rational composition and then transforming it into one of the most distressing images of torment, fear and despair that painting ever had. If that’s the case, I’d be curious to see Bernice’s reaction. I’m afraid she wouldn’t understand and would be angry. This might push her to go to meet Piro!?
tremaine53 almost 2 years ago
“On second thought, let’s do Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’, Bernice.”
Johnnyrico almost 2 years ago
Another painful series of strips…
Count Olaf Premium Member almost 2 years ago
Darling Ann ❤️ Eiffel has a fantastic “come hither” smile. Eat your ❤️s out. You ain’t worthy. Envious, but not worthy.
BigDaveGlass almost 2 years ago
Creepy!
Judy Hendrickson [Unnamed Reader - 852856] almost 2 years ago
Never never never have I ever seen sooo much drama in a comic strip
oakie817 almost 2 years ago
i like it
Wizard of Ahz-no relation almost 2 years ago
this would be completely different form the art we’ve already seen where it was just small pieces, suddnely he’s going full portrait?
[Traveler] Premium Member almost 2 years ago
Perhaps she’ll do the Sharon Stone move from Basic Instinct
brick10 almost 2 years ago
Bernice, closed lips, no teeth, no sounds.
nubianaries81 almost 2 years ago
I just think he wanted that ugly@$$ outfit off lol, maybe he’ll convince her to go back to her regular clothes
Wesley Premium Member almost 2 years ago
Draw a mustache on her, Nil
Ignatz Premium Member almost 2 years ago
Mona Lisa must have had the highway blues. You can tell by the way she smiles.
WilliamVollmer almost 2 years ago
You’d think as intelligent as Bernice is supposed to be, she’d know the difference from whatever you’d call that smile she’s displaying, to a true “mona Lisa” smile.
Ignatz Premium Member almost 2 years ago
I’ll bet Nil’s “portrait” will look more like Mondrian than DaVinci.
nancywilson51 almost 2 years ago
Question: why does Nils hair color and style change when he is with Bernice?
prrdh almost 2 years ago
Enigmatic smile, self-satisfied smirk…what’s the difference?
ctolson almost 2 years ago
Do your signature smirk Bernice.
RonMcCalip almost 2 years ago
The Muse is a Mess!
Tyge almost 2 years ago
From the looks of it, Nil will wind up painting the “Moanin’ Louisa!”
tomcervo almost 2 years ago
New Yorker cartoon of Leonardo painting Mona: “And now a little smile.”
Ellis97 almost 2 years ago
I think it’s the suggestive grin.
scottartist creator almost 2 years ago
Those who said the outfit looked like Mona Lisa were on the money. Some said a flapper, which I couldn’t see at all.
YorkGirl Premium Member almost 2 years ago
Wow! Was I wrong! Ivan and J Puzzle got it right. Mona indeed! There’s always a story behind the smile, what’s Bernice’s? Artistic frustration ahead? ;-)
hoffquotes2 almost 2 years ago
Afterwards, take the muse to the fuze
nightflight almost 2 years ago
Nil’s Mona Lisa could cause Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” to scream again.
FassEddie almost 2 years ago
“Put your hands thus…” Who raised this boy?
fuzzbucket Premium Member almost 2 years ago
It’s the "I’m so cool’ attitude.
mysethfriend almost 2 years ago
I am quite frustrated with LuAnn. Greg Evans insists on keeping both Bernice and LuAnn shallow and limited. He won’t let them grow, although occasionally there will be moments of maturity and wisdom that come from nowhere …… and disappear just as quickly. The most interesting character today is Tara, and storylines involving her tend to evaporate for some reason. While I am at it, what happened to the letter from Piro to Bernice? ……. I mention these things because I recognize that LuAnn has the potential to be great, but I guess its just too risky - and inexpedient.
KEA almost 2 years ago
if you ever wondered why the Mona Lisa is so great see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9JvUDrrXmY&t=31s
David Huie Green LoveJoyAndPeace almost 2 years ago
It has to be a sorta smile.
handq almost 2 years ago
I haven’t seen little Shannon in a while now.
mindjob almost 2 years ago
Yeah, the smirk isn’t as classy
artjohn42 almost 2 years ago
Not really “enigmatic”; more “snake oil salesman”.
The Quiet One almost 2 years ago
What’s wrong with it?
198.23.5.11 almost 2 years ago
Tuck in those teeth,Bernice.
Mona Lisa does NOT look like she’s about to sell you a flooded basement
Caldonia almost 2 years ago
A college art project based on the thoroughly overanalyzed dusty old cliche, Mona Lisa! Good job!
Templo S.U.D. almost 2 years ago
Nil capturing his inner Leonardo, eh?
DG almost 2 years ago
This is Nil … the guy who goes outside the box with his art ….
Why does Mona smile ….
What if he drew just her hands with an engagement ring on it.
DorothyGlenn Premium Member almost 2 years ago
Let Piro spark her interest, so she can be a Piro-maniac and set fire to her love life. Then she can really Bern.
Drbarb71 Premium Member almost 2 years ago
His muse is Wierd Al Yankovich?
Willow Mt Lyon almost 2 years ago
It’s the glasses and the showing of her teeth
ironman01 almost 2 years ago
Her smile looks like she’s sitting on a feather.
AndrewSihler almost 2 years ago
Nice try.
sallymargret almost 2 years ago
Not glasses. Smirk and eyebrows.
spaced man spliff almost 2 years ago
This is often overlooked, but upon covering one or the other side of Mona Lisa’a face, the two halves are quite asymmetrical and show very different moods of expression. Methinks Leo Vincent deliberately did this.
TIMH almost 2 years ago
I’ve long suspected that the Mona Lisa smiles because she just farted.
finnygirl Premium Member almost 2 years ago
Rather than “enigmatic”, I’d say Bernice’s smile is “asininic”. (I know that’s not a real word, but I like the sound of it anyway, lol).
waerdawg almost 2 years ago
why oh WHY is she insufferably ignorant of her own obnoxiousness? She never really listens unless there is an opp to snipe Luann or make a 3rd party observation. She does fine when around Luann’s mom……but around her own age group? Not so much….
kittysquared Premium Member almost 2 years ago
All around nope. Bernice being insufferable – be quiet, muse, and let the artist work. It’s impossible to see how he gets inspiration from her. And Nil using the Mona Lisa as subject matter? Truly lacks imagination. This arrangement just seems like contrived yuckiness to me.
Sisyphos almost 2 years ago
Okay, so it was a “Mona Lisa” costume and wig, as someone had foreknowledge of yesterday! But Nil’s problem is not just Bernie’s glasses, easily enough removed, but rather her corny broad smile! Maybe she doesn’t comprehend “enigmatic” smile. Perhaps a hand-mirror will help….
nightflight almost 2 years ago
And now, an unknown fact of art history. I think that Vincent van Gogh tried to cut off his ear because he had a distracting chatterbox model like Bernice.
scalap Premium Member almost 2 years ago
What’s wrong is that Bern looks like Weird Al! LOL