It may seem to the viewer that I'm drawn to patriotic subjects. Well, that is true; but the reason is not that I'm patriotic (or pretending to be). The reason is that I sense a moral void that I find intolerable. That void was clearly revealed when the USPS put the face of Elvis on a stamp. Elvis was important in the popular culture, yes. But how important is the pop culture? Important only to those who can't see anything higher or better. It's scary to think that people like that are in charge of public policy. But they are, and the Elvis stamp proves it.
My drawing of Washington is based on a statue in New York's Union Square, a very fine work by Henry Brown and his then assistent, J.Q.A. Ward. When the statue was erected, in the pre-Civil War period, Washington was regarded with awe.