Seen In San Francisco: Newsstand Artist Unveils Latest Obama Portrait

Fred, just Fred

Here's a good reason to visit your local newsstand...

During election season, we wrote about the newsstand proprietor at Church and Market who posted a pair of notably fine pencil drawings of presidential contenders John McCain and Barack Obama in his kiosk. After Obama won in a landslide, the artist -- who gave his name as "Fred, just Fred" -- stored his portrait of McCain under a pile of old papers, literally rendering the Republican standard-bearer to be yesterday's news.

Well, as you can see above, Fred, just Fred is at it again. He protested that his latest creation, featuring Obama's swearing-in by Chief Justice John Roberts (no love with the bald spot) is not finished, so he wouldn't pose with it. But he did prop it up so we could get a better snapshot.

While the artwork we've seen speaks highly of Fred's talent, the fact he had ample time to make such detailed portraits on the job speaks poorly of the newspaper industry's present and future (it's not as if Fred is turning away customers so he can sketch). So, folks, if you ever needed more impetus to keep newspapers afloat -- remember, if they go under, how will Fred find the time to draw?