President-turned-painter George W. Bush has unveiled his portraits of world leaders - as his wife Laura revealed she encouraged him to unleash his inner artist after he mastered a drawing app. The new collection by the former president, who picked up the paintbrush after leaving the White House, includes Tony Blair, Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Dalai Lama. Most striking is a stern-looking Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Bush said his favorite was the painting of his father, George H. W. Bush. The oil paintings, which were shared on the Today show in an interview with his daughter Jenna Bush Hager, show an improvement in Bush's skills since the self portraits of him in the bath were leaked last year.
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Bush has painted 24 images of world leaders that are part of an exhibition at his presidential library in Texas
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The paintings, including his father George H.W. Bush, Vladimir Putin, Tony Blair and the Dalai Lama, were revealed on the Today show on Friday
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His mother Barbara said she liked the image her son had painted of her husband - but that he would 'absolutely not' be allowed to paint her
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Bush says he hopes the leaders take the images 'in the spirit of friendship'
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The former president, who started painting when he left the White House, said that he does not think he is a good artist but that he's improving
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