This sketch started out as a portrait of Don Knotts. It didn’t really work out that way. Now, I’m not sure where I was going with it. Kinda creepy, actually. I like it a lot. If I were to paint this, everything would be a whispy pink cotton candy texture, just like you’re inside the machine that puts it on the stick.
Hence, the name.
A lot of wonderful things a birthed from mistakes. Playdough, for instance. It started life as a really crappy wallpaper remover.
If I knew pajama living was so damn comfortable, I would have done it years ago. And I have no dry cleaning bill. Lessened my carbon footprint to boot. I’m so green.
Ever since I learned about Epicureanism in college, I knew that was my kind of philosophy. It makes more sense now. As I get older, pain is a daily part of life. It is sad but true. So, the more comfortable and simple I keep my life, the better the quality.
At some point, I know I am going to have to get my butt back in the gym, however until I feel the sting of my belt buckle digging into my dunlop, I will enjoy every second of my sensible-shoe-sweat-pants-in-public regimen. Sorry, ladies, this man is not available. He is in love with his simple lifestyle and there’s only room for three on his couch, and those seats are taken by me, myself and I.
More of this new technique. I am really enjoying the dark lines and the relationship they create with the white of the blank page.
If you don’t have a clear idea of what you want to do with your life, you will work for someone who does.
That’s just reality.
It amazes me what we, as a collective, believe. We argue about politics, but yet they really don’t directly impact our daily lives. I stopped following politics closely about five years ago. That is about the same time I gave up watching The Sopranos. I just don’t need that useless shit filling my head. I read about current events just so I know what’s going on in the world, but I don’t “take a stand” one way or the other. If you ask me how I feel about the current president, I will tell you, “He has a tough job and he’s doing what he thinks is best for the country”. That’s it. If someone else occupied the office, I would say the same thing about them. Any more than that is just my crappy opinion about useless crap and frankly, I would rather talk about what I had for lunch.
I am really digging the new technique. It’s really obvious here. I didn’t blend anything at all in this sketch. I am letting the lines truly define light and shadow.
Oh, and as far as giving my opinion about artists, I appreciate every single one of them.
True story…
Summer Recreation, Maine, New York circa 1975. I was eight years old.
Dodge ball, or “Bombardment” as it was known in upstate NY, was always a popular sport among the kids. I would play every chance I got. I had figured out if I stand near the back, my chances of survival were greatly increased. This technique served me well.
This particular match was no exception. It was down to myself and one other person. On the other side was Kenny Walters, a sixth grader with a wicked arm. Outweighed and outgunned, my chances seemed bleak. My strategy was to block his first throw and try and peg him in the ankle when he reached down for another ball.
He wound up like a pro pitcher and let fly. Turned out, his technique was to whip it at my head, which in nineteen seventy five was perfectly legal, in fact some would argue it was a sound strategy for a quick win. I missed the block and his ball hit his mark. The ball slammed into my face, bounced off the back of the ball in my outstretched hands, back to my face, back to the ball and finally rested between my arms. I had “caught” the ball and won the game. I beat the odds and better still, Kenny Walters, a sixth grader.
At that moment, I moved a bit closer to being the man I am today.
I am getting more comfortable with color. I am figuring out what colors I am supposed to start with for different objects and textures. I like to start out light and gradually work to the darker shades. I use this same technique with watercolors as well.
