Blue faces
I’m not drawing anything in particular these days, just doodles like this. Using a brush pen and a Sharpie – watch this space for some pen reviews.
Autopilot
Sometimes when I spend too long looking at a white page deciding what to draw, I end up scribbling on the page just to make it dirty so that what I draw doesn’t spoil the page. This blog has reached a similar state. I need to scribble on the page just to make it dirty. Please feel free to ignore this post, count it as a Lorem Ipsum.
The internet does the weirdest things for motivation. On the one hand, it shows you a world of infinite possibility and power. On the other hand, it makes you feel like a drop in the ocean. So while you’re thinking “I can publish anything”, the other voice is saying “There’s no point”. I remember Bob Dylan saying in an interview once, “The world doesn’t need any more songs”. It’s kind of like that. You think about writing something then stop, because there’s enough stuff on the internet already.
I’ve been thinking about the metaphor of autopilot recently. It’s one of those metaphors that you don’t even realise is a metaphor til you stop and think about it. Before they invented planes that fly themselves, we would have called it something else. Anyway. It all started when I was at home and needed a shower, and after thinking, “I should get in the shower”, I thought “What’s the point?” But this is obviously absurd. The point of a shower is to get clean and not smell bad. That’s the end of it. You want to waste time thinking about why you shouldn’t wash? Fine, but not me. Washing is a basic necessity. That’s it. No point philosophising about it.
So I got in the shower on autopilot, and thought about it. I could save a hell of a lot of time if I just did stuff like shower, wash up, make tea etc on autopilot. Life would become so simple, and I could save asking “What’s the point” for more important activities like working or studying. Asking what the point of these activities is can be a valuable question.
The autopilot metaphor seems like a Zen Buddhist / Lao Tzu kind of thing, although I could be horrendously wrong on this point. That is, by not thinking too much, actions flow through you more purely somehow. Actions are flowing out of you freely, and thoughts are obstacles to the pure action, so best not to think.
But then the other thought I had was that acting without thought would make you a complete moron.
So I got confused, and decided I was thinking about it all too much and getting confused by the thoughts.
Back to square one: Taking a shower on autopilot is a good thing because it means you get things done without getting delayed by useless questions. BUT: would it be a good thing to create stuff on autopilot? I think: yes.
Further reading: Jack Kerouac
Two artists I like, and one comic
“when you don’t create things, you become defined by your tastes rather than ability. your tastes only narrow & exclude people. so create.” - _why
While I agree with _why’s sentiment, here’s a bunch of stuff that I like. Hopefully my tastes won’t exclude people – who knows, you may find something you like.
Saul Steinberg
Saul Steinberg is illustrator from another time. His drawings are beautifully simple but carry the weight of ideas. Originally from Romania, he did a year of philosophy, then trained as an architect. In 1942 he emigrated to the US where he did a lot of work for the New Yorker.
It’s really easy doing a drawing. Thinking of a drawing which sums up an idea is tricky. Steinberg did it again and again.
No
Saul Steinberg
Daniel Clowes’ Ghost World
If you’re even remotely “into comics” (or “camixth” as I like to say it – you have to say it through your nose and sort of snigger at the same time), you already know about Ghost World. Or you may have seen the film. It’s a coming of age tale of two teenage girls in Nowhere, USA. Clowes draws a bunch of normal stuff, then adds a massive growth on the side of someone’s face. The drawings are shaded with pale green. It all adds up to create a haunting nether-world slightly different from our own.
But the reason Ghost World stands out is that it has a soul. The characters seem real. The way they talk seems real.
I’ve read a few others by Daniel Clowes (Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, David Boring, Wilson) and while they’re always enjoyable, this is his best.
Robert Crumb
R Crumb is a dirty old man, but even when he was a dirty young man he excelled at what he did. And that is: drawing obsessively the dark recesses of his mind. With a talent for cross-hatching which could make you weep.
I first encountered Crumb at an art gallery in Amsterdam. I was travelling round Europe with a friend and we wandered into the Stedeljik Museum, which was holding a Crumb retrospective. I could not believe what I was seeing. This guy’s work was full of such shameful honesty it was almost embarrassing. Except he didn’t seem all that ashamed. He said once, “My life is an open book”. I heard he said this to the legendary Simpsons writer George Meyer, who was suffering depression at the time. That quote, and the fact that Crumb could back it up (he carried round a sketchbook) was part of what helped Meyer come out of his depression.
Shameful honesty on its own wouldn’t be interesting if Crumb wasn’t so gloriously weird. The documentary Crumb is well worth a watch to see this weirdness and the context in which it grew.
R Crumb self-portrait
Well that’s that. I want to finish with a few blog recommendations. They aren’t obscure, but they keep me going.
Boing Boing – interesting things
Kottke – interesting things
Brain Pickings – interesting things
Dangerous Minds – rock and roll
Potlatch – politics with an academic sensibility
50watts – illustration and book art
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