Questions? I Got The Answers

  So, more about being an artist. One cool thing, that just came to me, is that people are interested in your life. Not just everyone has a profession like that. "Hmmm, the guy's a bookkeeper. I wonder what he's like at home? Does he have, like, mad mathematic skills?". I started this blog with the intention of explaining the different parts of art, the terminology, stuff like that. How to discuss art. Just how full of sh*t most of the art world phonies are. But first, I would like to address some questions I received in response to a Facebook post. In no particular order. They're all good, valid questions.
  First question: "How do you pull the ideas?" I'm not sure about this one. I'm guessing (wouldn't want to assume) it's about how I pull the idea from the inspiration. I guess it depends on the inspiration. If I'm inspired by an emotion, I typically put paint on canvas while channeling that emotion. I look at the shapes, the colors, look for images in the chaos (like art Rorschach), then gradually work on accenting them and bringing them out. It ends up like this:

 Or like this:

This one is "Make A Choice". It was kicked off Pinterest and banned from Facebook ads for being inappropriate. I'm not sure if it's because of the man with his hand resting on his fist, or because they think the face on the left looks like a breast. I like to think that's the reason, so I can refer to it as "The Nose Boob" painting. I really enjoy painting all of these. Some don't turn out well (good?) and I never show anyone. All fun to paint though.
   Many of the questions asked about inspiration and the creative spark. I once read something to the effect of "an artist sets out to create when the pain of creating is overcome by the pain of not creating". I think that sums it up, at least for me. I do work a habit of painting, at least a bit, and drawing, at least a Zen doodle, every day. I draw Those Guys every day that I work. I find it helps me creatively and emotionally. I like to keep my art supplies at the ready for when the spark strikes. My friend Dan Shandy once told me (about learning to play guitar) "If you keep it out of the case and ready to play, you'll be more likely to play when you get inspired." I've found that applies to a lot of different things in life, for me it's drawing and painting. I'm not sure I could point out anything specific that inspires me. It's usually something visual, although good music really gets me going. I'm not sure if that even came close to answering any of those questions. Sorry. Here's a painting:

   "What's more inspirational for artists, the heavy or the light, the positive or the negative, the good or the bad?" Wow, that's a good one. Both ends of the spectrum are very inspiring. Maybe it's just the whole "out of my comfort zone" thing, but highs and lows get me creating. I'm inclined to say the highs are better in the long run, simply because when I'm down, being creative gets rid of the bad mojo, which lessens the misery. When I'm riding high the creation of new works keeps me riding that wave for a longer time. My thoughts that are the positives produce more good works, but the negatives can produce some great works, just fewer of them at a time. Here's some examples:

This one is called "Lizards". I was unemployed and living in Cleveland. I got a letter in the mail saying I had been approved for a credit card and it included a check for $3,500 dollars I could deposit in my bank account. Free money! I know what you're thinking, but we artists are seat of the pants fliers, devil may care rapscallions who never worry about tomorrow. Besides, who gives that much money to someone who's unemployed? I laughed heartily and grabbed my brushes and a canvas. When I laid this one out it started as dollar signs ($$) that morphed in to the reptilian creatures you see before you. Now, the other end of the scale:

I had been dating a you lady for over two years. I was informed one day that my services were no longer required. Ouch. Wow. That hurt. Even though I was really more musician than artist at that time in my life, I had a flash of inspiration. I grabbed brushes and canvas (see now why I like to keep them handy?) and knocked this out. Just like I pictured it in my mind. That was in my geometric period. While I was in college. I took an acrylic painting class. the instructor (Lane Fabrick, the man who inspired my love of color and my mastery of color mixing). He told us that our grade would be based on our production. 4 paintings=D, 5 paintings=C, 6=D, of course 7 would bring you a big fat A. I ran with a series based on a project from my Color & Composition  class. Geometric pyramid shapes with shading based on the colors moving around the color wheel, rather than harsh black shadows (you know, like I earn my bread and butter with now). Long story short, I painted 23 paintings for that class. My niece took that same class almost twenty years later and told me that a picture of one of those paintings was included in the opening day slide show, along with the story of the most prolific artist to ever grace the campus of Southeast Missouri State.* Here's one of my geo paintings:

I told you that to tell you this. I premixed my paints for these. Plenty of every color and every shade necessary, stored in 35mm film canisters. I had a template for the pyramids ( this is from later in the series, when it was more cube than pyramid). I could knock out two paintings a day easy. ( I was working strictly 36"x24" at the time). So, the semester ends. I get my A and ever lasting glory. After the breakup I mentioned earlier, I needed art therapy. I had a big canvas I was given (ironically, by the woman who dumped me), probably five feet by six feet or so. I sat in my basement studio, music on, feeling unwanted, working through the pain. I put the canvas up against the wall, sat on a footstool in front of it, and took each film canister and dipped a brush in it and applied it to various parts of the canvas. I probably had at least a couple dozen shades of paint. (some day in the future, someone will sit down in front of that painting and calculate the number of different colors, likely in pursuit of some crazy, egghead art degree). It took days. Hours at a time. Open, dip, spread, dip, spread, repeat until empty. It made me feel worlds better. It also gave me this masterpiece that hangs over my bed.:

The picture doesn't do it justice. I've had that for over thirty five years and haven't taken a good picture of it. What's wrong with me?
  So, that's what I got this week. I'll be back. Tell me what you wanna know.

*So, it was also at this time I was taking a Drawing I class from Bill Chamberlain. He was a huge influence on me. Always pushing me to go darker in my drawings. We had a project where he would take a picture of a student, print it at about 12"x8", cut it in to smaller squares, which he passed out to the class. We each did a drawing of what was on our square on a big sheet of paper, likely 36"x24", or what ever the nearest sketch pad size is. I was chosen to be the student who had his picture taken. When we all brought in our drawings Mr. Chamberlain took them out to the hallway and assembled them on the wall. BAM!! A picture of my face, eight feet tall. For the next few months people would stop me on campus and ask "Aren't you the face on the art room wall?" *huge, million dollar smile* "Why, yes I am". But, do you think Donnie Dumbass kept those drawings. Nope. It never occurred to me. I regret that. A lot. A portrait to match the size of my ego. Damn.

If I made you laugh, feel free to kick me a five spot:

More Thoughts On Inspiration

   I'm back with more back stories on paintings. I'm still trying to explain what inspires me to paint. Sometimes I get inspired by a subject and it requires a certain medium. Some subjects can be acrylics. Some cry out to be painted in watercolors. Or drawn in pastel. Or ink. Could be anything really. Here's a painting I did to illustrate my first graphic novel "Epitaph":

  I used watercolors because they were quicker and easier. I did over a hundred paintings to finish that one. Watercolors gave me the atmospheric quality I was wanting. I wanted my novel to have the same feel as the movie Seven. Here's another:

  I sketched these, painted them, then did the detail work in ink. I'm sure there are digital artists that could do the same thing quicker, but I wasn't looking to do it fast. I had the germ of the idea for this novel for almost twenty years. It would have been a major undertaking when the idea came to me. When I moved home to care for my mother in 2001 I bought my first computer. After a few months of figuring it out I realized I could do all the writing, editing, layout, everything I needed to do (except for the artwork, that was never the issue) on my computer. I sat down to write it and the story came flowing out. I set a goal to do two pages a day. Writing, laying out, putting in reference photos to place hold for the artwork. Every time a sat down I would wonder where the story would lead. I had the basic germ of an idea 'what would happen if a vampire got AIDS?" and it went from there. I was very happy with the result. I want to animate the story some day. Hopefully soon.
  Other times I use watercolors to achieve a blending that comes easier, for me at least, in this temperamental medium. Like this:

  Or these:

  Back in the day, not long after my best friend Ian McBride died, I was in a horrible funk. I finally decided to sit down each night after work and draw. I decided to draw a cloth. I'd pick it up, drop it on a table and then draw it. Ink wouldn't do it for me. Graphite just doesn't grab me for these. Pastel was the way to go. Blending, colors, tinted paper. It really helped me through:

 

 
  Ink drawing is a whole 'nother ball game. It's black and white (unless it's colored ink, but you know what I mean), shading done with crosshatching, or scribbling. It's quick though. You can draw with a fancy pen, or a cheap ballpoint. I keep a sketchbook and a pen in my car, so I can draw every day before work. I did quick sketches, mostly faces (duh, who saw that coming?). I simplified the faces, seeing how much emotion I could capture with only a few lines. This led to me drawing faces with only three lines inside an oval (well, an ovalish thing), one for the eyes, one for the nose, one for the mouth. I posted a few of these drawings and for some reason they struck a chord with my fans. I called them "Those Guys":

Then a few other lines, just to keep me entertained (you knew this was all about me, didn't you?):

Here's how they look in my home sketchbook:

  Why the difference? I'm not sure. Maybe it's because they're not really "Those Guys" at home. They're just the guys in my sketchbook. I also do a drawing every night before I go to bed. I was influenced by the zentangle craze. Much like every thing else I do, it started with ordinary zen stuff, then I explored and pushed the boundaries:

 You can see more of these Zen drawings and Those Guys as well, on my Facebook fan page link.
  I'm gonna wrap this up now, but there is one more thing i want to share. After my friend Ian died, I had a vision. A vision of the journey to the other side. Say what you want, I know what I saw, I know what was happening. I didn't want to forget and I wanted to share it with others, so I painted it:

   That's more of where my ideas come from. I'll be back with more behind-the-curtain insider info. Hopefully next week.

They Said What?

  My last post attempted to describe where artist's ideas come from. I can only speak for myself, and I tried my best to describe the circus of lunacy that goes on in my head, but I feel like I didn't even scratch the surface. I had originally intended to make this part two, but another, hopefully better, idea came to me. I'm not a pretentious person, or a pompous artist, and I try to make my art accessible to everyone. Interpret it how you will. Hopefully it makes you think. Hopefully it makes your day a bit better. Sometimes, whoa, I get crazy responses to my art.
   My most misunderstood piece (if a fricking profile picture can be misunderstood, I mean some times I hear things and I think, okay, I can see that, but these are just way beyond the lunacy of my brain) is this one:

It's working title is "Kurt Cobain, The Thinker" because the face kinda reminded me of him and I had hope to come up with something earth shattering to replace this horrible working title. It's been almost twenty years, so any day now I expect it will come to me. Anyway, I've exhibited this one quite a few times. No worries. except for that first exhibition it was in. In Tremont, Ohio. They had (have?) art exhibited in all the neighborhood bars and restaurants. I was the king of Tremont for a while. I once had four exhibits in one month. I still had quite a few paintings left in my apartment. The exhibition in question was at the Arts & Cultural Festival. My pensive thinker took his place on my table. It was my first exhibition of these kinds of paintings, so it was really cool for me to see how the public reacted to my work. A lady walked up to me, eyed all my paintings, taking in the splendor, then walked over  in front of this one.
Lady:" Did you paint this?"
Me: "Yes, I did."
L:" It's good, I'm not just a fan of Bobby Kennedy"
Then she walked off. I laughed about that for a few minutes. I shared the story with my manager Shannon McGuire and we both laughed. Only minutes later we were approached by another potential art fan. He studied this one, gloriously lit by the Ohio sun. He scrunched his face up and asked me the question of all questions:
"Is that Bob Marley?"
My mind when completely blank. Fortunately my auto pilot took over.
"If you wanna buy it, you can say it's whoever you want it to be."
He seemed genuinely mystified by my answer. I lost several IQ points.

This next one elicited a response that took me hours to understand, days to wrap my head around it, and I'm still not over being pissed off about it. Here it is:

  It's called "The Sword" it's one of my favorite abstracts. It took a long time for it to tell me what it should look like. I tinkered and studied and sweated over this one. I made it work, and I'm mighty proud of it. I had just moved back to Cape Girardeau, Missouri to take care of my mom. I wasted no time checking in at the art's council, meeting the local business owners, finding places to hang my work.I got a call from the owners of an upscale restaurant. Fancy white table cloths, a different fork for everything, bottles of wine that cost more than I make in a week. The kind of place that doesn't let guys like me eat there (although to be honest, the owners and staff treated me well, it's just, you know, I prefer to eat somewhere I can draw on the place mats). I picked fifteen or so paintings to hang. My creme de la creme at that time. I'm no fool, despite what you may have heard. I'm gonna put my best artistic foot forward every time. After two or three days I get a call from the owner. Apologetic and uncomfortable all at once. Like the doctor talking to you right before the prostate exam.
Owner: " Hey, Doug, we need you to come switch out one of your paintings"
Me " What? Sure, okay. I'll be there in twenty minutes"
Owner:' Thank you. It's just we've had some complaints"
   I'm driving down there with a replacement painting, trying to think of which painting could possibly be so offensive it needed to be removed. I park. Go up the stairs, painting in had, and ask for the owner.
Me: " I got here as quickly as I could. Which painting do I need to take down?"
Owner:" This one" moving arm to this painting. My baby. The Sword.
Me: "Um, so, uh, what's the matter with it?" I really have no idea
Owner: " Well, some people were complaining about the Klan people in it"
Me: " The what?"
Owner: "The Klan people. Right there" pointing to the yellow beings with the red eyes. The ones I've always referred to as The Jawas. It's not what they are, just what they reminded me of. I left with my painting, unable to process any of what had transpired. The longer I thought about it, the more it pissed me off. The only way (IMHO) you're gonna see a klansman in this is if those idiots are riding around in your brain, I term I use loosely.

 Here's another. An abstract. Maybe there's a pattern here. I freaking love this painting:

"Make A Choice" It's a guy with his head propped on his hand,
 a long haired blond person from profile behind him. Over his other shoulder is the side view of a face. A stern visage if ever there was one. The other edge of the painting has a white shape. A wing. An angel's wing. Interpret how you'd like, but that's what it is. Exactly what it is. I painted it. I know. So, I'm pushing art though my Shopify store. I was running little five and ten dollar ads to promote it. I wasn't spending much, but I was getting good results. I submitted an ad with this as the picture. The next day a message informs me that the ad is rejected. The reason: nudity. I ask for a clarification and was told it was the naked breast in the middle that was the problem. I assume they're referring to the stern guy's nose. Later that same day I'm told this picture has been removed from Pinterest, For the same reason. Nasal nudity. Facebook never asked me to take the picture down. I just couldn't pay people to look at it. I guess. Pretty much the opposite of how porn works.

Thank you All For Stopping By

     Alright, new blog, new post, old idea I've had a for a long time. "I'll start a blog, I'll explain all the art things that most people don't get. It'll be huge!" I think I first said that about seven years ago. Why now? Eh, who knows? I figured I'd take some time to do this first one and maybe I can ride the momentum like a giant wave. Or, maybe it will drown me. Well, like I always say, what doesn't kill me pisses me off. I did a couple posts on Facebook, asking what people would like to know about art/artists. I was expecting people to want to know the difference between one and two point perspective, or what informal balance is. Instead, almost everyone wanted to know where I get my ideas. Wow! I might was well try to explain quantum physics in Russian. (Although, remind me and I'll tell you about the quantum color wheel I came up with). So, here goes:

   I get lots of ideas. Some fully formed, some need to gestate a while until they develop. Some, well some just never develop. They mull around in my brain (which can't possibly be like a normal human's ) until they just fade away. Some seemingly disappear and then reappear, sometimes years later, ready to jump onto canvas (or paper, or whatever).
  Here's a painting I did, probably in the late '80s,:

I had a spark of an idea from a guy in my painting class. Tape off sections on my canvas and then use different colors, textures and/or techniques in each section. I realized if I painted the canvas black before I taped it up the borders would be black when I removed the tape. I probably did six or seven of these, tinkering with different styles and colors. Then, I moved on.
    Here's a more recent one, probably three years ago:

"An Odd Perspective". I was sitting at my easel and wondered if I could abstract geometric shapes and make them look three dimensional. It was fun to paint. I've never done anything like this before, I was just wondering down that path, seeing where it took me. I did a few more of these, some with faces in them. Just because i wondered what it would look like. Here's one:

"Everyone Has A Prison". Fun, challenging, and when I finished it I thought "I need new challenges" and haven't done anything with this style since.
  
    I have painted a lot of paintings in this style:

"First Painting" I got the idea for these from a picture my friend Buffie took of my friend Ian shortly before he died. He told her he wanted a picture of his face with the shadows fading into the dark background. She gave me a copy of that picture that i looked at for almost four years before it germinated into a painting style that has made me world famous. This is the first one I did. Also the first one I sold. I laid the paint on thick and blended it with a sea sponge (that I refer to as The One True Sponge). I tried different colors, different facial expressions. Then I started thinning my paint and layering it in semi-transparent layers. Instead of mixing the colors I let them blend optically on the canvas. I did a couple paintings to see if I could blend skin colors with only a blue, a red, and a yellow. I can't remember which one was the second painting, but the first painting was this masterpiece:

"Karen" Many consider this my masterpiece from this period. I think this one is:

"The Eyes Of Age". Who needs colors when you can master black and white like this? I remember thinking "I'll never paint anything better than this" when it was finished. It was around three weeks until I painted anything else. Can't remember what it was. My records from that era are packed away somewhere. I started challenging myself. Instead of the black being the background, how about if it was the middle ground:

"The Light Of Day" Hmmm, okay, what if I made the black the foreground color? Could I do that? Uh, yeah:

"Brave New World". I did lots of commission work during this phase. Some that I enjoyed more than others. Some I did from pictures that did nothing to inspire me. The work is good, but I can tell it's missing some soul. I also experimented with dripping and pouring paint, like in this self portrait:

"Love Me, I Do" I certainly do. I'm not sure this explains where I get my ideas, but it gives you an example of how I can take an idea and twist it a hundred ways before I'm finished with it.
   So, where do my ideas come from? Some from pictures I see, that could become a jumping off point for a painting (or several), some come from words or phrases I hear. I keep a notebook to write these down, lest I forget them. I have several hundred waiting to take their place at the business end of a brush ( or pencil, or pastel stick, pen, really could be anything). Sometimes a mood strikes me and I just paint on canvas, watching and waiting for it to tell me what the next step is. I look at the shapes and colors and it tells me what the next step is. Like this:

"What Dreams May Come" Sometimes I paint all crazy and abstracty (it is TOO a word!) then find a reference pose that fits it, like this:

"Far Away Eyes" One of my favorites, which came from this artistic turd:

I've done paintings to see what the minimum amount of information I could put it and still have people see what it is:

"G Rated Nude" Most of my good paintings come from challenges I set for myself, like "what if I painted with just my fingers?" :

"The Red Wrap" Yep. A finger painting. I'm not sure if I've explained where my ideas come from. I've tried (there is no try, only do or not do) and maybe got sidetracked, but I've explained where a lot of my paintings came from. I guess I get ideas all the time. I'm not sure if it happens to other people. I can only speak for my own manic mind. I just know sometimes I'm driven to paint and some times crap flows from my brush (In my defense, I can usually pull something cool from the crap. Maybe it's the fertilizer that grows a great piece of art. (Wow, did that sound stupid to you? I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.) Anyway, this is the first installment. Let me know if you have questions and I'll get you some answers.

You know, if you wanna kick me a few buck, you know, for the cause, you can do that here:

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