Drawing 1: Track 1

6 hours and 11 beers later:
Clumsy fuckin hand; that’s all I could say while doing this drawing
I realized while I was doing this that it was the first time in months, almost a year that I had done any painting or drawing aside from my sketchbook and a few dancing penises (www.johnnyartfaig.com). And damn am I rusty. I felt like I had no idea what the fuck I was doing, my hand in eye just wouldn’t work together, sore shoulder, my eye looking but not seeing. Flopping around the paper I couldn’t get a grasp on the form, which is what goes on the early drawing stage. Using a network of lines which move across the surface of what I’m looking at, I essentially get to know the form, feeling out the composition, moving stuff around, until the drawing emerges out of this search. A little communication is all it takes, like any healthy relationship. And this one drove me to drink.
This is step one in the drawing process. When I’m on my game things evolve gradually out of this mess of lines. My rustiness frustrates the shit out of me, even though I should have expected it. Although there is that part of me that thinks I should just be able to pick up a pencil after a year I guess it’s like anything you go a while without doing, except riding a bike. Anthony Kiedis in his book Scar Tissue talks about picking up girls in the early days of the Chili Peppers, how he would get in a groove when he did it regularly, but when he took some time off it was a lot harder. The amazing thing is he meant taking a DAY off, which is pretty incredible/ridiculous. Of course he was a lead singer in a band, and to be fair, they weren’t real girls, they were groupies.


“I’m so in love yes with an artist
Imagination, he’s the smartest
Robert Williams stroke and splatter
I attest to your gray matter
Living kings how true it rings
These are just a few of my favorite things”
-Kiedis