Mystery Artifact

I don't like the assumption that some people can draw and others can't. Anyone who can hold a pencil or a pen, or in some way create some sort of mark-making, can draw, just as anyone who can think can write. We are all artists and writers in that sense.

Witness the doodle or the tweet. Both of these are means of communicating in our culture, though the first is usually done in a semi-aware and private manner and the latter is designed to be a shout out to others. What they have in common is that they are both organic. They both indicate immediate process and execution and are windows into the doodler or tweeter's sensibilities. "Artists" are lauded for such behavior because of their specialness.

I found this doodle the other day and think it is worth sharing. Withhold judgment re: style or context, and it gains power as a mystery artifact:

Third Generation Pop Artist

I don't like hairy men, terrorists, scatological humor or the devil, but I LOVE the drawings of  William James Barminski:

11" X 17" colored pencil drawings mounted on wood, 2006

Herbert Baglione on the Emptiness of Chaos

I Heart Snow

In respect of snow, and to wish well those affected by "Snowmaggedon" this week, here is what it looks like in Inyo County, looking west:

Gouache on paper, 3.5 X 5 inches

Line, Pt. 8

A storm system moved in to the Eastern Sierras today. By the time I was walking the dog this afternoon along the canal, the clouds were a dense purple and grey edged in silver, and the mountains behind them were thick and white with a vein of gold. Barren trees and brush receded from red to grey, until they became ghostly thickets of smoke. Where had I seen this before? I kept wondering. Then I remembered.

These are large drawings by Anthony Goicolea, in which he uses semi-opaque mylar overlays to soften and obscure his otherwise strident mark-making. I think I know now how he came upon this imagery.

Dessa Digression

If there is a hip-hop equivalent to the street artist Swoon, it is Dessa. She just released the amazing CD "A Badly Broken Code," and is being made a momentary big deal of because she is a white female who raps. White females do a lot of shit, brother.

I like this recent tweet of hers almost as much as I like her lyricising:

"The fan in my laptop turned on and I earnestly believed the noise was coming from my head. Now somewhat alarmed by my lack of concern."

Line, Pt. 7

Actual cat (left)
Line sketch of cat (above)

This is accomplished by ignoring the plaintive looks from the cat and focusing instead on its contours.