I'm Busy... Lay Off...

Look, there's about a million more important things I want to write about, but I'm just too damned busy (I'm working from home lately - which you'd think would make it easier to constantly futz around... but I'm busier than ever)... and I don't like writing about stuff without putting a drawing with it but I just don't have time to whip up something special. So, in the interest of killing time and blog-space, I'm just putting up another watercolor. I never intended for this blog to be a 'showcase' for my work, but it's a great thing to fall back on.

I figured since the moose painting caused such a massive controversy, surely this Yak will shake the very foundations of the internet and spark a violent revolution.

Anyone who wants to hear me talk about all the things I hate about my so-called 'artistic abilities' need only ask and I'm prone to go on and on about how amaturish I am. That's no secret. But people who kvetch too much about their shortcomings oftentimes wind up just sounding like they want sympathy or praise - and I don't need (or want) either.

All I can say about my watercolors is that they were fun to make.

All I can say about my 'style' in general is that - for all of its flaws - it's mine.

It's nothing so special that it's going to change the world... and, sure, I have influences... everyone does... I'm as guilty as anyone of copying (note the similarity between my Yak and the ones from the 'Kilted Yaksmen' episode of 'Ren and Stimpy')... but if I suck, one of the reasons I suck is because my influences are so varied. Maybe I should have been one of those guys to just endlessly copy artwork from 40's Jazz ablum covers... maybe I should have just endlessly copied the anime style... maybe I should have cone to CalArts... I love all of those styles, and I'd probably be more successful if I'd just picked one and stuck to it. But, hey, here we are with my quick-n-dirty watercolors... and I like 'em.

Those who really know me are aware that I'm wide open to advice, critiques, etc. And those who want to use this as an excuse to tell me how much I suck are an endless source of amusement as well - so all comments are welcome!

So - here's a Yak. Enjoy it or enjoy hating it.

WE LIVE IN HELL: Why do the demons dress like idiots?

Leigh informs me that it's been a long time since I posted. She is, of course, correct... it's been a while. Last time I posted I was in Canada. I'm back now - only to realize that I LIVE IN FRIGGING HELL!
I don't mean that the city of L.A. itself is 'evil' (not necessarily, anyway... that's another post altogether)... I mean that it is RIDICULOUSLY HOT HERE!!!
Yesterday it was over 105 degrees... today it was 101 and you know what? I actually FELT the difference... I was 'relieved' by the 'cooler' 101 temperature! When you're relieved that it's 'only 101 degrees', that's when you know you live in HELL!
It's been so hot I've been too lazy to scan or post any drawings - so all of you folks who come here just to rag on how shitty my art is (bless your hearts), I'm sorry... I'll put up something another time. It's just too hot to scan.
I've got the central air conditioning (proof that technology is the gift of a benevolent creator) cranked as high as it will go (the shock may kill Leigh when she comes home tonight, but Otto and I need our comfort) and I'm still sweating.
At the risk of getting too graphic, I'm sweating the most in some rather unwholesome places. I had to go to the bank today, and that meant walking across a parking lot where there was no shade... this trek alone caused me to end up looking like a man who'd pissed himself. I'm sorry for being so blunt, but there it is - it was that hot (moments like this serve to remind me that I am an unfortunately constructed human... my so-called physical structure may be entirely appropriate for some other planet's environment, but not this one's... this is, of course, why I wear black all the time: to hide the fact that I am, in all likelihood, not of this Earth).
But I digress... (man I love saying that)
So - speaking of the way people dress and how much everyone sucks - I'm walking down the street trying to get home as rapidly as possible (while still using as little of my own energy as possible) when I spot some douchebag dressed from head to toe in LEATHER BIKER GEAR! I SHIT YOU NOT!
Now, I can hear you saying "John, you suck"... and you're right... but those of you with more intelligent things to say are saying, "But John... what if he IS a biker... they NEED leather gear to protect them!" That would be an extremely legitimate argument if it weren't for one tiny fact: HE WAS WAITING AT THE BUS STOP!
Now, in spite of what you may think of me by now, I'm a very 'live and let live' kinda guy... you can dress however you want... oh, sure, I'll make fun of you (I'm looking in YOUR direction, hiphop gangstas!) but ultimately I don't care how anyone else dresses... but when you're decked out from toes to top in all leather biker gear when it's a quadrillion degrees in the shade (two quadrillion in the sun) and you're getting on a bus, that means to me that you are going to be filling up that bus (already an unpleasant place) with the sum whole of your body odors. It's just not right. I hate how I look in shorts too, but on days like today, ya just gotta bite that bullet and dress for the weather.
(by the way, this is as good a time as any to tell the kids who wear stocking caps and thick coats on days like today how stupid they look as well... hey... you kids... you look really stupid. There... I said it and I'm glad)
Anyway, now that I've rambled for what seems like an eternity, I'm faced with the fact that I just spent an entire blog post commenting on the weather... it's a blog-version of 'small-talk'. Oh well. It's all you get. Deal with it.
I guess my point is: it's really hot.