Every morning I do six sketches before I check email. Makes for a nice little reward when I'm done. This morning I noodled two things: highway heatwaves on two ridges and mug shots of Route 66 Killers.
Went home for lunch and took off my clothes, thus achieving the Real Naked Lunch, and took a stab at the double heatwave phenom:
Daily Whipout, "When Heatwaves Dance"
Still not there, but I'm beginning to learn the secrets behind the highway mirage and the rippling horizon. Meanwhile, finished Salvador Dali's book "Fifty Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship." Thanks again Wolfgang for the great read and inspiring text. The Cliff Notes version of the book is:
• Drool
• Don't have a cat or a dog, instead have a spider as a pet
• To facilitate smooth blends, use a fan brush and keep fanning until the paint is completely dry
• Give yourself work assignments when you nap (your subconscious is very powerful and often solves the problems while you sleep!).
• Know when to stop, but great paintings are painted in six days.
• Do not screw around during a painting, literally. Do not have carnal relations until it's done.
• Have an affair with Gala because she loves painting (and Painting loves Gala). Transfer this effort to your married partner, whenever possible because Gala, Dali's muse, has been dead for a long time.
• Wear long mustaches because the ends of your mustache attract good vibes and the painting muse.
• Draw images upside down (turn a photo upside down and draw it that way, what you see, not what you THINK you see). Use a mirror to spot mistakes. It IS amazing. You can look at something for days and when you hold a mirror up to it, the mistake(s) become instantly recognizable.
• Draw and paint naked (see above and below).
• Naples yellow is a trade secret
• Trick wasps into flying into your painting medium and sticking around until they are dead. Then trick another one. And another until you have painted a Killer Bee Painting.
• When you work out perspective issues there is a "golden section" of the equation that seduces the human eye every time.
• Work on curves and logarithmic spirals until they sing.
• Channel an angel to guide your hand.
Oh, and yes, I have now completed a handful of drawings and paintings done in the nude and yes, one of them is "The Pensive 66 Kid." Not really a surprise because I was on high alert and perhaps even pushed it farther than normal because I knew it would be viewed as such. However, as forced as that sounds, it did allow me to use a pen on top of wash and then more wash. This is something I did way back in my art student days at the University of Arizona (1965-69). We did this every single day, but then I got out of school and moved away from it. This was worth reading the entire book just on this one point. Rediscovering a powerful combination.
And here's more naked lunch:
Notice how the young lady, at left, seems to be saying, "Pa-leeze put something over that thing down there."
"Nine times out of ten, the grittier the narrative, the more engaged the public is."
—Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, drummer for The Roots
