"A Gift From God?"

There have been a lot of times when someone would see me drawing and told me, "Y'know, that talent for drawing is a gift from God."

Well, not quite... and here's why... and I know some of you may be thinking that because I'm an Atheist, that I may be just trying to contradict a person of faith, but I'm not.

My Mom used to be a very talented painter growing up, but sacrificed that talent for the sake of raising my sister and me. My Father is also an artist; having done very good illustrations of 40's, 50's and 60's-era Fords and Chevy's that he likes. Unfortunately, he sacrificed that talent to be a Marine for 20 years... I'm not sure if he still draws, but I guess that I'll ask him when I talk to him this weekend and make an update to this posting next week.

What I'm trying to say is: The key here is Genetics; I'm artistically inclined by my genetic link to two parents that were also inclined to be creative.

As most kids do, at the age of three, I started drawing. Of course, those were inept, kiddy-drawings, but as I got older I did what many of us don't: I kept drawing. I'm sure that most of us have a Mom or Dad that kept some of our drawings and Macaroni-Noodle Necklaces that we did as kids, and my Mom and Dad are no different. But there was something in me that forced me to continue to draw; maybe it was because I'm an Introverted Loner, maybe it was because I was simply a shy kid who found it awkward to voice his opinions, but the main thing is that I kept drawing.

I like to tell people that if you can draw a Straight Line, Circle, Triangle and Square, they can be just as good as me, all they have to do is decide to put the effort in on a regular basis. The problem is that most people don't want to invest the time and effort into doing this kind of stuff, because the "Responsible" part of their minds keep constantly yelling, "Hey! What the hell are you doin'?! You aren't gonna make money doin' this shit, so why do you do it?!"

I have that same voice in my head, and it sounds strangely like Gilbert Gottfried... and the voice also tells me to kill hookers, but that's beside the point, now isn't it?

Here's an example of what I mean (and keep in mind that I'm not a big fan of the Middle Finger, but it works as an example):


This drawing (inspired by a photo by Audrey_Marie @ DeviantArt.com, and frankly this drawing doesn't do her justice) is nothing more than a series of Straight and Curved Lines, Triangles, Circles and Squares. I'd show you what I mean further, but apparently the photo upload tool has taken a shit... sorry.

For once, my personal laziness isn't the cause for something not getting done... what else do you expect from a free service?

I did this drawing in about 40 minutes, Ink included. It would look better if I didn't have to work with fine-tip and fat-tip Sharpie markers, a crappy black ink office pen and an old automatic pencil, but what can you do? It's spontaneous, so you've gotta improvise... you know, like that dude on SG-1's old character from that show in the 80's.

There are people that are creative, and there are people who aren't, and I happen to be one of those people that's creative. Some people think that being creative would be fun, but I find that my mind does more than it should, and I have trouble shutting it off in order to get a decent night's rest. Not in an ADHD kind of way that is, most of the time it's a benefit, but it would be nice if I could turn it down once and a while.

Also, there are sometimes expectations that if you're an artist, that you sell yourself out in order to do Commercial art, such as Animation or Commercial Design. Personally, I find that I hate doing other people's ideas, even if they pay me well, because it isn't inspiring enough for me. It's kind of like the way that I can't stand other bands doing established cover songs... I know that it sells, but for Christ's sake, if you can't be successful doing your own material, you probably lack the talent to be a big hit. Art is the same way; trying to do something that has probably been done in a way that's an original statement (or expression) of who you are as a person.

So, I'm a "Broke Artist", but at least I get to do what I like, when I like, and I don't answer to anyone... sure, a regular check would be nice, but I'd rather be satisfied with what I do...

... and I am.

Mostly.

If you guys would like me to post more art, I'd be happy to. Also, as with my written material, I'll take requests.

Have a great week, everyone.

"Todd Says What's On His Mind?"

I posted this today at Yahoo! in a "Discussion" (Read: One-Sided Debates that Neo-Conservatives Monopolize) Boards. I figured that since I haven't posted anything in a little while, it would only be fair.

Here's the link to the article if you're curious.

Okay...
by: demonsmile_2000
09/19/06 02:50 pm
Msg: 208 of 208

"I decided to read this article this morning and then read the "Discuss" area second, as I normally do, to see what everyone else thought.As usual, it was a lot of Xenophobic ("Neo-Con is just a word used by the Jews" for example) and paranoid-delusional bullshit from a bunch of guys (I'm assuming they're guys, of course) dog-piling on a lone "Liberal" who thinks that John McCain is on the right track on trying to make torture (the key word here) harder to get away with.

After about fifteen or so responses -all of which sounded the same- I decided to skip to the most recent postings of the 150 or so that existed.

I'm a Veteran, and I find that the people that are getting so pissed about Torture being specified as specific acts ("Stress Positions", "Waterboarding", etc), and then clarifying that those acts are illegal by our having signed on to the Geneva Conventions all those years ago have rarely, if ever, served in the U.S. military. The Geneva Convention isn't mentioned in the Constitution for obvious reasons (since it didn't exist at the time), but since the United States signed the International Treaty, we are held liable to follow the rules and regulations of that treaty as if they were our law.

Now, if everyone wants us not to be held accountable under the Geneva Conventions, and allow our Soldiers, Agents or Special Operators to torture people regardless of our international standing, than move to a country that does, since this country is supposed to have principles and morals that it adheres to, and the last time I checked, torture and open-ended imprisonment of foreigners suspected of an act that they have yet to be proven of doing or tried on isn't part of what makes this country so great.

I'm a Liberal, yes, and I don't give a shit if anyone knows it, but I'm smart enough to know what a "Pussy" is, and what a "Rational Thinker" is. A coward hides for no reason other than fear; but to weather a never-ending tide of B.S. being slung by the most ignorant and easily-influenced of us and standing up for what's right isn't cowardice.

In the case of John McCain, I would think that taking advice on whether torturing someone is an efficient way of getting information from someone who's already experienced it first hand is common sense, but then again, that's just me. Being that all the Vietnamese got out of McCain (after 5 years of torture) was the names of the Offensive Line of the Green Bay Packers, I would say it's pretty obvious that it's not."

Let me know if anyone shares an opinion with me on this... hell, if you don't, let me know too!