A FEW PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE 50S

I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know who took these pictures. Anybody here know? They're all serious, seemingly 0ff-the cuff pictures of literary people from the 50s. Maybe the John Houston picture above was taken a little earlier, I'm not sure. Click to enlarge.

It's funny that the intellectuals of that era preferred raggedy, hazy, snapshot-type pictures like this one (above) of Sartre . My guess is that a formal picture, taken with a view camera and lights, was considered bourgeois. I think it still is some circles. I like both kinds myself.

Here's a picture of Edith Piaff who's one of my favorite singers. She has a tragic face which is appropriate for someone who sings so often about love gone awry.

But love gone awry or no, intellectuals were expected to have tragic faces. My guess is that they wanted to convey how difficult it was to live in a society dominated by the man. The fact that they lived in a liberal democracy with universal education and a standard of living unmatched in history made no difference. Their job was to convey great suffering and inner anguish.

This (above) is Becket, a playwright that I find unreadable. I forgive him though because his face is a gift to caricaturists everywhere.

LOOKING AT ARTIST/MODEL PAINTINGS

I've always liked artist and model pictures. When they're done right they're strangely soothing and appealing and...classic, for lack of a better word. Even when they contain major perspective flaws like this one (above), where the painter seems to be a dwarf and the model a giant, they're still fun to look at. Maybe artists like them because they remind us of hours of pleasant concentration.

I used to think the main selling point was the sex, where a beautiful girl lets you paint her for hours on end. There's something interesting about turning sex into art. But that can't be all. Look at the photo above. It's got a naked girl, an artist and a faux Vermeer setting...and it doesn't work on any level. What's missing?

You can make a great picture (above) even when the model has her clothes on, but naked is better. Nudity is always a profound and shocking revelation.

Artist/model pictures seem to work best in soupy colors like yellow, brown, olive green, black,and white (above), or in warm grays and browns like the draped model picture above that. I wonder why that is? Somehow the 19th century managed to put a lock on this kind of subject matter.

By the way, I think this figure with its back turned to us (above) is a guy.

Here's another perspective problem (above) where giant men appear to be painting a tiny woman. Once again we forgive the flaw. The picture is terrific but, just to nitpick, the bold treatment of the men in the foreground seems to undermine the serenity you're supposed to feel in a classic artist/model picture. You're not supposed to be admiring the detail.

This picture (above) isn't by Eakins but it reminds me of his stark, anatomical style. This is a wonderful picture but once again, the boldness undermines the tranquility you're supposed to see in studies of this kind.

In my opinion, artist/model pictures always seem to work best when they feel like a study, something the artist dashed off in two or three days. Maybe that's because quick studies are good at capturing the immediacy and starkness of the naked skin.

This picture (above) is off-topic since there's no artist in it, but I include it anyway. It's an interesting idea to have a woman pose in a tight skirt, bathed in subdued, white light.

HALLOWEEN'S 6 WEEKS AWAY!

Today I'm going to pay a visit to the Halloween stores in my neighborhood. I can't wait! For me Halloween is the time of year when the rest of the country agrees with me about what's important. I see it as a time to stock up on things I'll need the rest of the year.

Mostly I like funny masks but I also like the kid art that people put up in their windows. Here's a sample above. Come to think of it, maybe these were done by adults trying to pass as kids.

This one (above) isn't too bad.

More kid stuff (above). Grade school teachers are great at setting off kid art to the best advantage. Individually these masks aren't special at all but together against black they look great. The gray stripe along the bottom is a touch of genius. Put your thumb over the gray and you'll see that the picture suffers without it. Where do teachers learn how to do that?

Old Halloween cards are the best.

More genius kids stuff (above). How do they think of things like this?

An Indonesian mask? I'm not sure. It sure looks great, though!

South Sea island-type masks done by kids...beautiful stuff!

MY DINNER WITH ANDRE (JOHN K) PART#3

We met at noon at the local Italian restaurant. John ordered Chicken Calizonne, which was good, but didn't have a bit of chicken in it. Boy, John doesn't have much luck with restaurants! Anyway, the conversation commenced.

We got to talking about the 70s when even white people wore afros. It was the age of Superfly!

Black guys' apartments of that era were always, with almost no exception, decorated with black leather and chrome. They're not like that now, but in those days it was mandatory.

All the rooms were like that, and they were spotless. You could eat off the floor! No clutter like in my house. Nothing but furniture and walls and vast amounts of empty space.

Invariably the pictures on the walls were cloth prints, framed with chrome, The subject was always the same: naked black women with huge afros. I guess if you didn't have these you were shunned by other blacks.

We marveled at how many Superfly accessories you could buy in those days: afro salt shakers, afro lamps, clippers to give your dog an afro...you could put an afro on anything and people would buy it! To make the point John drew some accessories of his own on his napkin, starting with the afro faucet (above).

Here's (above) the afro refrigerator and the afro parakeet with white double-pronged disco belt.

Then there's the afro pubic hair drawing which, in case kids are reading, I'll reproduce tiny. Anyway, John proved his point...anything can be embellished with an afro.

Another subject we hit was the shocking lack of facial expressions and body language in men. What's going on? Men are so stiff (you know what I mean)! They're like cigar store indians!

It's a point of honor among men to look as lifeless as possible. What gives?

Girls, on the other hand, seem to get more elastic every day. Guys, we're loosing the rubber war!

Well, there was more, but that's all I have time for. Once again we sighed, knowing the world would probably disregard what was expressed here this afternoon.

I DID IT!

Well, I did it! Kali helped me out and her dad came along and did some parts. Maki engineered creatively. I have to say that I was terrible and the whole thing was incredibly anarchic and disorganized but I still had fun and am I'm glad I did it. Sometimes you just have to throw yourself into a new situation, make your mistakes and see what the lay of the land is.

One of the several things that I learned is to write for the people (including me) who are actually reading the lines. I should have known that before. Everybody's a better actor when they're playing characters that resemble their real-life selves.

UNCLE EDDIE LIVE ON RADIO TONIGHT!

Don't go out of your way for this, because it's just fooling around. Nothing rehearsed or figured out. We'll be talking about old-time radio and acting out some stuff for an hour. It's on a local (Los Angeles) college radio station, KXLU (88.9), at 7 o'clock tonight (Wednesday). You can also hear it live, online:

http://www.kxlu.com/

WHAT TO DRAW WHEN SKETCHBOOKING

These quick sketches are terrible but they're good enough to make the point that I have in mind, which is that most people draw the wrong thing when they go out sketchbooking.

If you draw people as individuals you'll end up as often as not with cliches: the middle-aged guy with a gut, the fat woman wearing tight clothes, the guy nodding off while he tries to read his newspaper, etc. That's because ordinary people people look pathetic when you draw them in isolation. They're glazed over from shopping or working. Your catching them at their worst.

Where people come alive is in conversation. That's where they become psychological and fleshed out. Take the fat woman. When she's talking she's no longer just a stereotype, she's a human being with a point to get across. She's more interesting.

Now the problem with this is that but people don't stay still when they talk. You have to draw your memory of what they looked like, which is hard, and an instant later you're diverted by the next pose. It's not a good way to turn out pretty drawings, but if you're lucky you might capture an interesting moment.

PRE-RECORD OR POST-RECORD?

I got to the wharves, strolled around for a while, then stood on the corner, smoking. From out of the shadows she reached out and took my hand.



Woman: "You look like you could use some... company."




Uncle Eddie: "You look like trouble, sister, and I don't want any trouble!"



Woman: "Listen to me. I have things to say. You're the blog guy, aren't you? I saw your picture on the internet."



Uncle Eddie: "Maybe. What's it to you?"



Woman: "Plenty! Follow me!"




Woman: "Go ahead, drink up. It's a clean glass! Look, I gotta talk about this pre-recorded/post-recorded thing. You draw the film first then put the music on at the animatic stage, right?"



Uncle Eddie: "Maybe."



Woman: "Well, that sucks! No wonder modern cartoons have no rhythm! You gotta start with a sound track that works, that's beautiful and dynamic and inspiring in its own right. "



Uncle Eddie: "Well, ya wanna see what the film's gonna look like before you put music on it."



Woman: "Stupido! Put music on it!? A funny cartoon should be PRE-RECORDED!!!! You don't draw a film first, with whatever random timing you feel like, then hand it over to the music guy to save it. The music, voices and major effects come FIRST! Do that and you won't have to worry so much about the timing! "

She slipped off her shoes and unfastened two buttons. She was open to her bra. Her dress slipped up, above her knees. I tried not to look. But I didn't succeed.

MORE HOME DECORATION FOR CARTOONISTS

Here's (above) a reprise of the living room picture I posted yesterday. I like this room but I was surprised to find that some of my friends were indifferent to it. Well, I can see why. The book shelves are made with tacky wood, the coffee table looks like it came from a thrift store, the varnish looks like it was applied with a roller, and the fireplace is confined to a tiny box. the room definitely has flaws.

The amazing thing is that it succeeds in spite of the flaws. Against the odds it feels cozy. It's like a big, friendly mutt. An artist could get ideas in a room like this. I'd love to explain why it succeeds but I can't. Why do some spaces work and others don't? Maybe a comparison with some other types of rooms would help.

Here's a Sears catalogue room (above).

Here's some sterile modern monstrosity. I won't bother criticizing these. It would be too easy. Instead I think I'll compare the room I like to other artistic rooms like the ones below. No I'm not gay, and I don't watch home make-over shows on TV. I just feel sorry for artists who are stuck with depressing environments.

Here's an artsy room (above) that has appealing shapes and colors but never comes across as a room that people live in. The furniture is uncomfortable and isolated in little islands, and there's a pervasive feeling of bad taste passing itself off as good taste. It looks like a furniture museum.

This room is better than average. It's tasteful, sort of. But a house isn't supposed to look like a furniture catalogue, and an artist is supposed to rise above simple good taste. An artist is supposed to be on the track of something profound, something really fundamental in life, and that's missing here. There's too much visual noise. I couldn't think in a room like this.

You see this kind of room sometimes, where one stark color dominates. The variety of the real world is reduced to a single, screaming statement. Architectural Digest loves rooms like this, which is why I never read that magazine.

Here (above) is a room that tries too hard to be rustic. It's a cliche. There's nothing spontaneous about it.

Here we are back at the original room again. Maybe now the naysayers can see why I like this room (above). It has "good vibes," and the right vibe is worth its weight in gold.

The furniture is plain and comfortable and the fireplace and book shelves have a nice, quietly dynamic design. If you know anybody who has a knack for making rooms with good vibes like this, beg them on bended knees to decorate your place. Pay them well for it, and take their advice, no matter how crazy it sounds. It's as important to have stimulating, cozy, sociable rooms as it is a good winter coat or a car. Bad or awkward rooms can kill your creativity.

THANKS TO JOHN & KALI FOR THE KILLER PORTRAIT!

What a surprise! I got this tonight just before we all watched a Hedy Lamar film, the one where she runs naked around the woods! John did the drawing and Kali colored it! Unbelievable! Thanks guys!!!!

I'll have to find a place in Theory Mansion to hang it. Maybe just above the fireplace.

And talking about fireplaces....