Good day and welcome to another episode of me doing the thing I do sometimes.
I, @NoNamesLeftToUse The Writer/Artist Himself, was asked an interesting question for once, just the other day.
Part of me thinks I was getting dissed and the other part doesn't really care, so that leads to a nice healthy and balanced lifestyle, I suppose.
A New Look
That'll come in handy and soon you'll find out why. Like right away. Not even joking. I'm about to explain. Just one more useless sentence and then I'll move on.
So I was asked a peculiar question the other day. It went something exactly like:
If you consider yourself an artist, why do you hide your identity?
Of course the first thing that came to mind was something like, WTF? Am I invisible? Look!
Can see me coming a mile away, and I'm everywhere, all at once...
And the question was coming from a 'real' artist, so the pressure was on.
My answer went something like:
I'm me. A writer and artist working under a pseudonym, no different than thousands if not millions of content creators and many of the actors, musicians, writers all over the world; it's been like that for centuries. I don't require personal fame and glory. Could produce something that goes viral, seen and enjoyed by millions, and wouldn't care nobody knows it's me.
Suppose I could also add I'm perfectly fine with being an underground outsider as well. Just doing my own thing. If I don't go places, I don't go places. That's cool with me.
Totally fine with half the value of my work going to those who support it. Love that model actually and think it's the coolest thing ever so I'm happy doing things this way.
It's never been a secret to me that some of the more traditional artists don't like me too much and despise my approach. And I don't even NFT so of course I'm not cool...
That whole "The Writer/Artist Himself" thing is actually me just taking a shot at stereotypes. If you're an artist, some expect you to be some kind of a pompous prick, so I thought I'd need to do something to fit in.
Of course I don't and I'm starting to learn that the hard way.
It's Just Whatever
That's what I called that piece.
Some people might think I'm jealous of all these artists that now use artificial intelligence to paint their pictures for them but I'm really not. I only painted a quarter of that image. Fancy schmancy mirror tool did the rest.
The mirror tool splits the image into four sections, you paint in one section and it mirrors those actions, filling in all the other sections automatically. It's one of my favorite tools and the end results look cool, most days. I embrace the new tech but still enjoy doing things myself and keeping things simple.
Of course I don't use it for everything.
Story Time
That's what I called that one but I'm not sure why because it doesn't really tell a story.
For something like that I spent a lot of time building a base layer. I then duplicated that layer, lowered the opacity, moved it over slightly, then flattened the image. Probably did that same process about twenty times, then blended all the edges and did a bit of fine tuning by hand.
One can see the depth of all the layers if they look closely, or just take my word for it.
Was basically messing around but it turned out alright. I might revisit that piece again in the future. Some shading in just the right places and I'd be able to create the illusion of it being three dimensional. Of course that takes a lot of time and patience. I did it in some places but then got bored.
Throwing in the Towel
I've felt like doing that so many times this year it's not even funny, and I'm typically the first to laugh at all the dumb things I do.
That fucking guy that dragged my name through the mud for several months around here; using my art to make everyone look bad...
What a fucking douche. Blamed for stuff I had nothing to do with. Accused of heinous crimes, for no reason other than he's a psycho and would do that to people with no care in the world. Says it all with a smile and thinks it's funny. Then having to sit and watch a bunch of two-faced cowards feed into it and enjoy every moment.
WTF is wrong with this world...
It's been one thing after another this year though so I just roll with it. Like to rise above all that nonsense. People been talking shit my whole life so it's nothing new; nothing I can't handle.
Some might ask though: Why are you so fucked up, dude?
Blue Bear
Maybe because that's what my teddybear looked like when I was a kid.
Of course I'm only joking but it's pretty damn close. It didn't have a mouth but I'm certain it still spoke to me. And I ripped the eyes out so my cat would have something to play with, then regretted it for the rest of my childhood.
Anyway...
I might go quiet for awhile. I'm undecided and not really feeling it these days. Still working on quitting smoking. Trying to enjoy some summer. Plus it seems really quiet around these parts and this art stuff takes a lot of time to produce. Even though I don't mind "hiding", it's still nice when it's seen and of course I still enjoy hanging out with you folks for the afterparty.
I only showed up quite a few weeks ago to help take care of a few problems around here. Only to discover there's a few more.
This art lately was just something I was itching to do; wanted to get a few things off my chest. It helps take my mind off life's distractions as well. I zone out for hours working on this stuff. Music's on. It's one way to feel good.
All shit aside, I do feel good. I'm somewhat happy. That's really all I need. And I hope you're doing good, too.
Have a nice day.
