I had to think long and hard about this. I don’t know how to go about it because I myself am really the opposite of a nudist or a naturist. I cover up parts of me in public that most people don’t because of psoriasis and unsightly sores on my arms, hands, neck, and jawline. But I used to know naturists. I have walked among them, even though I was never brave enough to actually walk naked among them. But I have this goofy thought that has been nagging me from a back corner of the upstairs filing rooms of my stupid old head. All people are actually nudists under their clothes.
Now, if a doofus is trying to argue something as crazily goofy as this, he better have some good main points backed up by real research. I, of course, am probably not as sensible as that, so let me go with these three main points;
- Public nudity is not an invasion of privacy since the person pretty much has to be intentionally nude, and they are not revealing anything that isn’t true of all of us.
- Artists really need to draw and paint nudes because one can’t create realistic figures without discovering how to do it by practice.
- Naked people are generally happier and more sane than the rest of us.
When I was visiting my girlfriend in the 1980’s at the clothing-optional apartment complex in Austin, Texas, I did not option for naked. And I really couldn’t protest naked hairy guys strutting in front of me by the pool because I knew what was inside the gate when I knocked the first time. Nudists are not really suffering from invasion of privacy. They choose to be naked and choose to be in these places like nude beaches where other people are naked too.
You don’t accidentally become a nudist. (Even though I wrote a novel about a boy accidentally becoming a nudist in Iowa in the 70’s.) Even the nudists I have posted in these pictures are not having their privacy violated. These images originate with old naturist publications purchased in the 80’s. That means they intended them to be seen. In fact, I am able to find ample nudism seeking an audience on Facebook and Twitter.
BBC Why All Artists Should Have Naked Ambition
And either drawing nude models is an essential part of art training, or all people who learn to draw are perverts and just make art so they can ogle nude models. I wrote in this crazy blog before about my experience with college-level nude drawing class. I got a “C+”, not because I wasn’t any good at drawing the naked female art students and naked exhibitionist hairy guys that posed for us, but because the teacher was hyper critical and probably anal-retentive just the way all really exceptional art teachers probably are.
I am quite capable of drawing the delicate and exquisite nude figure without becoming a gynecological illustrator or even a crude, rude dude. And there is art to it. It is not meaningless.
But in the final analysis, we all have a bit of the nudist instinct in us. We all secretly enjoy those times when we were able to be naked, however briefly, in the warm enfolding light of the sun. If you have not experienced that and don’t know what I’m talking about, then why have you read this far through the post? Why have my posts about drawing nudes and being around naturists been my most popular posts?
We have that urge to go naked because that is how God made us. Being naked in the company of other naked people is actually good for you. At least, Scientific American thinks so.
Benefits of Nudity from Scientific American
Daily Mail Being naked makes us happier with our bodies
In truth, my time among the naturists helped me recover from the trauma of being sexually assaulted by another boy when I was ten. That was a long, painful journey that deprived me for a while of being able to be naked. For a while I was too damaged to be a happy naturist. But I have come so far now; I can even make this admission in writing. I would like to be a nudist, even if only for a very brief while. In fact, I think we are all at least a bit like that. Now, if only my skin would stop flaking and peeling off.
DoodleFace!!!
I drew this face as a doodle while watching an episode of Iron Fist on Netflix. I don’t think it is anybody in the show I was watching, actor or character or comic book villain, but I can’t help but think that Doodleface is a great name for a Dick Tracy villain.
Of course, a doodle is a drawing done with only half-attention being paid. I was not ignoring Iron Fist as I drew this. I did not take time to plan it out with a pencil sketch. I started drawing the right eye, thinking it w ould probably become a girl’s face. When I tried to match the first eye with a second, it came out mismatched enough that she morphed into a villain. Bilateral symmetry equals beauty. Asymmetry equals comedy goofball or possibly villain. As I framed the eyes and developed the center of the face down to the chin, the chance to make a Natasha or an Olga Badenov sort of villain dissipated to the point of masculine villainy. That probably explains the curly hair, since the villain Bakuto in Iron Fist had curly hair. But curiously, this drawing-while- watching-TV fellow is not Bakuto. This guy has no beard. And in the episode I watched, Bakuto had a beard. And Bakuto also ended the episode with a knife sticking out of his general heart-area, not a good sign for his personal health and wellness, though in a comic book plot… well, who knows?
So, if Doodleface is a Dick Tracy villain, how did he get his name and what is his special thing? Pruneface was pruney in the face. Mumbles couldn’t talk so you could understand him. Flattop had a head that was flat on the top like a table. So Doodleface is obviously a master of disguise. He must possess a magic pen acquired in the mysterious Orient in the 1920’s, one that clearly allows him to redraw his features at any given time so he cannot be recognized. And hopefully, he draws well enough that coppers won’t just take one look and say, “Hey, dat guy over dere has a squiggle drawn all over his mug! Dat must be Doodleface!!!” (Of course it has to be three exclamation points because… well, cartoon exaggeration!!!)
And all of this is, of course, evidence that even when I am watching a fairly good show on TV (Iron Fist is not Daredevil or Luke Cage in its levels of amazing Marvel comics goodness) my mind and my drawing hand are both still busy doing their own thing as well. Doodling is an artsy-fartsy way to kill time and fill up empty spaces. My entire blog is basically the same in this purpose. But I am able to use the doodle imperative to create and be creative, to learn and to grow, and possibly make up something worth keeping.
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Filed under artwork, commentary, doodle, humor
Tagged as artwork, doodle, goofiness, wasting time and art supplies