I do tend to get into some heavy topics sometimes. I mean, how could I not with a world seemingly burning down around me? However, it really isn’t all crazy. Sometimes I do just get out there and remember that life can be light-hearted and fun and wonderful.
Last weekend I was able to do just that. I met a friend on Wreck Beach and her two children, and we proceeded to have quite a wonderful afternoon. So much fun in fact, that we absolutely lost track of time and they had to race up the 3000 stairs so as to not get a parking ticket on their expired meter. The drawing above is a photo taken from just after they arrived and was something I had been wanting to capture for some time. I’m so ecstatic that we were finally able to.
For me, it’s a heart-warming, fun, magnificent slice of true humanity. Shed down to our basics, surrounded by sand and sun and water. Simply enjoying life as life most likely intended us to enjoy it (outside of pure survival). It truly is something to behold, and when I am able to help people find that little slice of pure basic humanity, it makes my heart ache. Not that you can’t have moments like this while clothed… but as the older child stated at one point during the day, “I don’t want to ever wear a swimsuit again. The water just feels too good on my body”. Yes. Yes it does. Now you get it.
The drawing, however, wasn’t my first attempt at getting this photo into art. On the first attempt, I tried to draw the piece all at once, in one window. The result wasn’t terrible, but I wasn’t super happy with it. You can see the original attempt in red in the above picture. As you can see, the scaling and spacing was a little off. As I went, everything just got a little bit bigger and a little more off-balance. So when I went to redo it, I went a different direction. Instead, I drew each figure in a separate window, and then imported them, resizing and repositioning as needed. THIS end result was much better. The figures were much more to scale and the spacing was far more accurate. As is usual with my art, however, it’s still not photo perfect… but then, it’s not really supposed to be, is it?
The original photo, however, is just for us, my friend and me (and some close friends), so you’ll have to take my word for the supposed accuracy of this piece… but even if it wasn’t too accurate, it’s still a joy to see. That freedom. That happiness. That dynamic. Would that I could take a thousand such photos and draw a thousand such drawings… Maybe one day.
It’s time for my second cup of coffee now though, and then I must contemplate what to do with the rest of my day. More drawing? Cleaning? Laundry? Beach? All of the above? Who knows. I know tomorrow (Saturday, September 7th), I’ll be back on Wreck Beach, capturing a string of selfies in order to get some fodder for a long winter art season. Perhaps I’ll even try to convince some of the locals to let me capture them for some drawings too…
I’ll see you later. As always, Stay Naked.