Plaid Skirt Torpedoes! : Dolly

"Hair on the buttocks and you, I do not like." -- Bevalaqua, (film) Illuminata

Around the time Hollywood #metoo stir was brewing, groups of feminists started attacking artists who made adult/erotic art. Those artists being primarily made up of heterosexual men. And when posed with the question, "Why do you paint women with exposed big breasts?" The popular reply, "because they're fun to paint" obviously did not go over well.

I really don't like talking to people about art anymore. Especially with other artists. Long dull technical art speak. Whenever I'm at an opening or part of an opening, I'm in and out as fast possible. Most artists are such boring egotistical human beings at art openings, I just want to kill myself.

Example: "You should come by some time and watch me paint."

Yeah. No. That's almost as bad as, "Want to go for a ride in my Porshe?" Actually it's more like, "Want to go for a ride in my Por..." Aaand just like that I've slit my wrists.

I have artist friends. Several. We hardly ever talk art. Maybe swap wips. That's it. If we talk art it's about other artists we like. Not ourselves. We talk about movies, music, and comics more than anything.

But when feminist groups started hassling artists for painting women with big exposed breasts, suddenly calling it porn, perverse, misogyny, to further their #metoo agenda, it reminded me of a conversation I had, repeatedly, with a guy, a musician, someone I had a brief fling with circa 2001-2002. At the time I was drawing nude men. Very hot in shape muscular nude men. Nudity and art have gone hand in hand since Christ. No kidding. Pencil artists tend to prefer nude men for their muscle structure. There's more to draw.

Even though it was a brief fling I had a lot of respect for this guy up until then and so when he criticized my art subjects by saying, "Why dont you ever draw ugly people? Fat out of shape ugly people." My only thought to that was, who wants to draw fat ugly people?

"Your models dont have to be perfect." He would say. And it really bothered me when he said it. Here was a guy, a famous musician, toured the world, well read, sophisticated, groupies galore, and he didn't understand beautiful art? At first I thought he was jealous of the male models. But again, here was a guy, a famous musician, toured the world...

He reminded me of those irritating feminists. Which is ironic because he's a Republican with a deep dislike for feminists.

Men like him are annoying.

If educated, well read, well traveled, artists of other genres even, don't understand beautiful art, how can we expect judgemental feminists or anyone else to understand it?

What happened? Michelangelo can sculpt David, intact, and yet somehow that's different from what we're doing? Settle down. No one's comparing themselves to Michelangelo. He's a master. You know what I'm saying. I don't want to draw people I don't find interesting. Who's going to hang a large drawing in their livingroom of someone the artist didn't find interesting?

I can only say it this way...

It's art if he sees it with his eyes or with his mind and then renders it entirely with his bare hands and a chisel, brush, or pencil. That's a skill. That's art. Fine art. I may not like or respect your art if it reeks of intended prejudice or cruelty towards other living things, and I may not like your genre of art, but its still art. Furthermore, if you're an adult who doesn't know the difference between art and pornography, you're viewing at least one of them entirely wrong.

I chose to draw Dolly Parton in her formative years because I think she's smoking hot in this one picture I saw of her. It's that simple. I love her big hair, big lips, big boobs, dark eye makeup, she's just hot, then and now.

Dolly Parton said in this interview clip how she got her iconic look. When done right, like how Dolly does it, I couldn't agree more.

https://youtu.be/D12lpJlFj9g

https://youtu.be/0OYdRmzAmQk

Before Metallica there was

https://youtu.be/UbxUSsFXYo4

https://youtu.be/L0eeSoU35wM

The criticism from that musician guy and what he said about how I never draw ugly people...

His wife is absolutely gorgeous by the way.

Why didn't he marry someone he thinks is fat and ugly? That way he could look at fat and ugly for the rest of his life instead of criticizing others for what they find beautiful.

Even my cell phone's a critic. Look how it organized my photos. It picked its own gallery cover photos. I didn't do that. My cell phone did. Rude!

Year's not over yet, cell phone!

I'm not in the habit of drawing famous people but as I get older, 51 years old in twenty plus days (what the fuu ?) ... obscure images, to vintage, retro, anything that reminds me of simple days gone by turn me on. It reminds me of home. It's my way of going back I suppose. Going home again before I die. To the only home I know.

I'm told they don't teach cursive handwriting in school anymore.

(Sigh)

Cursive handwriting is an art. An introduction to calligraphy. Simone made beautiful calligraphy art. Everything she wrote was in calligraphy. Remember? Now aggro social media soapboxing is their art.

(deep sigh)

My dear Betty White, how far we've come. How far we have yet to go. Every new generation of women lays down more arduous tracks without end to travel.

Art takes practice, patience, devotion, desire, sacrifice, oh the sacrifice, willingness, all skills that make life beautiful and worth living. It takes real courage to get from there to here.