I'm pleased to report that Inktober was a bit of a success this year, as I managed to do all 31 drawings without many hiccups. Of course, there was a wide range of quality and execution, so the main achievement to be had was fulfilling a prompted drawing every day for a month. I've tried it before, but this is the first time I've made it all the way, which is pretty cool.
It also gives me a good segue into talking about something that's been on my mind for the last month, as there were a couple of examples throughout the month that fit the theme. I've mentioned it before, but have wanted to leave it until I felt like I could do it justice, so it's taken until now for this post to surface. Essentially, let's talk about sex baby, and its role in social consciousness and creativity.
In fact let's keep it tightly associated with art and creative pursuits, as there is a slippery slope of endless social issues that could be touched on without time for any kind of depth. Additionally, I often think of sex in society as an opposition to violence. It's seated in the "make love not war" mantra, but I'm endlessly fascinated by society's acceptance of violence, while being completely afraid of sex in every form.
Right now our global social consciousness is wrestling with the transparency of sexual harassment and stories of famous men abusing others. In Australia we're tied up in a debate over same-sex marriage that seems to be hyping up the fear machine more than our government actively starving wrongfully imprisoned refugees.
It's clear that the world will always cry out against the public face of sex more than that of violence, which is the most bizarre aspect of reality. For me, it's really as simple as: I'd rather everyone was having consensual sex with each other, than hurting and killing each other. Doesn't seem like much of a mental leap to come to that conclusion, so why are we so afraid of sex all the time?
I really am going to try and keep this tightly associated with art, as I fear that these posts will become detached ramblings instead of logging creative endeavours. So let's go back to the inktober drawings I did, and the sketchbook doodles I'll post along with this entry.
One of the most common behaviours I encounter when sex comes up in public discussion, is that most people joke or laugh about it to deflect their discomfort. Fair enough really, we tend to use humour to soften the blow of anything we find uncomfortable or threatening, so there's really no difference here. It's funny though, how this coping mechanism can be absent everywhere else, except for when sex is involved.
To use an example; I posted 31 different drawings throughout October that were all random pictures following different themes and compositions. I love drawing disgusting cartoons a la Ren & Stimpy, so a bunch of them featured characters who were sweaty and spotty, and all around gross. Only a few features clean and somehow attractive representations of people, one of which was a nude woman straddling a large blade in front of a love heart.
This particular image wasn't meant to be anything more than a tribute to classic Sailor Jerry tattoo design, so its reception kind of surprised me. Every other image throughout the month had only received a couple of "nice work" kind of comments, but this one saw a couple of friends commenting with jokes about the fact that a naked woman was front and centre. It was the only picture I posted that received any jokes, and it was certainly the only one that had some crude comments that led to me posting my own comment asking everyone to calm down and keep it clean.
I don't mind the banter so much, but these posts were on my professional page, so I needed to ensure that nobody would feel alienated from the discourse happening there. Sure enough, the simple mention of not taking it too far meant that there weren't any other comments, but it still bothered me.
It bothered me for the same reason why I'm not including everything I've drawn in my sketchbook recently in this entry. Up until now I've only drawn a few things each week and have included everything I've doodled in each post. However, this week I was looking over my drawings and realised that some of them might be too graphic and sexualised to post with confidence that they would be received with maturity.
After all, I equate giggling and joking about sex with immaturity, as it's such a school-kid thing to do when we all didn't know any better. It stands to reason that whoever talks the most about something is probably the most inexperienced on that topic. There was a kid in my year at school who always talked about the drugs he was into, but it turned out that he never took any drugs anyway and was just trying to come off as a tough guy. Aside from it being a dumb thing to say to try and be cool, it was obvious to the rest of us that he was full of shit, because if something really is normalised, we tend to take it for granted.
Think about something banal like wearing shoes. I don't talk about wearing shoes every day, because I simply don't care about it and would find it boring as all hell to talk about. Perhaps someone who never wears shoes would find it interesting to hear all about it, but as a frequent shoe-wearer, I take it for granted and never seem to bring it up in conversation.
Extrapolate that logic to things that people talk about all the time, and have a think about whether they're talking about it because it's interesting, or if they're just trying to sound "cool". Chances are, if it's not the former it will most definitely be the latter.
This is why it's been on my mind that the only drawing that attracted comments and jokes last month, was the one with a naked lady. It's not limited to this single instance though, as this is just the most recent version of an old story.
When I was studying Illustration we did a lot of life drawing classes, which involves drawing a nude model in a studio. The whole process is far from sexy, as the students are more focused on their drawing techniques than the fact that there's a naked person in front of them. When you're focusing on interpreting things like light angles and foreshortening, there's no thought given to sexual attraction or anything of the sort. I imagine it to be like medical students analysing the anatomy of human bodies by reducing it to scientific structures and systems. Suddenly the naked human form becomes a collection of parts and elements that are in no way associated with sex at all.
However, there were a couple of times when someone would ask me what I did in class that day and I'd say "life drawing", they would joke about the naked model. Some even asked me concerned questions about how I managed to handle drawing naked men. The implication being that I would feel more comfortable drawing naked women, as I am sexually attracted to women. The reality being that the gender and appearance of a life model doesn't matter. The coolest thing about life drawing is that a live model can adopt some interesting poses that are challenging to draw due to the odd shapes and lighting that a body can create.
Anyway, the point is that whenever anyone looked at my drawings of naked men and women, they always joked and made some comment to obfuscate their discomfort. It doesn't bother me in itself, but when the same people turn around and talk about human suffering and violence in the news without batting an eyelid, I get worried for humanity.
I'm pretty sure that most human beings are a fan of sex and everything that encompasses. Of course, I'm talking about consensual and honest sex and romance that is desired and solicited. By the same token, I'm pretty sure that none of us are fans of unsolicited and unwanted sexual harassment, which should be condemned as vehemently as some condemn others for their sexuality. The point being that I'm happy to make the assumption that most people would rather have fun getting it on with another human, than being hurt and hurting others. So why is it such a struggle for us to collectively accept sexuality as a normal, healthy, and positive part of living, instead of shying away from it so much that most people can't even say "penis" or "vagina" without blushing.
Hence why I find myself holding back sometimes on what I would publicly post, because I don't want to invite the childish remarks into my space. On one hand I find it disappointing, as I'd rather not have to think at all about this stuff, but on the other hand I'm reminded why I should care in the first place. If we're able to normalise discourse around sex in society, then we have a better chance of preaching peace and love, not war.
It's funny to even think about this stuff more than is necessary, as it's not like I'm privately drawing porn and never publishing it. I happily show people everything I draw and will continue to do so, but sometimes in a public forum like the internet, the risk of dodgy comments can dampen the will to be transparent somewhat. So it's only because I couldn't be bothered fighting the good fight sometimes that I might choose to mute the message a little.
All of this is intrinsically connected to art and creativity as drawing the human form can be one of the most challenging and satisfying ways to learn and grow as an artist. There's a reason that so many artists regularly attend life drawing classes to keep their eye in the game and constantly develop their skills. There's something about human bodies that can't be attained from other subjects as they are malleable and unique in every way. They offer infinite possibilities and constant variety, so there will never be an end to people drawing naked people.
Just remember that it's not always about sex, but even if it was: would that be such a bad thing?
So I guess the point of this post is to say that I'm so tired and bored of the childish giggling that always happens around sex. Pretty much everyone in my circle is an adult and we've all experienced intimate relationships with different human beings, so what's so embarrassing about sexuality?
Let violence make you uncomfortable. The next time someone talks about a mass shooting, or the mistreatment of refugees, let your empathy take hold and bring tears to your eyes. Stop shrugging off the suffering of other human beings as a simple part of life. Stop vilifying others for positive elements in their life like success and sexuality. Think how incredibly uplifting the world would be if we all were willing to express our hatred of hatred, while enjoying our love of love. It might sound trite and cliché, but dreams are only real when people act on them, so start changing your perspective.
I hope that as we all evolve and grow as a collective entity, we manage to accept and liberate sexuality, while condemning violence and inequalities. The internet has made "Social Justice Warrior" into a pejorative, which couldn't be further from the truth. Standing up for what's right and just will always be better than accepting what's wrong and discriminatory in society.
So if people want to get all sexy and have fun fucking each other, learn not to let it bother you. There are more important and unacceptable behaviours to get outraged about. Channel that energy into speaking out against harassment and violence instead. We might just be able to enjoy ourselves a little more if we all focus on accepting our differences instead of using them as a weapon to excuse bad behaviour.
Plus, I have to ask myself what's wrong with anyone who has a hard time accepting the fact that sex is common, enjoyable, and could totally be taken for granted if we stopped being so weird about it all the time. Someday I'd like to be able to post a picture of a naked human being without it attracting immature giggles from anyone who hasn't dealt with their own insecurities yet. After all, anyone who's comfortable with their own sexuality won't really give a shit about anyone else's because it becomes a basic, yet fundamental, part of living.
I guess I just wish everyone would grow the fuck up sometimes. Elevate your essence above the banal quibbles of children and experience life for the extraordinary beauty and joy it has to offer. Let go of insecurities and use that energy to eradicate violence and bad behaviour instead.