DOODLING, DRAWING, AND NOODLING

I'm an artist as well as a writer. Maybe I'm more an artist than a writer. I'm more visually oriented than verbal. When I write, I set out to put images in the reader’s mind.

For some reason I can't fathom, I've been drawing less in recent years. Maybe it's because I’ve had more success with writing than art. Maybe it's that I keep getting distracted by all kinds of stuff lately. Maybe I'm getting lazy in my old age.

Since it's a new year that is already getting weirder than the last, and I've decided to make a heroic effort of finishing Zyx, Or; Bring Me the Brain of Victor Theremin before 2020 gets here, I've also decided to make a point of purposely drawing more this year.

And it's already producing results.

I've revived my old habit of doing quick, semi-abstract/surrealistic sketches as a warm-up for creative work. Noodling around helps get the juices flowing.

I’ve also been dusting off the drawing board, and working on my long overdue project for Claude Lalumiere's Avatars of Adventure, the Aztec Eagle.

Another old habit of mine that I'm diving back into is doodling. I used to do it all the time in school--it kept me from dying of boredom. These days I use a notebook (not to be confused with my sketchbooks) to keep track of all my projects. 

Somewhere along the line I stopped the doodling. I’m not sure why. Maybe I was trying to be a professional or an adult or some other pretension.

I'm so glad I'm now too old for that grown-up nonsense.

The doodling may have helped me in school. I've heard that it helps you remember things. I'm not sure about that, but I know that drawing does good things for my brain. I feel better, and dealing with all the madness gets easier.

I haven't been doing enough of it, and I need to get back to it. This is because all creativity comes from noodling around with your brain, tossing around the images, words, ideas, whatever, to the music in your head.

Excuse me. I have some important noodling to do . . .

CHICANONAUTICA GETS SEDUCED AND HALLUCINATES TEX(T)-MEX

Chicanonautica reviews Tex(t)-Mex, over at La Bloga:

So, here's a touch of evil:

A look at Rita Hayworth's Latin roots:

What has Speedy been smoking?

And a Maoist report on the Frida Kahlo Barbie:

ERNESTOMANIA 2019

Once again, the new year begins like crash-landing on an unknown planet. Only this time there's all kinds of weird apocalyptic shit around the smoking crater. The natives are too busy figuring out their new realities to notice me crawling from the wreckage.

There are a lot of new realities in 2019 . . .

So, what do I do now? If it wasn't for all the holidayization of the calendar, I'd just keep on, head down, full speed ahead, but culture puts its rituals in the way, interrupting my program.

Think I'll make a public spectacle of finishing my novel, Zyx; or, Bring Me the Brain of Victor Theremin. I've been thrashing away at it for a few years, and it's finally taking shape in brain, which should have serious effects on my behavior. I could use a excuse, and it could be entertaining.

I also should sit down at my drawing board, and finish drawing that Aztec Eagle (a masked, Mexican wrestler) comic based on the script that Claude Lalumière wrote for his Avatars of Adventure project. It keeps getting derailed my writing career, and getting tripped up on technical aspects. I should just get down to doing some old-fashioned cartooning.

Also, I should stop letting the drawing board get dusty. I need to draw more, if just for the way it makes me feel.

There's also some unsold short fiction. They've all reached the point where they've been turned down by most markets, so I have to go hunting in the outer reaches to find homes for them. As if I didn't have enough to do. But how are people 

supposed to read them if they don't get published?

I also have a Pancho Villa's Flying Circus, story collection

that I should start working on . . .

Funny, how I'm never short on stuff to do.

Also, I need to expect the unexpected, and invite inspiration, which is basically, the way I lead my life. I come up with these crazy ideas, and that's why it's so disorganized. Or is it just organized in an eccentric manner?

Is it possible to be a writer and an artist, and be normal?

Meanwhile, new things rain down. While driving back from Sedona last week, Emily told me about a dream she had that would make a good fantasy novel. I made a few suggestions, and she asked, “Would you like like to write it with me?”

Just what I need, another project.

But I could not resist.

CHICANONAUTICA HIDES OUT IN SEDONA, THINKS ABOUT 2019

Chicanonautica goes to Sedona, over at La Bloga. 

It's a gorgeous place:

With weirdness:

But there's no escaping some things:

So have a nice 2019: