Why Can’t You Draw Something Beautiful?

 Someone asked me that not long ago. We were connecting through Instagram and they were looking back through my feed looking at the drawings and art I have posted and asked that question. It took me aback for a moment as I have never thought of the art that I make and share as not being beautiful. It is beautiful to me; eye of the beholder and all of that. I get what she was asking as there are certainly topics and styles of art that are universally accepted as being “beautiful”. My mind goes to the work of Maxfield Parrish or Georgia O’Keefe or pretty much anything from the Japanese Ukiyo-e Style, there is plenty to choose and agree on, but once you venture away from the easy subjects of lovers, flowers and puppies; the idea of what is beautiful gets messy. Case in point: three dead moles.

I took these photos in early July this year while on a long hike through the west Latvian countryside with my wife. So, full confession, I do have a bit of a Goth streak, love horror movies and all of that, so I was fascinated when we found the first one stretched out on the trail. It looked so peaceful, at first we though it might be sleeping or unconscious, but no, sadly the little bugger had expired. It was a treat to be able to look closely at an animal that normally is well out-of-sight, or that you might only get a fleeting glimpse of scambering for cover. The fur in particular looked more luxurious then I would expect. I took my photo and moved on, already planning on doing a drawing of it. When we came across the next one about an hour later, we both felt that something odd was going on and switched into “crime scene detective” mode (well, mostly me) combing the environment for any clues. “The body shows no evidence of foul play; no teeth marks or obvious wounds or injuries, maybe it was poisoned?” By the time we came across the third body, stretched out like he had taken a nap that he never woke up from, we got a solid case of of the “willies” (an old school term meaning a strange or unsettled feeling). My overheated imagination immediately ran off on a tale of a Satanic cult that sacrifices tiny, innocent woodland creatures, then leaves them in places where jittery hikers might find them; a calling card of evil to come! Better finish that hike before sundown! A few weeks later, we asked a nature biologist friend of ours to solve the mystery and he patiently explained that it was the time of year that the teenage moles go out into the world, kicked out of their burrow by their hard-hearted parents and must find their way. These three sadly, didn’t make the cut and died of exposure. Such is nature.

          

Here are my drawings. You can judge whether they are “beautiful” or not. They are beautiful to me because they tie together the moment on that wonderful hiking day when I took the photos with the time I spent time making the drawings. When I am drawing, I fall into every tiny detail of those tiny carcesses, or whatever my subject is, trying my best to amplify the beauty I see in a way that allows the viewer to see it through my eyes for a moment.

So, my reply to that original question, “Why can’t you draw something beautiful?” is, “But why can’t you see the beauty in my drawing?”


Until the next time, keep smiling and don’t let the idiots bring you down.

Zahdah,

OK HW