THE WIGGLER RENDERED!

John K. had written a post a couple weeks ago explaining his rendering style and showing a couple fun drawings of perky girlies, so it just got me in the mood to color. I had also received an email from Blik, the wall decal company about a decal contest, so I wanted to submit something, even if or ESPECIALLY if it was really silly. It probably won't win (upon further inspection of the contest they are actually looking for awful, no talent, ballpoint pen scribbly hipster art), but I have to think there are few people that can look at this and not at least crack a smile. He's just so sinister in his wiggling. Would anyone like to see a Wiggler figurine next?

SOME ARTISTIC WISDOM

"You start drawing with your brain, but aim to draw from the heart. That doesn't happen instantly. You have to first absorb the knowledge slowly and then forget about it and let your pencil be guided by your subconscious. Not easy, and it hurts to go through the stiff period. A lot of lesser men give up during the stiff beginnings of learning something new and that's a dirty shame. Take the pain and shame like a man and get over it. You'll be so happy when your new knowledge becomes second nature. Otherwise, you will be stuck, a slave to formula for life and unhappy, maybe even without knowing why? That pain and shame is essential to your progress. Embrace it. Kick the walls if you have to. But get back to the drawing board and force that stiff information into your head. Then lay awake nights obsessing over it. That's your tax for being gifted."
- John K.

This struck me as a profound statement.

On one hand, it makes me sad to think about how much time I've wasted being disappointed that my "natural" drawing abilities weren't everything I want them to be and that I convinced myself somewhere along the line that I couldn't possibly learn this ability, like you either had it or you didn't. It also makes me angry to admit that I was defeated in my "stiff period" because there wasn't anyone around to kick me and tell me to keep going and that it would get better.

On the other hand, what better inspiring words from someone that will outwardly admit the parts of drawing and animation that he still struggles with and what through hard work, dedication, and focus can actually do to improve and hone your "natural" abilities.

I would be less inclined to believe it if I hadn't been stalking John K through his blog and listening, learning, and demonstrating everything he says to and actually figuring out simple things about drawing that apparently my 27 years and 4 years of college didn't teach me.

Fuck it. Let's do this.

I've already been sketching a lot and will post results soon.

JOHN K. - MY NEW HERO

Who doesn't remember rushing home to watch nick toons? Back in the golden age of nickelodeon, with all their boundary-pushing cartoons and action-packed Mike O'Malley game shows, there would be few among us who doesn't revere Ren & Stimpy as simply one of the best cartoons of all time.

Now years later, as I attempt to delve into the world of animation, a craft that I have the utmost respect for...my endless internet browsing has inevitably led me back to one man: John K, the creator of Ren & Stimpy.

While looking for animation tutorials, resources, and college courses, I stumbled across this website named ASIFA (The Hollywood Animation Archive) claming a "$100,000 animation course for FREE"! Best case scenario I was expecting tons of pop ups ads or one of those fake search engines with a bunch of bogus links.

"$100,000 ANIMATION COURSE FOR FREE!"

The introduction said it all...schools are a waste of time and a shit ton of money, and anything you need to know you can learn from Preston Blair's book "Animation" which you can purchase for $8. And who's advice is this? JOHN K! HOLY CRAP!

The following pages are his personal lessons to those daring to try them and post their results for him to critique. This gesture struck me as something not just rare...but practically non-existent in today's world. As someone that has consistently offered my services for free or to teaching anyone that wants to learn what I know, I can tell you there's only really one reason that anyone would offer this without monetary reward: out of a pure love of their craft. So started my true intrigue of John K...

He also offers a link to his personal blog to follow, where it's just a GOLDMINE of inspiration- from tutorials to doodles to vintage comics and toys to his silly t-shirts.

http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/

Upon further stalking on his imdb profile, John K is a pretty infamous animator. He was fired for making a drug reference in the remake of the Mighty Mouse cartoon, then practically tricked Nickelodeon into buying into Ren & Stimpy, and calls Walt Disney the "blandest human on the planet" and that he ruined animation. He also blames Bambi and Lady in the Tramp for the "furry" fetish and regularly rants about how hippies destroyed modern entertainment.


"I just knew at the regular networks there was no way in the world they would buy my stuff undiluted. So I diluted it. I hid the Ren and Stimpy characters, surrounding them with a bunch of kids in a show called 'Your Gang.' And I made up a bogus pitch about it being socially conscious. I tricked 'em! I told 'em it was going to be unfunny; that it would be wiggly lines, nobody would be able to follow the stories, and nobody could identify with the characters. And they said, `Oh! That's exactly what we want!' And I totally lied." - John K.

After just 8 episodes, he was fired from Ren & Stimpy and Nickelodeon for arguing not only script but technique. He'll even use the alias "Raymond Spum" when he acts, writes or directs in a cartoon that gets edited in a way that he feels ruins it and robs it of his "artistic vision...he cares! HE ACTUALLY CARES! It's his passion and pride...an artist with integrity! What a breath of fresh air!
...not to mention he is extremely knowledgable, incredibly talented, and absolutely crazy.

John K on the impact of The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991): "I think we are destroying the minds of America, and that's been one of my lifelong ambitions."

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

He makes me have hope for humanity :-)