Learning to Draw

I’m trying to become an artist.

Oh, not in a big way: just scribbles and doodles for Deviantart, really. I’ve got a few Sherlock and Watson sketches of various quality online. Generally it’s just something I do while on hold at work: pull up a pic and try and copy it down.

I’ve wanted to draw for years. I attended art club after school in high school, but it was more about making ashtrays for bake sales than actually being taught anything, much to my dissapointment. I doodled fairies and freakish hands with chipped nails, none looking any better than something a child would produce. After years of frustration, I just gave up.

Now, it’s actually a little better.

Oh, it’s not good: I don’t hold any illusions to that. But it’s not terrible. It actually looks a bit like what it’s supposed to. So, why now, after years of struggle and angst, can I suddenly do...well, slightly better?

The only difference is I’m trying to copy photos. Copying drawings still results in dismal failure, and drawing from my mind is out of the question. But I can reproduce a face if I’m looking right at it: you can almost tell who it is, even. Sometimes.

I bought a book called ‘anyone can draw’. Haven’t cracked it yet. Still doodling Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as much as I can (usually one quick drawing a day). Ultimately, I’d like to draw some illustrations for my fan-fiction. It’s an old vice, but a poor whetstone is better than none at all. Sometimes I don’t have the time or inspiration to work on my manuscripts. Fanfiction is a nice stopgap.

What is most surprising is that my drawings are viewed and in a few special instances, FAVORITED. I mean, wow. That means a lot, perplexing as it is.

The Fly vs. Puppetmaster 5

No sooner do I finish watching 1986 masterpiece The Fly do I pop Puppetmaster 5 the Final Chapter (yes another grievous misnaming)  into my DVD player. From the top dog to the bottom of the heap in one fell swoop: possilby the greatest Sci-Fi remake of all time and one of the worst direct-to-video crapfests ever put on celluloid.

It's...it's...

Hmm.

Sorry for the pause, Pinhead and Jester were killing a henchman with a meat cleaver.

My love of bad horror movies is almost as great as my love of good ones. Troll 2 stands on my self next to the original Nightmare on Elm street (as well as all the sequels. And ONLY the sequels, not this piece of shit) Poltergeist and Poltergeist 3 both give me screams, some of terror, some of laughter. And frankly, Poltergeist 2 is a bit underrated. I'll riff bad flix and sit in quiet reverence for the good ones.

It's not isolated to just me. Mystery Science Theater 3000  wouldn't exist if it was. Evil Bong 2 is a self-aware tribute to the bad movie altar (and worth a look. And you actually kind of have to see Evil Bong to follow along).

What is it about so bad they're good movies that draw so many of us in? Yes, some are intentional (just look at Full Moon studios or Asylum Pictures) but many are completely accidental: those are often the best. The humor is always funnier when it's done with a straight face.

So, does that mean every bad movie is a comedy gold mine? No, sadly not. Some are simply bad. But there are enough funny little messes in the bargain bins of Target and the one-stars on Net-flicks to keep me in stitches until the next Insidious-level horror film comes along.