Artistic Discomfort

As many of you know, I work exclusively from photo references when making my drawings and portraits. Part of that is due to the fact that I’ve never taken a life drawing class. I am pretty much self-taught through books and art magazine study. The other part is because I would feel very self-conscious asking someone to pose for me. I would feel so embarrassed if someone offered to pose for me, trusted me to see them in an exposed and vulnerable fashion and then the work I created was less than high quality and didn’t do justice to their confidence in me.

When I saw this Saturday Night Live sketch it crystallized every fear that I have about drawing from life. The creepy factor in this video is so uncomfortable to watch. But, its funny too. Isn’t that the way most uncomfortable situations make you feel? Why is it we find inappropriate behavior funny? Such as, laughing in church, squirting milk through our nose at dinner, or accidentally farting in a profoundly quiet place like a library or funeral home.

Enjoy the video. I personally think that both Paul Rudd and Andy Samberg are the perfect combination of hysterical funny and colossal cutie pies. But, when I see them in this video I have to keep averting my eyes due to the “Ewww, yucky!” feeling I get from what they’re doing. All the while I’m laughing my butt off. I thought Paul was a scream in Forty Year Old Virgin. Its been nice to see that he has gained more and more exposure as a comic since that movie. But, for the record, he has far too much exposure in this little sketch. Don’t you agree?

This little clip comes to us courtesy of Hulu.com. I love this site. It has almost replaced TV for me. Being able to watch the reruns of almost any favorite show anytime you want with thirty second commercials is just the coolest thing ever. Besides, who wants to watch all the stupid guest host stuff on SNL and the questionable musical guests when you can watch it the next morning without all that? I have found that an hour of SNL live can be reduced to about fifteen minutes of funny skits. I recommend you check it out.