Drinker with a painting problem

Awhile back, I wrote about painting under the influence of absinthe. Except now, I do things differently.

Now, I light the sugarcube. It makes a lovely blue flame. And it helps break the sugar down better, giving the drink a richer flavor.

Highly recommend to fellow drinkers. I’ll have to post some videos of the absinthe in an upcoming post.

For now though, I just finished this lovely painting of Roxy. I call it Absinthe Girl and I imitated the absinthe color throughout the painting. I used a sort of monochromatic effect to give it that look.

I also sort of honored Mucha, who’s one of my all-time favorite artists. Except whereas he used a lot of oranges and reds, I went with greens. For obvious reasons.

Roxy as Absinthe Girl

Drinking makes you loose

Does an artist have to drink to be a good artist?

No.

But it sure helps.

Alcohol makes you loose. I get nice and loose and ideas just flow. Great for writers as the pen just moves when the writer pours himself some enjoyable bourbon over ice. Great for artists as the brush flows once the wine enters the blood.

Heck, look at all the great American writers who had drinking problems.

No, I don’t recommend getting yourself a drinking problem. But to completely deny that drinking had a role in the great American novel? Asinine.

I’ve painted four women now. Allie, Roxy, Sophia, and Jin. I’ve drank with all four of them. Well, of course not when Allie was pregnant or breastfeeding obviously.

But when drinking, words also flow. And as a Romantic, if there’s no bond between us, I’m not going to paint you. It’s that simple.

I’ve made one of my models cry once. Not in a bad way. Won’t tell you which one though. With me and Allie and me and Roxy, we’ve poured our hearts out so many times together. Both Allie and Roxy know things about me. Bad things. Things I don’t want the public to know.

I’m a flawed man. Deeply flawed.

But I don’t keep everything bottled up inside. I learned that’s when a man goes mad and kills somebody.

You gotta let it out every once in awhile.

When I was young, I used to wrap my hands, put the gloves on, put the mouthpiece in, and I’d punch a friend in the face as he punched me in the face. Afterwards, we’d get a drink.

Better than a therapist.

I’m too old for that now. Nowadays, I take a punch to the face and my face doesn’t heal. I used to be like Wolverine. I’d fall off a rock, lose some blood, and be cherry within a few days.

Nowadays? Nope. I take forever to heal.

So it’s booze and painting for me.

Booze helps that brush flow, like it helps the author’s pen.

I’ve been a whiskey guy for awhile. When I say whiskey, I’m good with Scotch, Irish whiskey, Bourbon, Japanese whiskey. All four are great. An old fashioned or a Manhattan for mixed drinks.

The absinthe thing is a recent thing. Didn’t like it the first time I had it.

Over a decade later though, I decided to give it another shot. And fell in love with it.

Anyways, that’s Roxy as Absinthe Girl. We had such a great time with that painting that we’re gonna do another one. And maybe a third and a fourth.

Who knows? I like to not have a plan. I just drink and paint.

Published
Categorized as Musings

By Roman

Pinup Artist. Composer. Writer.

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