247. "But why sneaky?" and other things people ask me.
ask me anything, I promise to be nice.
Dear reader,
Last week, I did my first open studio and had the chance to introduce my work to many people. I laid out a full table of sketchbooks from 2017 to the present, and on a second table I stacked some prints for sale, and to the wall I tacked some originals inside plastic bags. I didn’t know if anyone would come, and I didn’t want to jinx it, so I didn’t take any photos of the evening. (Does that make any sense? To me, it does.) But there were people, slowly, then more. A few of them knew about my work already, but most of them just wandered in while taking a break from one of the other gallery openings taking place that night. The lights from my studio attracted them, I think, like moths to a flame. Also the sign outside that said - “Fresh Sneaky Art ❤️ Inside” with an arrow pointed to the door. At one point, the room was full. Again and again I was asked - “So what is sneaky art?” - and again and again I explained. Several people asked - “But why sneaky?” - and I laughed to give one of many good reasons.
Another popular question was - “How did you get this idea?” - and ideas are funny little things. Who doesn’t have them, I wanted to counter. You find them on street corners, like vagrants and vagabonds, ready to do nothing, ready to be anything. Ideas are nothing. But I did not say it because this train of thought runs constantly upon the tracks inside my mind. It is impolite to speak this way outside. Instead I told them the whole story of how I became a sneaky artist, and how one thing led to the next. I do not know if I answered that question very well. But I am good with words and some of them had had wine already and so they were easily swept away.
Those who know me in real life, know that this is accurate most times of the year:
But with today’s post, I become a year older. For the benefit of newer readers, I want to answer these popular questions. For those who have read these answers already, jump straight to the comment section and ask me anything.
“So what is sneaky art?”
It began with the desire to learn how to draw. I was not a complete noob. But I was not where I wanted/needed to be. I wanted to draw good comics, and none of the usual lessons were working out for me. I could not focus on YouTube tutorials. I had no formal education in drawing. I do not like any how-to books. I am good at learning, but I am not a good student. I knew these things about myself. So I had already eliminated the impossibilities, and was looking for another way in what remained.
I was living in the great city of Chicago and did not understand very much about this New World. America confused me, and Americans startled me. I picked up a sketchbook and pen and started walking the Big City in a bid to watch people, find curiosities, and draw whatever captured my attention. I did not know how this would go, but after many years of being creative in many different ways I knew something about myself - this would only work if I did not get bored. This was another thing I knew very quickly about myself - I am quickly bored.
To begin with, Sneaky Art was sneaky because I was being sneaky. I was being sneaky because I was tremendously self-conscious. What kind of adult person walks about with a sketchbook and does not even know how to draw? Who tries to learn such things at such an advanced age? (I was already 29.) The plan was to sit in the corner of public spaces, watch people from afar, draw quickly into a little sketchbook, and leave before anyone noticed me.
I did it one day, and another, then another. I set myself a 30-day challenge and met it easily. Everyday my curiosity grew. Maybe it was the joy of drawing, or the incredible beauty of Chicago city, or maybe I was lucky that it was both. I did not care if the pages did not look very good because everyday they looked a little better. I could feel myself getting better. Everyday, I explored something new outside of me, and discovered something new inside of me.
Over time I have realized that the answer is not just about me. Sneaky Art is sneaky because the art is sneaky too. It is right there, all the time, hiding in plain sight, waiting to be seen. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so the beholder must learn to behold. Once I started to see it, I found it everywhere. Now I am never bored, if I can have a pen and a piece of paper.
SneakyArt is secretly drawn art of the world. Every week I share with you the latest pages from my sketchbooks and the best ideas from my journey as an artist and writer. Thank you for giving me a space in your inbox. 🙏
“But why sneaky?”
I guess I do not need to be so sneaky anymore. But I think it matters. The artist must be present. But the artist must tread softly. The artist must not impose themselves upon their world.
The artist must be sneaky because the art is sneaky. It is everywhere, yet nowhere. It never runs out, even in the most ordinary places on the most ordinary days. Yet, with a snap of the fingers, it is gone again. It must not be disturbed.
Wherever you live, wherever you go, on the streets, in the cafes, under sun or cloud or rain or snow, people walk among other people. Strangers sit next to strangers in cafes. Lives mingle on green grass in the park. Look carefully, worlds are colliding. Sneaky Art is created at the intersection of worlds, in the flux of everyday life. Then it is gone again. Created again. And gone again.
To be a Sneaky Artist is to record these fleeting moments of beautiful, fleeting, infinite worlds. To watch without disturbing. To draw without intervening. To love a thing so much that you do not want to possess it because then it will be changed.
It is very self-centred to show your art to complete strangers, is it not? To find Sneaky Art of your world, you have to learn to de-center yourself.
(I admit that, when asked at the studio, I gave a less complicated version of this answer.)
“How did you get this idea?”
Ideas are cheap. I picked it up at a flea market for nothing at closing time. I found it inside a little free library by the side of a neglected street. It belonged to someone else but they did not want it anymore. It was blowing in the wind at the sea-wall, and smacked me in the face. I was chasing curiosity, without a clue for what I would find. I was not thinking about what I would find. I was chasing because the journey was the goal.
When you look back at the journey, from a waypoint or destination or scenic vista, you can trace the line you took. You can show it to others, and it would look quite beautiful. And they will ask you how you knew to take that journey that way. And that question would be equally meaningless.
Ideas are cheap because everyone has good ideas. It is important to not give up on them. Ideas are cheap because they mean nothing by themselves. They become valuable by execution. The answer is in the finding-out. The means are the ends.
My in-studio answer was:
[shrugs] I just like to do things, I guess.
Okay, your turn. Today is my birthday. Ask me anything.
Will you be doing another workshop on drawing people?
Sneaky is as sneaky does. Or did.