Drawing of the Day- March 31, 2010

I had lunch with Steve Smith at Astro's Family Restaurant in Silverlake, California, this last Monday. Steve is a fellow ex-King of the Hill storyboard artist, and has been looking for work ever since. (Hire him, you bastards). He graciously let me draw him as he finished eating (hence the downward cast of the eyes). The drawing is part of my on-going project to get a drawing of everybody I know.

My Beautiful Career Installment 15

I had 2 one-man shows in the late ‘80’s/early ’90’s. The first was at “The One Way”, a leather bar in Silverlake. The show was called “Recycled Erotica”. All the pieces were done on the back or front of Xeroxes or disassembled gesso’d grocery bags. It was a living show, in that every time I sold a piece, I’d paint or draw another and put it in the blank wall space. The show lasted all summer of ’89, until the bar owner lost his liquor license.

My Beautiful Career Installment 14

I had a parallel career around this time, doing illustrations for gay porn magazines, like ‘Drummer’, ‘In Touch For Men’ and ‘First Hand’. It was a chance to see my work in print, to experiment with various styles in an atmosphere of comparative artistic freedom. However, the pay was low, and I received no audience feedback. I lost interest in the early ‘90’s, around the time I broke into comics.

My Beautiful Career Installment 13

Yet I was still closeted at work. I didn’t pretend to be straight; I was just silent, which was ironic, since ACT UP’s main catchphrase was “Silence Equals Death”. I came out as gay to only 3 people on the job during this period, timidly testing the waters.

I came out officially on the Monday morning after The 1988 March On Sacramento. I was working at D.I.C. again, on “ALF” and “Alftails”. While we were settling in at our desks, a fellow artist asked me what I had done that weekend.

I thought, “When am I going to start being honest if not now?” So I told him. He asked, “Why did you do that?” “Because I’m Gay”, I replied to him and the six or seven other artists within earshot.

My career didn’t end. I wasn’t fired or ostracized.

However, I discovered the weird thing about coming out is that it never ends. I’d assumed that once I did it the first time that I’d never have to do it again. However, I seem to have to wrestle with it every time I meet someone or find myself in a new situation. Now I deal with it by referring to my “spouse” when I talk about my life. If people make gender assumptions, I politely correct them.