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| Unfinished and a bad photo of it, but still copyrighted! |
This is the project Josh is currently working on, a picture of my friend, Farrah, and her family as super heroes. It's been a while since Josh has been able to put pencil to paper for anything more than simple sketching and I think I forgot how good he is. When I saw this, I was in awe. I am particularly taken by the details of the super villain's face. They're just perfect, meticulous. For a girl like me who can't even draw a good looking stick figure, I find his talent unbelievable. I simply do not understand how he does it.
But this is who Josh is: an artist.
Josh doesn't do abstract art and he eschews the whole notion of deep, hidden meaning in art. Artsy fartsy? No, he isn't. But that's because Josh is a simple, straight forward dude. And he also is a humble guy and not a fan of those self-congratulatory artists who are trying to change the world with their work. He's not trying to change the world. He just wants to draw what he likes, what he loves. He wants to have fun. And I think he does want to express himself, but not to change the world or because he thinks what he has to say is super important.
Josh has sometimes been criticized for drawing things that are "scary" or for not drawing things that are "nice." But Josh's art is inspired by what he loves -- movies, comic books, humor, and yes, monsters. His monsters, to me, are beautiful. He's also got a soft spot for things that are unusual or different (to a point) and for a lot of his life, he felt unusual, out of place. I admit to being a little put off by the first piece of his I saw -- a lanky, long-fingered creature, surrounded by a sea of eyes. I had a moment where I wondered if I was safe getting in a car with this potential psycho. But Josh is no psycho, as it turns out. In reality, he is one of the most solid, stable men I've ever known.
When he veers away from his standard comic book or monster work to draw things that are "nice," he creates trees, roses, sharks, his babies, me -- all of his greatest loves.
There are some who want him to create gospel-related art. I'm not sure why he doesn't do that and neither does he. He has done some in the past (he did a great portrait of Joseph Smith once upon a time), but it's been a while. I think one of the reasons is because of the sacredness he feels for certain subjects. For instance, he is particularly reticent to draw a picture of the Savior. It's no big deal to draw an imperfect picture of Spiderman, because, you know, it's just Spiderman. (The Josh in my head: "Just Spiderman?!") But how do you appropriately portray the Savior?
So last year, I was surprised to see that he had sketched this:
I wish we had a better scanner or that you could see the original. It was just a few inches on the side of one page, a page that also contained a sketch of Batman. But it's so beautiful. I especially love His eyes.
Josh doesn't bear his testimony very often, but I think this is his testimony.
His art also speaks to another thing that is great about Josh -- his dedication and perseverance. He has spent thousands of hours studying technique, talking to and learning from other great artists and practicing his craft to become the artist he is now. And he is still working to become better.
Josh, as you may have heard me say, is my favorite person in the world. There are so many things I love about him. I have talked a lot about those things, I think. But one of the things I love most about Josh is his art. It's a core part of his being and reflects who he is. He cannot remember a time before he was drawing; it's been a major facet of his life for almost his whole 38 years.
Josh and I are both getting closer to 40. As that milestone year gets closer on the horizon, we both have been thinking a lot about where we are in our life, what we've done with the time we've had so far. In my opinion, every second Josh has taken to work on his art has been time well spent.
Happy Birthday, cutie.
