“Wanna Do Art With Me?”

Yeah… That is the exact question that was asked to me by this crack-head while I was sitting in front of the Starbucks on the corner of Howe and Arden one night.

Well actually, he first approached me with his finger in his ear and said “I have my finger in my ear. You wanna do it too?” I kindly told him that I was just getting ready to put my finger in my nose, and thought that it wouldn’t be a good idea if I put it into his ear first. So he left, and returned a few minutes later with four Crayons that had been chewed down to nubs and an old napkin. “Wanna do art with me?”

In hindsight, I should have said yes, as I’m certain the pictures that would have poured from Jimmy Buttcheeks (jacked up on caffeine) and Finger In Ear Guy (jacked up on crack) from the Starbucks patio that night would have been sensational and to be honest, I’m sorry that I passed on that moment.

So… why am I telling you this little story about the Coloring Crack-Head? Because it reminded me that I do, in fact, “Do Art”!

And what better place to showcase it for you than here, hidden in the pages of The Ballad Of Jimmy Buttcheeks?!

So it all started with my girlfriend. As I’ve mentioned before, she’s a Pin Up Model. Old School type. I had just returned from a trip out to her house and while I was there, she showed me a picture that a girl had drawn for her. It was really not that great of a picture in my opinion, but then again, beauty is in the eye of the beer holder, and I wasn’t holding any beer while I was looking at it. Anyway, what really blew my mind was that my girlfriend had paid this girl $20 to draw a picture of her. How cool is that?! Getting paid to draw a photograph of someone! I remember setting the picture down without a second thought. I really didn’t think about it any more until I got home.

I was driving home from work one night and I thought back to the $20 drawing. I wished that I had some type of artistic ability, but I’ve always thought that I didn’t. Unless of course, one could get by on drawing Stick Figures.

STICK FIGURES!!!!

Hey! I can draw those!!! I can do this!!! I’d use the same system as the girl who drew the picture of my girlfriend. But instead of making them all nice and pretty and proportioned and um, good, I’d draw Pin Up Models in the Stick Figure form!

This just might work! But… I needed a way to get these girls interested in my drawings. So I opted out of selling them at $20 a whack and figured I’d pay the girls $1 if they let me draw them! Now all that I needed was a medium to get these pictures out. Oh, I’d also need a test subject!

This is where The Pinup Lifestyle came into play.

See, this website is a place where like-minded professionals get together and share contact information, lightning ideas and concepts, hair and makeup design, and photographs. It’s filled with Pin Up Models, Hair and Makeup Artist, Photographers, and Artist that work with paper and pencils on up to Bamboo Tablets and Macs. And it just so happened that my girlfriend is good friends with the couple that run the site. So locked in she is, that she actually got me approved to have my own page on The Pinup Lifestyle Network!

So… now I have my concept. I have a venue to showcase my idea. I also have a girlfriend that might let me draw her. All that I need now is something to draw with, as well as something to draw on!

I had just moved back into my old house and I had nothing to draw with, or on. Nothing I tell ya! So I dug around, found an old pencil from the refinery that I was working at. Next I went into my backpack that I used while traveling the country for work. Sure enough, I found an old Clarion Hotel receipt. The front was filled up with the 30+ days that I had been living there. It documented check in time, check out time, and a list of “movies” that I had watched while I was there. But the backside of the receipt was clean! This would do the trick! Taking my switch blade from my pocket, I quickly sharpened my pencil and sat down at the coffee table on my knees. I can’t remember that last time I’d been so excited, and the feeling took me back to being seven years old and sitting at my Grandmas house, drawing my ass off while I waited for mom to come and pick me up.

Below is the very first Jimmy Buttcheeks Stick Figure Pin Ups, featuring the lovely and talented Wink Holliday.

See, Wink has a love for cupcakes. So I drew her falling madly for the coolest cupcake that I could come up with. To read the full description of the drawing and how it was made, please click here.

Next up comes Désirée. She actual owns and operates The Pinup Lifestyle Network with her boyfriend DC. Wink was in town one weekend and we decided to head down to the Bay Area to meet Désirée and her boyfriend DC for dinner. We had a great time and I also did the “robot” for DC’s son. It was a good time! So good in fact, we went back down the next day to goof off and do some shopping. While we were out and about, we stumbled upon this guy dressed as a pirate. He was juggling knives while eating apples and doing all the shit that park performers do, but this guy was different. He was selling a CD on how to become a Juggling Pirate. The kids were crowded around him and seemed to love him, as he was pretty kick ass. But in the twisted mind of yours truly, I pictured the kids being terrified, running in all directions, dodging stray knives… that sort of thing. And from that came the second installment of Jimmy Buttcheeks Stick Figure Pin Ups. This time featuring Desi… and you can find the full description here.

As you can see, I stepped up my game a little and when it came to drawing Desi, I actually bought a sketch pad and a box of colored pencils. Things were starting to move along, and I was starting to get noticed by some pretty cool people. Rockabilly Richie, for example!

I can’t say enough good things about this man. But in a nutshell, he is my motivation, inspiration, and my biggest support. He has helped me in ways that no other has. Examples? Well, he turned me on to the Wacom Bamboo Tablet, he offered up support and insight to my drawings, he hung two of my pictures in his art room where he works. One of the best things that this guy did for me?

He put my art work in a real life, totally legitimate gallery at Claude Gallery in Eastchester, NY.

Richie not only put my work up in this gallery, He invited me out to the opening and even let me sleep on his couch for the night that I was there. Again… this guy is no joke. Please check out some of his work. He’s all over the place and one of the Koolest Kats that you’ll ever meet. Look for him here, and here.

Richie… I can’t thank you enough my friend.

As the Stick Figures picked up momentum on The Pinup Lifestyle I made a lot of new friends and had a lot of request for more drawings. Unfortunately, my job was in full swing and the seven days a week, fourteen hour shifts cut deeply into my time to draw. I had time to put out three more drawings. One for Miss Rocket Girl, one for Tabitha, and one that was  just a goof on bands that open for bigger stars such as Social Distortion and the hell that those bands go through, and also put the crowd through as well. Take a look below!

Full description here. Read it!

Full description here

Full description here.

So here is what came from one pencil and a hotel receipt. Not to shabby, eh?

There are a few others out here in the wonderful world of “art” that you might want to stop by and take a look at. For example, there is SF Photojournal. Don’t ask me what he really does for a living as I don’t think anyone really knows. I’d have to take a shot in the dark and answer with; “He makes funny little movies on YouTube that involve “festive dances”. This guy is an amazing photographer. I’ve seen him in action, I’ve even been in front of his lens a time or two. He’s a great guy with an eye for the perfect shot. You should swing by and check out his work. You wont be disappointed! His Pin Up related photos are here.

There is also this guy Amano Jyaku. He’s a hoot! Basically his art revolves around super hot cartoon type girls with really nice boobs and long red hair! Every once in a while (like once actually) I can get him to draw a picture of Debbie Gibson for me. He does a super job and is a pretty funny character. I’m not sure, as I never asked, but I think his cat is named after one of the bagpipe players from the Dropkick Murphys. You can follow him on Twitter. His Wednesday Twitter Sketches are pretty neat!

Okay, Loyal Readers! I know this post wasn’t as funny as some of the other things that I done, but I was at the bar last night and just kind of thinking of some of the wonderful and creative people who have come into my life in the last year or so. I wanted to pay some respect to them, and possibly turn you on to some good art and some nice web sites.

The other thing that I wanted to point out is that I really did get to go to that “other coast” that so many people speak of and see my stick figures hanging on the wall next to some terrific artist. Sure, there was a lot of help along the way, and one nice person lead to another (Yeah Downs Custom and Robert Hatch, I’m talking about you!) but it really all started with a pencil and the back of a hotel receipt. I get asked a lot; “Jimmy! When you gonna draw some more Stick Figures???” and the truth is, I don’t know that I ever will. It’s not that I don’t want to, and it’s not that they’re not fun to do, it’s just that those pictures… they were drawn with heart! You know? I didn’t have to think about them. There was never a “rough draft”. They just happened. They poured right out of me… hell, I couldn’t have stopped them if I wanted to.

But I just wanted to leave you with this… If this guy can get from California to New York on a stick figure, think of the shit you can get up to!

Take your dream, give it a hug and a pat on the back, and run with that fucker!

The only person stopping you, is yourself. Don’t be scared. Life is too short.

If you get some time, share a story or even a link with me in the comments section of this blog. I’d love to see what type of art inspires you!

Until next time, Readers!

Jimmy