Close enough

I have tons of old drawings, paintings, sketches and the like, in varying stages of completion, accumulated over the last couple of decades. Some have specific memories attached to them, but there are many others which I have no memory of making whatsoever. This is one of those.

The mid-2010s were a dark and confusing time for me, and my drawing style evolved a lot during this time. 2016 was a particularly tumultuous year, for a number of reasons, and the chaos that permeated my artwork was a reflection of that. I signed this one as “Meathead,” an old nickname that still gets used on occasion, in certain contexts. IYKYK.

I don’t remember exactly what prompted this piece, but the title “Close Enough!” feels like the kind of resignation I carried around a lot back then. The expression, the jagged lettering, the pixelated shapes in the eyes—it’s all exaggerated and cartoonish, but it still feels a little too honest. Like something I made in a hurry to avoid saying something directly.

It’s interesting to look at this now, almost a decade later, and recognize the patterns that were forming. The obsessive line work, the tension between humor and anxiety, the faces that look like they’re about to fall apart. I wasn’t trying to make anything “important” at the time; I was just trying to stay afloat.