August Afternoon

"August Afternoon" was inspired by the heat. It's been very, very hot/humid here in L.A. this week — dripping, sweating, cranky, fetid hot. Originally this was titled, "Fucking Hot" but that sounded presumptuous. This concept has been kicking around for about 5 years. The first sketches for it were in profile, then 3/4, then an under view. I liked it and just kept reworking it until Monday night when I decided to "actualize" it. Besides the filled reservoir and the post-coital smoke, the only other consistent element through the various outline permutations was that the guy was rat-faced (large pointy nose, beady eyes, weak chin), but because I'd been critical of pretty people in this week's diatribe, I replaced the rat-faced boy with my version of a "pretty boy" to make amends. It still works, just from a slightly altered perspective. I love this. The squalor, the bare bones existence, the bag of Cheeto's.... I did, however, deviate from a totally accurate scene. It should have been a snapped fitted sheet. Nobody uses flat sheets anymore, especially with a mattress tossed on the floor. But I don't often get to show off my draping skills these days. So, I went with a flat sheet. Drapery… it's like catnip to a homo.

— Michael Kirwan

August Afternoon — 2012 — 8" x 7½"