The watercolor-marker whimsy of John Randolph Carter probably most strongly recalls the comic book-style drawing of Philip Guston. The stream-of-consciousness drawing also evokes bored adolescents doodling away during high school math class. Carter's images have that kind of free flowing fantasy--an exuberance unimpeded by narrative consistency. In drawings like "Orange Monster With Floating Faces and Small Animals," they simply exult in extraordinary forms that mutate as they come flowing out of the pen to be set ablaze with bright color.
This kind of hedonistic outpouring from the unconscious flavors all the earliest work. It's fun and joyous even though the lack of meaning eventually nags at the vacuous, colorful designs.
