Video summary
In this episode of his Random Ink Alchemy series, artist Kim Deas Holm invites viewers to witness an unedited creative process that blends chaos with intentionality. He begins by presenting an inkblot and explaining that while the act of drawing from random stains is often seen as purely spontaneous, it is actually a form of magic where art is conjured out of disorder. Holm reveals early on that he has already decided the subject will be a creature with scissors for a head, a concept inspired by old images of scissors and his recent personal changes. This decision contrasts with the typical expectation of total randomness in such videos, as the flow of the ink will still dictate the final shape, ensuring that even a predetermined idea results in a unique outcome different from any previous attempt.
The specific inspiration for the "Scissorhead" comes from a humorous yet relevant personal anecdote regarding Holm's hair. After posting several videos with his hair tied up in a bun, he received numerous comments asking where his hair had gone, leading him to realize that many viewers were not paying close enough attention to the visual details on screen. This lack of observation became a metaphor for a world flooded with misinformation and AI-generated content, prompting him to make fun of the situation rather than the people themselves. The narrative takes a turn when he explains that during a vacation in Spain, he finally decided to cut his hair short at a local barber shop, transitioning from having a bun to having very little hair on the sides. This physical change serves as the direct basis for drawing a monster whose head is literally scissors, symbolizing the act of cutting off the hair that had been missing or questioned by his audience.
As the drawing progresses, Holm shares several secrets that add depth to the video's structure, admitting that this particular session was actually the least random of all his ink drawings because he knew exactly what he wanted to create before starting. He recounts two previous failed attempts at making this specific video: the first time he forgot to press record while drawing the subject, and the second time the camera fell asleep due to an active sleep timer. These mishaps led him to talk about other topics in those versions, such as the late artist Sam Keith, which he avoids repeating here to keep the narrative fresh. By labeling this version "Scissorhead C," he acknowledges that while the story about his haircut remains consistent across attempts, the artistic execution and the specific ink patterns will always be distinct, proving that true randomness is impossible when one has a clear vision in mind.
The video concludes with Holm successfully completing the drawing of Scissorhead, a figure that somewhat resembles a moose due to the shape formed by the ink. He expresses satisfaction with how quickly the piece came together and notes that he will add shadows underneath to finalize the monster. True to his philosophy on art, he announces that the finished image will be released under a Creative Commons Attribution License, allowing anyone to download, tweak, or even sell the artwork as long as they credit him as the artist. He emphasizes that art, like free speech, should remain accessible and unrestricted. The episode ends with a playful warning that if viewers do not brush their hair, Scissorhead will come to cut it off, followed by an invitation for supporters to visit his website to purchase originals or prints, encouraging engagement through comments and anticipation for the next random ink drawing.
Read the full video transcript
What do you see in this inkblot?
Ooh.
>> [snorts]
>> Is it
a
bulldog? Is it a weird face? I- I- Is it
that strange little head that lives
under your bed
uh and whispers things that should never
be said?
Like, "Hey, my name is Fred." I I should
stop the rhyming and instead we should
just
look at this inkblot
and see the potential of what's there
before I start drawing it.
And while we stare into this inkblot,
allow me to explain what I'm doing here.
Random ink drawings is not just drawing.
It's fun, it's play,
but it's magic. It's conjuring art out
of chaos.
My name is Kim Deas Holm and I've done
this a thousand times or more.
So, in this series, I want to show the
whole unedited process as it happens
both on paper and in the mind.
There will be no edits, pauses, or time
lapses, and no scripts beyond this
intro, which I've just written and I'm
reading for the first time. So, so
expect to hear it more.
Like a Rorschach test,
things may might get dark, it might get
silly, it might get personal, and it
might get political.
Drawing is my journey pushing myself
as an artist and as a person, drawing to
become. If you want to skip to the end
and just see what the art turned out to
be, then spoilers, I have marked that in
the video and you're free to skip. but
if you want to come with me and find out
what the ink wants to be,
that starts just about now.
And
starting just about now, I have to admit
that I've not been
completely honest.
Uh because
let's reveal that at the end.
Let let Let's do something because there
is a
couple of secrets to this ink blot
that I
will reveal at the end of this video,
but before
the point where where people jump to the
end to see the art. So, if if you're
following along on the journey, then
then then you will get that secret, that
those additional secret. But the first
secret is that I know what this is going
to be.
This is going to be scissor head, and
I've already Googled
some old scissors
just to get inspired by
the different shapes.
And I'm going to do some sort of
creature or person or monster or
thingamabob
with
scissors as a head.
And
uh
there is a silly reason why I'm doing
this. But
one of the things
that's so fun with
these random ink drawings is even if you
have
something in mind,
that doesn't mean
that
the
art is any less random because
what happens with the ink blot, with how
the ink flows,
that will
affect
the art
in strange, strange ways.
So, so
And th- this will be uh
hopefully a good example of that. How
even though I know that this is
scissorhead,
then
it will be
very much different from
any other scissorhead
because of how
the
inkblot turned out.
So, uh there is a reason why I'm calling
this scissorhead, a and that's a very
silly reason.
Because I I did a bunch of videos
recently
where I had my hair up in a bun.
And I do expect stupid comments
on my videos, not because I don't
value or like my audience. You guys are
great, but
whenever you
get your videos out to thousands of
people,
that means you will get
comments from people who
aren't really paying attention and not
using their intellectual faculties to
the fullest. So, I did these videos
where I had my hair up in a man bun,
and I got several comments asking
in all seriousness
where did your hair go?
And in those videos, you can see where
my hair go.
Where my hair go?
Where my hair went?
So,
I found
not just that I got that question once
time one time, but but that I got that
question multiple times. I found that so
fascinating
that I
wanted to make a video making fun of it.
And not making fun of the people, but
but of of
the lack of attention
not just to be funny, but also because
you you actually need to be paying
attention. We're we're we're living in
this world that's flooded
with
AI fakery and propaganda and fake news
and all of that
And if
you are
asking
where the head went
the hair went because
you're not used to seeing it
in a bun
you can see the bun on screen
then the the
then you need to be paying better
attention. That's worth making a joke
about.
Hopefully, we'll see.
Um
But since that time
my hair has actually gone somewhere. So,
so I've been vacationing in Spain with
my wife and kids or actually just one of
the kids this year.
Uh
and and
I'm on summer vacation in Spain, I go to
a barber shop.
The same barber shop every year, and I
get my hair and beard trimmed.
But this year, uh I wanted to do
something more, so
I have actually cut my hair.
I don't have much hair
on the sides anymore.
So now this video will go from
explaining what a man bun is
to explaining
what hair is
that you can
cut it, and it doesn't hurt, and it will
go grow back.
So
that's
uh
yeah, that's the basis for why I'm
drawing
Scissorhead, and just as a funny
illustration
on a fun video.
And this Scissorhead
is
becoming sort of moose-like.
I don't know why,
but there's something in the shape that
just reminded me
of
a moose.
And if you put a scissor
on top of a moose,
yeah?
You will get
Scissorhead.
It's that simple.
And I like that there is
these things dripping.
So
yeah.
It's almost like he has already
cut something
with his
scissor.
And uh yeah.
Is this a practical scissor? No,
probably not.
But
it is
Scissorhead's scissor.
And
this one went kind of quick.
So, I'm happy with that.
I need to do some like like some always
do some shadows or something
underneath. This random ink drawing will
be
just a
just a figure, just a monster.
So, this could have been my old rand
daily ink monster series, but but but
now it's in my random ink drawing series
instead.
So, so those can overlap and I'm very
comfortable with that.
But, I promised a secret because now
we're
nearing being finished.
And I promised a secret and that secret
is
that this is the least random
ink drawing
random ink drawing video I've done.
Not because I decided what to draw
beforehand,
but because
I'm an idiot.
So, the first time I did this video
I forgot
to I I I actually drew
this guy,
Scissorhead,
and I forgot to
press record.
That was kind of stupid.
>> [sighs]
>> And then,
>> [clears throat]
>> the second guy I did the second guy the
second time I did this video,
>> [gasps and laughter]
>> I did this little guy,
but
I had forgotten to turn off the sleeping
function on the camera, so the camera
fell asleep.
And both videos
>> [snorts]
>> were great. I I I think I
talked a little bit better maybe on some
of those.
And I talked about a few things that I I
didn't get to talk about in this
version,
like I I I talked about
the art of Sam Keith, who died earlier
this year and his influence on me.
A
A And I'm sure I will talk about that in
another video, but but
I I just didn't want to repeat that for
the third time on this video,
because I'm already repeating a lot of
the things I said in the two videos that
didn't work.
So, the whole story about um Spain uh
uh and cutting my hair, that's the same
in both videos. A- And so, in that
sense, this is
less random
than any other
random ink drawing I've done
so far.
But,
we have Scissorhead. I'll call him
Scissorhead A. We'll
do an A here.
Scissorhead A.
Or
Scissorhead
B
and then this will be Scissorhead C and
that's the secret that just
those who are cool enough to see the
whole
video know about.
Uh
then it's time to wrap this one up.
We're going to remove the tape and I'm
frantically seeing that oh, is it
recording? Is it recording? I hope it's
recording. It is recording. It's been
recording for 14 minutes.
Technology, man. Technology.
Okay.
So,
let's write
Scissor
head without an A and with a umlaut over
the O and then we write
random ink drawing number
15.
So, that was random ink drawing number
15, Scissorhead.
And if you don't uh
brush your hair, Scissorhead will come
and cut it off.
If you want to support these drawings,
then please do go to
denungeherreholm.com
where you can buy originals and prints
and where I also, when this is scanned,
I will put it up there for free use. So,
you can download it, you can tweak it,
you can even sell it.
I publish everything under a Creative
Commons Attribution License, so it's
yours to use however you want, as long
as you attribute me, name me as artist.
Because art, like speech, should be
free.
If you think this was a cool drawing and
a cool journey,
do comment
and do watch the next video
and yeah, I'll see you for the next
random ink drawing.
>> [snorts]