Six Drawings of People Looking at Things
Copyright © 2021 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Seven Drawings, Before and After – part 2
2013
2016
2016
2016
2016
2019
2015
Seven Drawings, Before and After – part 1
I sometimes think ahead and scan my line drawings before painting them. I thought I would show some of them to you side by side. The drawings were all done live at the scene. Painting was done afterwards in my studio. Five of these were done in coffee houses, one was done on an airplane.
There is a slider you can control, going from just line to fully painted. What do you think?
ink & acrylic paint, Starbucks, Tulsa, 2014
ink & acrylic paint, Shades of Brown, Tulsa, 2015
ink & acrylic paint, Shades of Brown, Tulsa, 2018
ink & acrylic paint, Starbucks, Tulsa, 2015
ink and acrylic paint, 2013
ink & acrylic paint, Fair Fellow Coffee, undated
Ink and Acrylic Paint, Starbucks, Tulsa, undated
Part 2 will be the vertical drawings
© 2021 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
The Vaccine – An Illustrated Short Story
The Vaccine – An Illustrated Short Story
The woman had rarely been out of the house for the last 12 months. The last time was picking up her daughter from the day care center the day it closed down. Since then she’d had groceries and meals delivered or her partner had gone shopping. She had worked remotely and had done all her exercising either on her own or via zoom.
She had gotten into the habit of staying in her sweats all day, not wearing a bra, makeup or doing anything with her hair. She told herself she liked it like that because it was so much easier.
But when it was time for their vaccine appointment she put on a bra and makeup and even colored her hair her favorite color. She put on her best tank top (it was hot that day) and her old skinny jeans and tried out a new pair of hoop earrings she had got for her birthday but had no reason to wear over the year. It made her unexpectedly happy to do all this.
They waited in the car line for about 20 minutes then it was their turn. She was so excited she forgot to put her mask on but no one said anything about it. She made sure to be on the passenger side with her partner driving so the shot would be in her right arm since she was left handed. She thought the nurse was the prettiest woman she had ever seen in her life and told her so. Her partner smiled because she had missed seeing that part of her over the year. Then they waited 15 minutes until the nice firefighter signaled they could go.
When they got home the first thing she did was take off her bra. But she kept the rest of her clothes on because they made her feel good. Then they had bologna sandwiches and potato chips to celebrate as they finally planned their long-delayed wedding.
The End
© 2021 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Chimera Cafe, Tulsa, OK
Back before the Pandemic, when we could actually go and hang out in coffee houses, I did so on a regular basis. Way back in October of 2016 I tried a new cafe, Chimera, in the Tulsa Arts District. After I settled in I drew the scene in front of me in my sketchbook while I sipped my coffee. I used a Japanese brush pen called Copic Gasenfude.
Fast forward 5 years. I was looking through that sketchbook and realized I never finished the drawing. Of course, 5 years later I had no memory of the actual colors of anything. All I knew was the bricks were red so I started there. After that it was simply using colors and tones I thought looked good in the scene and together. I added brick under the counter as a way to tie the image together even though I don’t think there actually was brick there.
This is an important thing to remember about art – unless you are being paid to replicate something or someone then what matters is how your image looks, not how accurate you are in copying reality. The image IS the reality people are looking at, not the original thing. That is why so many drawings and paintings made from photographs are so bad, because they look like bad drawings and paintings of photos, not good pieces of art.
Worry less about unoriginal and uncreative copying and trust more your own eye and hand to create something of interest.
© 2021 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Feeling Art – Six Drawings of Paintings and Sculptures
The painting looked at her longingly, hoping she would feel the same. She did, paying $765,000 for her and putting her over her couch so they could watch TV together.
The portrait sat there for years but the serpent was a good singer so she didn’t mind.
The metal sculpture was always hoping for visitors but was usually alone because of the volcano.
The dream recognized his recent lover but took no responsibility, blaming the image and deed for her condition.
The ancient sculpture spontaneously started crying oil paint of various colors from every minute crack and became a pilgrimage spot for all true artists from everywhere.
The sculpture enjoyed blocking the view of the nude since she was jealous of her having a body.
© 2021 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
Portraits, 1988-1989
These portraits from 1988 and 1989 are all from my sketchbook. Most of the models were friends from work or were students I asked to model to illustrate how to draw portraits.
I asked my students to use sketchbooks extensively because I wanted them to draw as often as possible. Waiting until you are in the studio makes sense for media that needs elaborate prep but drawing doesn’t. You can do it on anything anywhere.
I would demonstrate my use of a sketchbook by using them as models in the lecture portion of the class then have them do the same, using each other as models.
I wouldn’t often get very far with the drawings while they were actually posing for me, usually just a line drawing like you see in the first few drawings. But I would work on them later and show them at a later session to show how you can start with very basic lines and take off from there, even without the model being present.
I taught that there is power in focus. You don’t have to complete a drawing edge to edge, as a matter of fact, leaving most of it barely sketched in often allows the focus to be where you want it.
These may look pretty realistic to some but they really aren’t. They are a stylized realism, not photo-realism. I taught that an absolute likeness is not essential unless you are being paid to do that. If not, then you can and should feel free to compose and stylize as you wish. It’s how you develop your own look and style.
Individual style comes from adaptation of what is into what you want it to be. In my case I love definition, contrast and volume so I increase the lights and darks much further than they were in real life to achieve that.
In my opinion, no one needs a photographic copy of someone in a drawing. There is photography for that. The acclaim that comes from someone saying, ‘Wow, it looks just like a photograph!’ is nice, but in my opinion it’s just a gimmick unless something much deeper is being expressed (which is possible with photo-realism, I just don’t see it often).
And of course, my work wouldn’t be complete without adding in a cartoon image, preferably including my longest running characters, Singing Snake and Turtle.
Drawings and commentary © 1989-2021 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
12 Recent Drawings – Fall, 2020
© 2020 – Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
15 Recent Drawings
© 2020 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
I Draw in Church – Three Very Short Stories
She thought she was XX because of church but thought she was XY because of God.
The End.
The sermon caused her to search for her spiritual identity in the stars, not on the ground.
The End
She obsessed over Wor all during the service and didn’t regret it.
The End
© 2020 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com