by Marty Coleman | Apr 9, 2015 | Series |
Nina and Tuaca
Last year my friend and fellow napkin artist, Nina Levy, submitted and won the annual Tuaca Napkin Contest (Tuaca is a liqueur). She couldn’t submit again this year so she encouraged me to enter and I came up with this napkin as my entry. Here is her winning entry from last year.
Why Lions
I included lions because the research I did showed the lion was integral to the Tuaca company heritage as an icon and a brand identifier. Other than that addition I pretty much drew a nice moment to enjoy a cool drink on the rocks.
Sharing and Winning
It will be up online at the Tuaca Napkin Gallery as soon as they see it doesn’t break their rules (I can’t show a drunk human or lion for example) and/or not perverse in some way. I hope you will go there and share my napkin on your social media platforms. While there isn’t a formal voting element to the contest I would hope a lot of shares might indicate to the judges the popularity of the drawing.
The winner gets some nice swag and a check for $5,000.00 from Tuaca. I would like that!
Drawing © 2015 Marty Coleman
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by Marty Coleman | Apr 6, 2015 | Dressing - 2015 |
#sameoutfitdifferentday
Dressing the Same
This morning I read an article, ‘Can Women Get Away With Wearing the Same Thing To Work Everyday?‘. It’s interesting and has some insightful and funny responses.
My response at the time was, “Here’s my thought on it. Unless the expectation of a woman wearing something different everyday is going to get you fired or demoted if you don’t adhere to it, then the decision is on the woman. It’s not about society’s pressure, or other women’s expectations or anyone else on the outside saying anything, it’s the woman making the decision on what to wear who is responsible for the decision. We constantly talk about how we are suppose to NOT worry about what others think. As a woman, if you believe that AND you like the idea and reality of wearing the same thing most every day (or even more than once a week) then wear it and be confident in your choices.”
But that is a bit simplistic of a response from a man and creative artist point of view. Since I am not a woman, I wanted to find out more about why or why not my female family and friends think.
Here are my questions:
- Is ok or not ok to wear the same outfit more than one day in a row, in a week, etc.
- What are your rules for that and why do you have them?
- What do you think when other women break those unspoken rules?
- If you don’t like the rules because they are expectations from outside, why and how do you get around them, or do you?
- What wider opinion do you have about this?
Here is what my wife said about it. She would wear the same earrings or shoes, no problem. Jeans as well. But a skirt, dress or blouse? No, she wouldn’t. Why not I asked. She said it might show she doesn’t have much to wear (meaning she’s poor to some degree) and that it might smell, or people might think it smells even if it doesn’t, just by virtue of it being worn more than once. She said if she was traveling she might be more likely to repeat an outfit.
Retweet and Share
I would love to know what you think of the drawing and give a retweet or a share of the image and the blog post would be great. Use the hashtag #sameoutfitdifferentday to connect to others talking about the article.
Keep the conversation going among your friends, male and female, see what they have to say.
Bonus Points
Where do the texts on the towel come from?
This drawing and any of the napkin drawings are for sale – original or print. Please email me at marty@napkindad.com to inquire.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
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by Marty Coleman | Apr 1, 2015 | Shame - 2015 |
A Question
Is this quote true?
I think it might be. Here’s why.
The Anger of My Father
When I was growing up my father was often angry. He wasn’t pissed off at little league games or piano recitals (and I am grateful for that), but he was angry at many things for many years.
Life got pretty difficult in the early 70s due to his drinking, and the drinking of my mother, who was inebriated most every single day for years. The alcohol brought out intense, angry battles between them, with us three kids being collateral damage along the way. My older sister and I were teenagers during this time and we often got in arguments with them as well. Most of my arguing with either of them basically was telling them to get their shit together, that they were the parents and we were the children and I wished they would act like it. It was frustrating and unstable, not only for us two older ones, but especially for my younger sister, who was between 6-9 years old during the worst years.
And it got worse before it got better, a lot worse. But it did get better. My mother and father both stopped drinking. My father’s anger, while never complete gone, was greatly diminished and well within what could be considered ‘normal’.
20 Years Later
I don’t remember my father telling me he felt shame from all those years of anger, but I think that was one of the main emotions he felt. Why do I think that? Because when it was my turn 20 years later to be the adult with problems of alcohol and anger, that is what I felt.
What do you think?
From your experience, does something begun in anger eventually end in shame?
Here are my other posts on shame –
Headline Walking – Shame #1
Sara Haines, Kim Kardashian and the Power of Empathy – Shame #3
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, American inventor, diplomat, politician, business owner, printer, writer.
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by Marty Coleman | Mar 31, 2015 | Series, Sketchbook History Tour |
The Napkin Drawing
A few days ago I had a client meeting at Starbucks. I stayed after it was over to drink the rest of my coffee and draw. Two women were having a conversation close to me, one facing me, the other away, and it seemed I could get in at least a quick sketch before they left.
I did a quick pen and ink napkin drawing. What was interesting was both of them were sitting up straight. Neither leaned back in their chair, except briefly. The one facing away was particularly still the entire time, sitting on the very edge of her chair.
A few days later I finished the napkin drawing, coloring it in a somewhat fanciful way, not really worrying about accuracy because of the other drawing I did of them that same morning.
The Sketchbook Drawing
I took a chance they would stay a while and brought out my sketchbook and did another, more detailed, drawing of them. It probably took about 45-60 minutes to do the drawing.
Because they both sat so straight and still it was a great opportunity to get more in depth with the shading.
When I got home I immediately started working on the drawing. I like the finished drawing; the colors, shading and mood feel right. The only part that bothers me is where the two arms meet in the bottom middle of the drawing. It flattens things out in an odd way, making them look like they are next to each other instead of one being in front of the other.
Connecting
When I finished they were still talking. I usually draw people who are alone so it’s no big deal to come up to them when I am done drawing and show it to them. I may be interrupting something but it’s not going to be a conversation (unless they are on the phone/facetime, etc, in which case I don’t interrupt). In this case I knew I would be interrupting a conversation but I felt it would be worth it.
I showed them the drawings, first the sketchbook drawing, then the napkin. The women who was facing away, Elizabeth, didn’t seem to be appreciative of the interruption, which makes sense, since I WAS interrupting. Megan, who was facing me and whose face you see in the drawings, seemed more enthusiastic but still muted in her response.
And that illustrates why drawing two strangers and showing it to them is harder than drawing one. There is the consideration of the other person to take into account when responding to the artist. The dynamic of three is a lot more complicated than the dynamic of two. It’s the same reason that while I understand the desire & need, it can often be awkward when someone escorts a model to a photo shoot. The model is responding to the escort at times, instead of to me as the photographer. And it’s the reason that while people may dream of a menage a trois it barely ever happens in real life because it would be way too complicated (no, I haven’t).
I usually like to get a photo of the model with the drawing but given the situation I decided it would be too intrusive and didn’t ask. I always regret not asking. But I gave them my business card and told them the drawings would be done and up on ‘The Napkin’ by next week. Hopefully they will come see it.
Drawings and writing by Marty Coleman
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