by Marty Coleman | Jul 12, 2013 | Making Mistakes - 2013, Scott Adams |
If I am not mistaken, today is day two of our ‘Making Mistakes’ series.
In The Beginning
When I was in about 4th grade I did an art piece. It was a collage with painting. It had pieces of newspapers here and there on the paper, with big areas of white and big areas of red overlapping them. When I had got that far I looked at it and thought it still looked boring, wasn’t complete. So I took some blue paint and sort of drip/splattered ala Jackson Pollack, all over the piece. I thought it looked great.
However, my best friend, Craig, looked at it and said something I have never forgotten. He said, ‘You ruined it with that last blue splatter stuff. You always go to far with your art.’ Now I know what you are thinking…4th grade? Really? Who were you two pretending to be, Matisse and Picasso? But as odd as it sounds, that is exactly how it came down.
The Editor
I remembered that admonition from Craig throughout all my years in High School, College, Graduate School and as a practicing and exhibiting artist. I remember it not because it was true in that particular instance, I still liked the piece and that it was better with the blue splatters, but because it was my first real lesson in looking at art as not just what you do but what you don’t do, what you leave out. It was my first encounter with the verbalized idea of editing.
As I went about getting my degrees in art back in the 70s and 80s I saw the lesson lived out again and again, in my own development and in the development of my fellow artists. The ones who progressed, who moved forward and got better, were the ones who spent as much time discerning, editing and rejecting as they did creating. The ones who languished were the ones who only created and never edited. The created, but they didn’t create art. At least not art of a very high caliber.
The Tale of Three Camps
They were in one of two camps. They either were too easily satisfied, never going far enough or they always went too far. Of the two camps, ‘Camp Too Far’ was always the more interesting and compelling. It’s like a Ferrari that goes too fast. Seeing it speed by is energizing and a bit scary and perhaps seeing the wreck down the road may be hard to look at, but you look anyway. I’ve been in that camp before (As Craig pointed out). ‘Camp Not Far Enough’ is like Ferrari driven too slow by a little old lady. Not only is it boring to watch but it is frustrating because you know the potential is there, they just won’t put on the gas. Rarely have I been in ‘Camp Not Far Enough’.
Of course, for me, the camp I aspire to live in, and do so more and more as the years progress, is ‘Camp Far’. It’s like the driver who may drive fast at times but knows when to speed up and when to slow down. They don’t often wreck, but they also are willing to risk having a glorious failure in their attempt to push their passion to where it needs to go. The driver knows the accelerator and the brake pedals are next to each other for a reason.
The Fourth Camp
Are you willing to make a mistake? If you aren’t then you aren’t likely to achieve much either. You might be in another camp. The one Henry David Thoreau named ‘Camp Quiet Desperation’. You don’t want to be in that camp.
__________________
Drawing and Commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Scott Adams, 1957 – not dead yet, American cartoonist. Creator of Dilbert.
__________________
Like this:
Like Loading...
by Marty Coleman | Jul 11, 2013 | Making Mistakes - 2013, Tallulah Bankhead |
My Pet Peeve
You know what I used to hate? I hated it when someone dies tragically and a grieving relative says, “Well, at least he died doing what he loves.” When I would hear that in my mind I would be yelling “HE DID NOT LOVE HAVING HIS BODY TORN TO PIECES BY A GRIZZLY BEAR! THAT IS NOT WHAT HE LOVED! People like dying in their sleep at age 100 with no pain and a long life. That is how people love to die!”
A Different Understanding
Ok, so I sort of know that is not what they really meant. But it sounds like it at times. What they really meant was this person who died was out living life, choosing to not worry about the possibilities of death to such a degree that it stopped them from doing what they loved. Would they have chosen to not try to feed the grizzly bear that day? Yes. But then again maybe they would have still died if they stayed in the warmth of the cabin that morning. After all, we all are going to die, right? We can be as careful as we want and we still won’t avoid it.
Sooner Rather than Too Later
Delaying your life because you are afraid of making a mistake is a big mistake. Are you a planner? Then plan something now that you love to do. Are you the spontaneous type? Then focus that spontaneity in an area that really matters to you and go do it. It doesn’t have to be some death defying adventure. Your big ‘mistake’ can be going to a museum. Your big ‘mistake’ can be taking a Sunday drive to that small town 100 miles away that you have heard had a great ice cream shop. The point is to break through your paralysis of fear of making a mistake and go. The alternative is the scene in the Napkin above.
I don’t want a tombstone that reads, “You Know What I Would Like To Try…” I want it to say, “I made the best mistakes EVER!”
________________
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Tallulah Bankhead, 1902-1968, American actress
She was a great source of quotes in Hollywood. She also said,
“It’s the good girls who keep diaries, the bad girls never have time.”
“I will come make love to you at 5 o’clock. If I am late, start without me.”
“I am as pure as the driven slush.”
Ms. Bankhead at Finocchio’s with female impersonators
______________________
If I had to live my life again, I’d make the same mistakes, only sooner.
Like this:
Like Loading...
by Marty Coleman | Jul 10, 2013 | Bodyless Ghirl Ghosts - 2012-2013 |
Last we saw of the bodyless ghirl ghosts they were hiding under towels in a women’s locker room. This is what happened next.
Curious Angelica and Mischievous Kimber
After all the women left the locker room the bodyless ghirl ghosts played in the showers, getting wet and zooming through the locker room. They sprayed water everywhere as they went. This, by the way, is the reason you see big mysterious puddles in locker rooms when no one has been around.
Angelica, the curious one, went out around the corner and found a funny looking wooden door that was slightly ajar. She slipped through the opening and found herself inside a small room all made of wood. It had benches at different levels and had what looked like a box of rocks on the wall. It was warm inside and she dried off pretty quickly.
She flew back to the rest of the bodyless ghirl ghosts and told them they about the funny wood room and followed her back inside. Kimber, the mischievous one, stayed outside and when all of them were in she flew up against the door really hard, pushing it closed. Immediately the light went on in the room as all the bodyless ghirl ghosts looked out the window in the door at Kimber. They all laughed, thinking it was pretty funny. They enjoyed the heat and dried off very quickly.
Meanwhile Kimber decided to go check out the men’s locker room, knowing the water polo team was done practicing and were changing clothes.
The Heat
While Kimber went off to ogle the Water Polo team the bodyless ghirl ghosts were starting to get hot. It turns out none of them had ever been in a sauna before. When the door had closed it activated the heater and the rocks were now starting to glow red with heat.
They were starting to shrivel. While alive people shrivel when they are in water, bodyless ghirl ghosts plump up when they get wet and the shrivel a bit when they are dry. They can really shrivel a LOT when they get too hot. This is what was happening now. The all pressed up against the window yelling for Kimber to come back. She couldn’t hear them.
The Water Polo Team
Kimber meanwhile was being very naughty zooming all around trying to get a good look at the boys in all their glory. She hadn’t seen many boys while she was alive, having been raised in a convent. She was amused by the boys because some seemed to really like showing off their bodies and others were trying to hide them. She wasn’t sure why this was so. In spite of her confusion she couldn’t wait to tell the other bodyless ghirl ghosts all about the boys and what they looked like naked. They would be so jealous.
The Angry Prunes
She finally decided to go back to find the other bodyless ghirl ghosts, thinking it odd they had not already caught up to her. When she returned she laughed at all the bodyless ghirl ghosts pressed up against the window screaming because they looked like little angry prunes. She smashed into the red button on the outside of the wood door and it popped open. The bodyless ghirl ghosts streamed out, gasping for air.
The Showing Off
They all yelled at Kimber, head butting her (that’s the only type of butting they can do since they don’t have real butts) and calling her names. She didn’t know what the big deal was, plus for once she looked better than they did and so in her mind it was worth it. She told them about the Water Polo team and her questions about their behavior and their anatomy. The bodyless ghirl ghosts decided they had to see for themselves and so they all flew back into the boys locker room. They ogled for quite a while, paying particular attention to the team captain who was showing off the most.
The bodyless ghirl ghosts had to go back to the hotel and take cold showers after that.
The End
_____________
Click in the series drop down menu on the right and pick ‘Bodyless Ghirl Ghosts’ to see and read the rest of the adventures.
Like this:
Like Loading...
by Marty Coleman | Jul 9, 2013 | Illustrated Short Stories, Quote Authors |
While I was in Dallas this past weekend I went to a bookstore late at night. I once again found a person sitting still who would be a good subject. I drew her in my sketchbook instead of on a napkin. This time I wasn’t able to meet her as she left quickly while I was barely started on the drawing. Instead I made up a story.
__________________
The Realizing Woman
Chapter 1
Her laptop was dead so she borrowed her boyfriend’s computer to go to the bookstore and study.
Chapter 2
She finished studying and started rummaging around her boyfriend’s computer. She found a folder inside a folder inside a folder titled with her name. She opened the folder.
Chapter 3
She saw files titled with her name. She double clicked on one and when it opened it was a photo of herself nude from 10 years before, when she was 19, before she knew her boyfriend. She had never shown the photos to him or ever told him about the photo shoot she had done.
Chapter 4
She looked at the photo, and a number of others he had from the same shoot, for a long time. She was angry. She was angry that she had let herself go and no longer had that same great physique.
Chapter 5
She left the bookstore, went to her boyfriend’s house and dropped off the computer. She thanked him, broke up with him and left.
Chapter 6
She went home, stripped to her bra and panties, took a photo of herself in the bathroom mirror and titled it ‘Day One – Before’. She then got into her running shorts and tank top and went out the door. She ran 8 miles in her neighborhood, finishing at 1 am.
Chapter 7
She got home, stripped down again and took another photo, titling it ‘Day One – After’. She repeated this every day for the next 9 months.
Chapter 8
She posted her before and after photos, all 9 months worth, online as a video montage. It went viral. She became a world renowned personal trainer with videos, a workout clothing line, and fitness equipment for sale.
The End
________________________
Drawing and short short story by Marty Coleman
________________________
Like this:
Like Loading...
by Marty Coleman | Jul 8, 2013 | Travel Napkins |
Early Morning Practice
As is my practice when traveling, I try to get out early to a coffee shop of some sort to draw, read, or write before the rest of my family is up and about. On the day after Independence Day I walked over to a local Starbucks for my venti size Cafe Mocha. This woman was deep into her work and I, thinking she would likely be there for a while and I could get a good drawing in, sat down at the table next to her. I couldn’t see her face because of her hair hanging down and that added a technical element to the drawing challenge I liked.
How I make my Drawing Decisions
The only real movement she made was to lean forward closer to the laptop screen or further back. I drew her hair, hoodie and body first, leaving her face and it’s angle until I was sure I could get it right. The hoodie actually had a couple stripes down the arms but I didn’t like the idea of breaking up the lines with more lines so I didn’t include them. Her skirt was a print with very light and delicate flowers. I know I could get the colors right even if I couldn’t get the flowers in detail so I went with dots of colors.
She had on a ankle bracelet that I wanted to include but I didn’t really like where it fell on her leg, feeling it looks a bit too much like a sock top or a tattoo. I really liked her little container of watermelon and made sure to include that. She had a book on top of it which I thought might make it harder to recognize as a container if I added the book on top but I did it anyway, just another challenge. I finally committed to drawing her profile at a certain angle behind the hair. I felt like I got it right though the neck line from the chin probably could have been just a tad bit farther to the left.
I tried a number of different markers for shading, experimenting with layering a slightly darker shade of whatever color I had used. That worked somewhat but it wasn’t really dark enough so I eventually used my go-to color for shading, Prismacolor Celadon Green.
_______________________
Reference and Record
I took a photo just in case I didn’t have a chance to finish the drawing and wanted some later reference.
Reference Photo
I usually like to show the drawings I do of strangers to them if possible. She started folding paper into little rectangles and tearing them apart. She then proceeded to make what looked like spelling test cards. I noticed she had a couple big words on her screen and I got the impression she might be studying English, perhaps not speaking it at all. I wasn’t sure if I should approach her or not because of that but I decided I would.
Esther at Starbucks
It turned out she spoke English perfectly and was happy to see the drawing. I gave her my card and told her to email me so I could send her a copy of it. I also told her to come to the blog in a few days and I would have it up for all to enjoy. Let’s hope she does. Esther, if you do, leave a comment, ok?
_____________________
Drawing, photos and story by Marty Coleman
_____________________
Like this:
Like Loading...
