Sketchbook History Tour
1972 – Present
September and October Drawings
Red Mother This woman is a worship leader at our church. She sings on stage but when not singing she sits on side row with her family. Today her son was intensely interested in a stretchy rope that he brought with him and spent a while sitting in front of her playing...
Nine Happy Nudes
I was scanning a sketchbook from 2020 recently and noticed a pattern in a number of drawings. There were a number of nudes with arms raised in joy, ranging from the simplest of stick figures to full nudes in a domestic setting. I thought they all looked happy so I am...
July and August Artwork, 2025
Spilt Coffee Dream Her eyes were closed during the sermon and I was worried about her coffee on the ledge so I decided she was worried about it too. The Sermon About Money I imagined her speaking one and thinking another. The Sermon About Barabbas The young women...
London and Paris in Color
Back in 2015 LInda, Caitlin and I took a vacation to London and Paris. I did many pen and ink drawings in my sketchbook. I didn't paint any of them at the time but always had the intention of getting back to them to do that. When I got home from my 2025 trip to Europe...
June Artwork, 2025
After I got home from France I was inspired to continue to create when out and about as much as possible. This includes, as usual, drawing in church. But I also drew on the train, in a park and in a museum. And, as is often the case, I also drew images that I just...
France in Black and White – Large Sketchbook Drawings
I like my large sketchbook because the paper is very high quality and takes the ink very well. I got it at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas a couple of years back. While in France this one came out most mornings at breakfast and a few other times when I was...
France in Black and White – Small Sketchbook Drawings
On this trip I took two sketchbooks to France, one small, one large. I brought out the small sketchbook for when I felt like I had just a few moments to draw or I had limited room, like on the airplane. Here are the drawings from that sketchbook with any photos I took...
Paintings That Took 15 Years
I have been scanning my sketchbooks of the past 54 years. Some were line drawings I knew I wanted to paint but never got around to them. This is especially true of a large black sketchbook I drew in from 2008-2010. Here is a selection of the drawings from that...
Drawings – Before and After
I often will go back into old sketchbooks and continue working on images, no matter how old they are. This is usually because it is a line drawing that I am now interested in painting. It's a mystery why some images don't catch my imagination to go farther than the...
Recent Brush Drawings – 2024
Recent Brush Drawings - 2024 I have continued to draw with my Copic Gasenfude ink brush lately. Something about the line width control I can get and, at the same time, the unpredictability of the line makes me enjoy both the act and result of drawing. And as you can...
The Spell of the Pianist
The Pianist We lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma for many years and attended First Baptist Church of Tulsa. The set up of the altar and stage combined with where we sat made the Pianist front and center to my line of sight. As a result I drew her a lot. The thing I remember is...
Small Portraits, part 2
Small Portraits, part 2 More portraits drawn in 2 very small sketchbooks I used in 1993-1994.
Small Portraits, part 1
Small Portraits, part 1 These were drawn in a teeny weeny (3"x5") spiral sketchbook with a regular ballpoint pen in 1995-1996. Some were drawn in airport waiting areas, others in church. others who knows where. These micro sketchbooks are great for traveling because...
Eulipian People
Eulipian People In the last post I told about having to commute by bus to my job in Downtown San Jose, California from the suburbs. The job was at Eulipia Restaurant and I chose to apply there because I liked their ad in the newspaper. It was cool and hip and it made...
Bus People
Bus People Back in 1981/82 my first wife, Kathy, and I were living with her parents in San Jose, California. We had returned to the Bay Area after my failed graduate school effort at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. That's a story for another...
Interregnum, 2000-2003
Interregnum, 2000-2003 In 2000 my divorce from my first wife, Kathy, was final. In 2003 I started dating Linda. In between I dated. Recently I scanned my sketchbooks from 2000 to 2003 and found these drawings of women I dated (or met in anticipation of maybe dating)...
Las Vegas Drawings – 2024
Las Vegas Drawings Linda attended a conference at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and I tagged along because why not. I did what I usually do when traveling and that is get up early, get a coffee and pastry and do some drawing. I was on my own the last 2 days while she...
Masked People
Masked People Long before Covid struck I was drawing masked people. It first started with beauty masks that people put on. I guess my wife must have done it a few times and I thought it looked really cool, I don't remember for sure. But I know that ever since I've...
Ball Point Pen Portraits
Ball Point Pen Portraits Back in the 1980s I was drawing in a sketchbook just as I am today. But back then I didn't have any fancy pens, I just had regular black ball point pens. The good part of that is I could almost always guarantee I could find a pen if I needed...
Bible People, part two
Bible People, part two Because I draw in church I sometimes find myself drawing a bible story. As should be obvious, I don't try to hew close to any literal accuracy. I do this for two reasons, first I don't think the literalness of the bible stories is anywhere near...
Pregnant People
I love drawing pregnant people. I don't get the chance to draw them from life very often but I make them up regularly in my sketchbook. Obviously the round shape of the belly is a perfect design element because of it's shape but it's so much more than that. One of the...
Bible People, Part One
Bible People, Part One As anyone who has followed me for any time knows, I draw in church. I Became a Christian in 1976 and I think the earliest drawing I have from church is probably from about 1979. I continue to this day 45 years later. This selection is from a...
Los Angeles Drawings, 2024
Los Angeles Drawings, 2024 My wife and I went on vacation last week. We had airline vouchers we had to use by mid-June but we procrastinated deciding where to go because we couldn't agree on a place. Finally it was getting down to it and we were talking about various...
Back People
Back People I draw in church and often it's the back of the person in front of me. I have also drawn the backs of people in auditoriums, airline terminals, meeting rooms, waiting rooms and coffee houses. But it's in church that I will most likely find the person...
Talking People
Talking People While most of the drawings I do in public are of just one person there are plenty of times when I am able to draw more than one. I usually won't attempt this unless I feel I have ample time to compose a more complex image and I have some assurance they...
Phone People
Phone People Some of the best models are those who are engrossed in something. And nothing engrosses 21st century humans like their phones. I take my sketchbook almost everywhere because if nothing else, I can guarantee that I will find someone on their phone. I don't...
Coffee People
Coffee People I have been continuing to scan my sketchbooks. Each sketchbook has a unique focus due to its own properties of size, paper quality, etc. It also has to do with what I was doing at the time. This sketchbook has a lot of live drawings of people in public...
Plane People
Plane People I've been scanning my sketchbooks this year and recently scanned one from 2000-2002. There were a number of drawings of people on planes or about to get on one. Planes and waiting rooms are wonderful places to people draw and I always make sure I have my...
The Sad Women
The Sad Women “I can promise you that women working together – linked, informed and educated – can bring peace and prosperity to this forsaken planet.” - Isabel Allende When I think about the Middle East recently I keep thinking about how powerless so many women must...
Amplified People
Amplified People As many of you know, I draw in church. When I lived in Tulsa the person I drew at church most often was the pianist. We sat in just the right location to get a good view of her so she was a ready subject. When we moved to Texas and found a church the...
Polka Dots – Recent Paintings
I recently finished a sketchbook. It's a weird thing to finish a sketchbook. I always feel like a relationship is ending. The feel, paper, size, look are all unique. How it takes ink, how I hold it, how it fits as I go somewhere is different with each sketchbook. Some...
Recent Live Drawings – 2022/2023
Finally, after many years of not being able to get out and draw live i've started to sketch in person again. These are from the winter of 2022-2023 in various locales; in a waiting room, at a pharmacy, at a coffee shop, in church and on a train. Sometimes I talk to...
The Poodle – A Short Story
The Poodle Annie finished reading her daily scripture and was contemplating its meaning when the phone rang. She decided, based on her morning study, that she was not going to answer the phone. The phone call was from the National Academy of Poodle Excellence and they...
Ten Drawings
Here are 10 drawings I've done over the Winter and Spring of 2021. Let me know your favorites! 'The Tik Tok Dancer' Ink on Paper 2021 She practiced her TikTok dance in the mirror in the room with her favorite dog and painting on a Sunday instead of going to Temple....
Six Drawings of People Looking at Things
The Weed Smoker, ink on paper, 2021 The Ring Finder, ink on paper, 2021 The Bird Saver, ink on paper, 2021 The Hors d'oeuvre Eater, ink on paper, 2021 The Worm Whisperer, ink on paper, 2021 The Flower Arranger, ink on paper, 2021 Copyright © 2021 Marty Coleman |...
Seven Drawings, Before and After – part 2
Jess the Flight Attendant, ink and acrylic paint on paper, 2013 Sara and the Phoenix, ink and acrylic paint on paper, 2016 A Poem in Her Head, ink on paper, 2016 The Pill, Ink on Paper,2016 A Song About Herself, ink on paper,2016 What She Is Made Of, ink and acrylic...