by Marty Coleman | Oct 21, 2012 | Art, How To Draw A Napkin - 2012 |
I know you have been waiting for this, so I am putting it on the table for you!
Steps 5a-5d: See steps 1a-1d
Step 5e: Get job at a restaurant.
Step 5f: Draw and photograph many of your co-workers and patrons (but not the ones you spill things on).
Step 5g: Meet art teachers, dealers and collectors and show them your work.
Step5h: Meet famous people and rich people and encourage them to buy your art.
Step5i: Repeat for 13 years.
Step 5j: Draw another waiter (not me, in spite of the resemblance, really) spilling food and wine all over.
Step 5k: Color in drawing of waiter. Use pretty colors.
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Concept, drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, who never spilled wine or food on anyone but did drop a few plates.
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Fact of the Day
The highest amount paid for a painting by a living artist is 34.2 million dollars at an October, 2012 Sotheby’s Auction. The artist is Gerhard Richter and the seller was Eric Clapton.
Here is a photo of the painting being sold. It's the colorful one.
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 19, 2012 | Art, How To Draw A Napkin - 2012, Marty Coleman |
I know you weren’t expecting this, but it was due!
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Steps 4a-4d: Repeat steps 1a-1d.
Step 4e: Meet someone.
Step 4f: Marry them (traditional version)
Step 4g: Have sex with them (traditional version)
Step 4h: Get pregnant, or help at least (traditional version)
Step 4i: Have baby (traditional version)
Step 4j: Repeat 4g-4i as often as you wish.
Step 4k: Draw baby being born from memory. (don’t draw as it happens, that would be rude).
Step 4l: Color in drawing (be accurate)
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Concept, drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, who contributed to this scenario 3 times (and added another in an untraditional way).
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Trivia of the day
An average of approximately 3,000 babies in the US are dropped upon delivery each year.
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 18, 2012 | Art, How To Draw A Napkin - 2012 |
Come on, let’s have a show! Here is what you do next in your journey to draw a napkin.
Step 3a-3d: Repeat steps 1a-1d
Step 3e: Draw yourself at your big exhibition opening greeting all the admiring guests.
Step 3f: Color in the drawing of yourself at the big opening.
Step 3f: Make sure to include your art and the rich and famous collectors, dealers and critics who will be there.
Step 3g: Show yourself complimenting them on their outfit and hair (if they have any).
Step 3h: Show yourself selling your work. Tell them the piece would go well over their bed.
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Concept, drawings and commentary by Marty Coleman, who is no relation to the artist in the drawings. Really.
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Fact of the day:
There are over 60 Museums on the Island of Manhattan, New York City.
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 17, 2012 | Art, How To Draw A Napkin - 2012 |
I hope this public service series on how to draw a napkin is helping you.
Steps 2a-2d: Repeat steps 1a-1d
Step 2e: Go to art college or at least a big empty space and draw naked people a lot. Men, women or hermaphrodites are acceptable.
Step 2f: Move from drawing naked people to painting naked people. Use pretty colors.
Step 2g: Practice being an artist for 30 years (this is an important step, don’t skip it).
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Concept, drawings and commentary by Marty Coleman
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Fact of the day:
Top ten most popular subjects in art (according to a survey conducted by Art Business Today magazine (UK)
1. Traditional landscapes.
2. Local views.
3. Modern or semi-abstract landscapes.
4. Abstracts.
5. Dogs.
6. Figure studies (excluding nudes or nakeds).
7. Seascapes, harbour, and beach scenes.
8. Wildlife.
9. Impressionistic landscapes.
10. Nudes (this includes Nakeds as well).
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by Marty Coleman | Oct 16, 2012 | Art, How To Draw A Napkin - 2012 |
Many people have asked me to teach them how to draw a napkin. So here is my FREE tutorial. Pay close attention.
Step 1a: Get a napkin
Step 1b: Get some markers
Step 1c: Draw a rectangle in the color of your choosing (note: creative moment of free will)
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Step 1d: Write the title in the rectangle
Step 1e: Draw a line around the rectangle (1d and 1e are interchangeable, but it is more dangerous)
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Step 1f: Draw another rectangle (this time using another color of your choosing)
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Step 1g: Write the subtitle in the rectangle
Step 1h: Draw a line around the rectangle (you do not have to repeat the border line, it’s already there, SCORE!)
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Step 1i: Draw someone learning to draw (be accurate) under the 2 rectangles
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Step 1j: Color in the drawing of someone learning how to draw (use pretty colors)
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TADA, you are now done with Step 1. Now practice.
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Concept, drawings and words by Marty Coleman
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 19, 2012 | Art, Censorship - 2012 |
I am going to sell you on the fact that today is #5 in my censorship series.
Back Door Censorship
I love when a quote gets me thinking about something in a completely new way. I had not really considered that creating a market for some things but not others, based on moral judgment, is a back door method of censorship. It’s really not about whether something can sell or not, it’s much more about the powers that be building a market world that only allows certain types of images, books, films, dance, songs, to be distributed and sold.
Here ye, Here ye, Judge Money Presiding
Think about the Ratings Board for Film in the US. What is that but a censorship bureau? I am not saying it’s necessarily a bad thing, but that it is a construction meant to limit the commercial viability of products they deem as ‘too much’ in one way or another. The stated goal of the Ratings Board is to help society know what they are about to see, whether it is appropriate or not. But it also is guaranteeing that any film rated NC-17 will not be distributed widely at all, thus making it’s commercial viability minimal. That isn’t just a by-product of the Ratings Board, it’s one of the main functions of the ratings board, albeit not publicly stated.
Profit within the non-profit
How does a non-profit organization, like a museum deal with this idea? They can’t say the paintings won’t sell, since they aren’t selling anything. But they can say the artwork won’t bring in people to the museum, that it will cause a controversy, that it will offend people, and the result of that? The museum will lose what? Money, that’s what. Now, most museums I have been to make some pretty courageous choices about exhibitions. But they also reject exhibitions because they are not ‘commercially viable’ for their institution, even though their institution is supposedly not commercial.
Basically, behind it all, and around it all, I think the power of money is a huge censorship device. What do you think of this idea?
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by David Mamet, American playright
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 30, 2012 | Art, Jean Cocteau |
I think this statement is true. I think this statement is not true.
Groovy, Man
My mother had a favorite artist when we lived in Connecticut. He did sort of psychedelic groovy paintings of rock stars and others. I think we had at least 3 of his paintings, maybe more. At the time (I was a teenager) I thought they were trendy and faddish. They seemed too attached to fashion, to the look of the times in clothing, magazines, etc. Almost like an illustration rather than fine art. I still have a one of the pieces, it’s stored away. I think someday it might be looked at fondly, as a reminder of a particular time, like looking at an old fashion magazine, but I don’t see if ever appearing timeless or beautiful. To me, it screams it’s birth date and death date all in one visual breath.
Art outside of Time
During that same time, we also bought a painting by my mother’s best friend. She had been an artist her whole life, was a crucial mentor to me in my early years as a learning artist. This painting was in the style reminiscent of the Abstract Expressionists of the 1950s. It had the energy and colors of that era. One perhaps could look at it and feel it is also trendy and faddish. But I don’t see that. I see a style, yes. But the beauty of the image transcends the limitations of it’s stylistic roots. It is not a prisoner to it’s era.
Funkadelic, baby!
In fashion there is a similar phenomenon. You can look at some outfits from the 70s and just know they will never escape their time. People might like them more this year than next, but that style will always be seen as attached to that moment in time, it will not transcend. It doesn’t mean it isn’t cool or fun. It just means it is a trendy statement, not a classic statement.
Little Black Dress
But while some of the outfits scream their date, some have become synonymous with style outside the confines of a particular time. You might know when they arrived on the scene but they are not shackled to that era.
I Love Fashion
I love looking at fashion, I love looking at art. I like fashion that screams it’s era, it is fun and exciting to watch as part of the passing parade of life. I also love fashion that is timeless. In art, I like transcendance, not trendiness. I like art that can tell me around when it was born but can also tell me it will never die.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, who had tight polyester pants and is damn proud of it!
Quote by Jean Cocteau, French writer and artist, 1889-1963
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by Marty Coleman | Jun 27, 2012 | Art, Competition - 2012, Patti Smith |
Thank God I made it to day #3 of Competition Week at the NDD!
Knowing the Universe
The quote says God, but it doesn’t really matter if you believe in a deity or not for this to be true. The point is that the universe is awesome. It is one big amazing masterpiece. Your job as an artist is to re-‘VIEW’ the universe. You interpret it, not copy it. You learn from it, not teach it. You stay informed by it, not ignorant of it.
Realistic Competition
It takes courage to compete with someone you know is going to win. Imagine being Michael Phelp’s rival over the past 8 years. But the truth is you aren’t competing directly against universe unless you are either so ignorant of the universe that you think you are at the center of it (You’re not, by the way) or you don’t think about it at all. But the best way to create the most fantastic art is to know your world, your universe. Pay attention to the sounds, tastes, smells, images, textures of the universe. Then filter it all through ‘you’ and out will come unique and individual creative work.
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Drawing by Marty Coleman, who has a talking paintbrush that posed for this drawing. Her name is Penelope.
Quote by Patti Smith, who lusts after Penelope but can’t have her.
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by Marty Coleman | Jun 22, 2012 | Art |
Most People
It started out as a napkin I was going to use one morning but I blew the text. I don’t know what it was suppose to say now, but I either left out a word before ‘both’ or wasn’t suppose to use that word to begin with. As a result I tossed it aside and started using it to test marker and pen colors. In doing so I filled the napkin up with small marks until there was no more room.
Both
I decided today I would turn the square of random marks and words into something and this is what I came up with. What do you think it means?
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Drawing by Marty Coleman, who likes turning one thing into another thing.
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by Marty Coleman | Apr 20, 2012 | Art, Artists I Love, Breasts - 2012-2013, Coco Larrain |
Coco
Are you wondering why I am combining two series, ‘Artists I Love’ and the current ‘Breast Week’? Coco is the reason. She was the inspiration for Breast Week because she just recently had a mastectomy as a result of her second bout with breast cancer. Her first was 15 years ago. She also happens to be a life-long artist.
Coco – 1972 High School Yearbook
A Long Time Ago
Coco went to school with me starting when I was about 13 until high school graduation 6 + years later. She was one of a handful of people in school who were designated, like I was, as ‘the artist’. Turns out, now that so many of us are reconnected via social media, we realize our school (Darien High School in Darien, Connecticut) produced a prodigious amount of amazing artists, but back then some already had shown such talent that there was no doubt they were and always would be an artist. Coco was at the top of that list.
Alas, as often happens after high school, I lost track of most everyone, including Coco. I moved back to California where I was born and it made keeping connected pretty hard. It was long before social media and unless you called or wrote a letter it wasn’t going to happen.
Cape Cod
Fast forward many decades and my family is going on vacation to Cape Cod and Boston. I post a note on Facebook letting my friends on the east coast know that I am coming their way and ask them who I may know on the Cape. Coco’s name comes up. I connect with her after 30+ years and find, no surprise, that she is still a practicing artist.
Linda, Caitlin and I made it to Cape Cod and I was able to visit Coco in the summer of ’09. It was the first time I had seen her since we graduated from high school. She was busy with some commissioned paintings and contemplating a kitchen demolition and remodel. It was great to see her and her fantastic place.
Coco’s backyard
Coco – 2009
Coco’s Art
I also found that she had breast cancer more than a decade earlier and that she painted a series of self-portraits during that time.
Inner Child Prays – Self-portrait
Coco’s self-portraits – displayed in her home
The paintings are powerful in color and emotion, but diverse in feeling and depth. It’s like seeing someone they way they see themselves, a rare gift we don’t often get to experience. She does what the best artist’s do: she exposes herself with emotional courage.
Coco at Her Opening – Photo by Steven Specht
She also has done amazing work in landscapes, portraits, and collages. Here is a selection.
Landscapes
Above All Else – 2007
Kehoe’s Dune – 2007
Kehoe’s Dune – close up – note the hint of a home behind the dunes
The Painted Whale
Coco Larrain – Painted Whale – 2005
Painted Whale – in progress
Drawings and Paintings
Coco Larrain – Ishmael’s Wisdom
Woman with Red Gloves
Collages
Cat and Bird Games – collage
Moth and Apple – collage
Cancer
Coco found out recently that she had breast cancer again. She is facing it with the same incredible endurance and creativity she faced it last time. She is embarking on a portrait series of her self once again. This time she is enlisting the help of a very talented photographer, Julia Cumes, to document her journey. Check out Julia’s blog, Apertures and Anecdotes, to read about her interactions with Coco as they have completed the photo sessions so far.
Coco Before Surgery – Photograph by Julia Cumes
I am so looking forward to seeing how her courage and creativity will push her, and us, forward into fantastic and profound moments of art. If you would like to explore more of Coco’s work, you can see it at her website, Coco’s Artwork.
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Fall/Winter 2016
Winter/Spring 2015
Summer 2014
Winter 2012/2013
Winter 2011/2012
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