by Marty Coleman | Aug 21, 2024 | Christianity - 2011-2013, Doubt, Sketchbook History Tour |
Bible People, part 2
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 the most important element. In fact, in many, if not most cases, I think a literal interpretation blinds oneself to the lessons the stories are meant to impart. And second, I am just too creative to worry about it while I am in the middle of drawing.
Here are some New Testament stories with the exception of the first one which is Ms. Eve from the Old Testament
EVE WITH GLASSES
Eve with Glasses
Eve wasn’t real. Neither was Adam. They were created to teach about how and why humans could be bad. It was a so so explanation for a while but then we got smarter and realized we shouldn’t go blaming Eve for anything. I mean, who puts a beautiful fruit tree in the middle of a garden and then tells the people not to eat from it with no explanation as to why? In the end I believe she was just a curious woman who wasn’t afraid to try new things.
JESUS, MARY and JOSEPH
Jesus, Mary and Joseph
The story goes that Mary and Joseph had a run of really bad luck and ended up having to have their first child on a bunch of straw surrounded by cows. But I don’t draw cows so well so they are surrounded by a dog and a cat instead, which I can draw pretty well. I drew them in the middle of the path because you know how pregnancies go, the kid is going to come out when it’s going to come out.
THE BAD CHICK
The Bad Chick
The story here is that a bunch of religious control freaks brought this woman to Jesus as a test. They told him she had sex and not with her husband and that meant she should be stoned, and not in the good way. If Jesus said, ‘Fine, go ahead and stone her.’ then he would lose a lot of followers who saw him as a champion of sinners. If he said, ‘Nope, don’t do it.’ Then they could claim he wasn’t obeying Judaic Law and have him thrown in jail as a false teacher. So he, being the wily dude that he was, sat down, scrawled around in the dirt for a while then said ‘Hey, if you don’t have any sin yourself, go ahead, stone her.’ This was a problem because then they would be setting themselves up to be perfect and to not need the law, which would not be a good look for them. So they all went away grumbling to themselves until it was just Jesus and this woman hanging around. He then simply told her she was free to go but best to not sin anymore. He didn’t say anything more but I suspect he might have added, ‘because if you get caught again I may not be around to push back against these idiots and then what will you do? Oh, and prostitution is demeaning and dangerous so come join our group instead if you want. We’ll feed and clothe you and you will be safe.’
THE EAR CHOPPER AND THE NAKED RUNNER
The Ear Chopper and the Naked Runner
This story usually is all about Peter, a guy always seeming to be itching for a fight, getting in an actual fight. A fight so bad he actually cut off a guy’s ear. Of course the bible doesn’t actually say it was Peter but we all know Peter and he definitely has an ear chopper vibe about him. Jesus was being arrested at the time and whoever it was was thinking they were all going to fight to keep that from happening so he struck the first blow and plop, there went the poor centurion’s ear. Jesus stepped in and stopped any more violence by touching the guy’s ear and making it not chopped off and both sides calmed down. Miracles will do that to a crowd. But there is another part of this story that never gets talked about in church, probably because it involves a naked person, which is never something the church wants to talk about.
Anyway, in the Gospel of Mark 14:51 there is an addendum to this story. “A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.” I decided that I would illustrate that along with the ear chop. Any excuse for me to draw a naked person, ya know?
THE CRUCIFIXION
The Crucifixion
Nothing funny about this one. Jesus and two other guys are nailed to three crosses and left to die in the brutal, hot sun. The centurions mock him, beat him, smash thorns down over his head and spear him in the side. And they throw lots to see who gets his clothes. Brutal all around. Brutal for Jesus but brutal for his mom and followers (mostly women) who stayed around when he was arrested, tried and convicted and then went with him as he climbed up to Golgotha to be executed. His male followers, by the way, had all fled from the Garden the night before and were nowhere to be seen. It all around sucked.
REMOVING THE NAILS
This isn’t in the bible stories but the nails had to be taken out somehow by someone so I thought I would illustrate it. Since it was the women who went with him from the cross to the tomb I figure it had to be one of those women who took the nails out. Most likely it was one of the three Marys, either his mother Mary, his disciple Mary Magdalene or Mary his friend (and sister of Martha). Whoever did it, it had to be a horrible job that would scar the person forever.
Removing the Nails
THE RESURRECTION
Mary Magdelene at the Tomb
Once again, it’s the women who are essential to the story. Jesus was crucified on Friday which meant they couldn’t ritually cleanse and prepare the body for proper burial until after Sabbath, which would be Sunday Morning. John says it was Mary Magdalene all by herself who came and saw the tomb was empty. Matthew says it was Mary and the other Mary who came and was surprised to find the tomb empty. Mark says it was 3 women, Mary, Mary and Salome, who arrived to find it empty. And Luke says it was a group of women who arrived to find it empty.
Three Women at the Tomb
However it happened the story is the tomb was empty and Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Little did these women know what would come of this story.
Doubting Thomas
Doubting Thomas
Different Apostles have different personalities that come out in these stories. One of the best in my view is Thomas, who then and forever more became the patron saint of doubters (no, I don’t know if he really is that, but he should be). Why? Because he didn’t believe the other disciples when they said they had seen Jesus alive after he had died. Thomas did what any self-respecting skeptic would do and said, ‘Nope, sorry. Ain’t believin’ that whopper of a tale. Let me see him and put my finger in that nasty stab wound in his side that shoulda killed him. Then I will believe.’ So the story goes that that is exactly what happened soon thereafter. It had to have been pretty gruesome I am sure but it convinced Thomas and it couldn’t have hurt Jesus any worse than the original stab wound. Would you be a skeptic who needed to see, or would you not need proof, faith being enough?
There are tons of other stories of course but this is what you got for now. What do you think?
© 2024 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
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by Marty Coleman | Jul 27, 2024 | Sketchbook History Tour |
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 main reason is that it often is a decisive way to avoid sexualizing someone. I don’t mean that women who are pregnant aren’t sexually attractive. What I mean is that seeing pregnancy in art forces the viewer to look at something besides sexuality. The preeminent message of the pregnant image is about motherhood, family, children.
It’s can also be about pain, discomfort, confusion, fear, the future. The future is implicit in pregnancy because a child is due. It is also about the future of the mother and all the questions that go along with her having a new role, a new body transition, and new place in the world. For all those reasons I like playing with the maternal image.
Here are two galleries of paintings. The first is of clothed women and abstract spiral bodies. The second is of nudes.
Do you have one that stands out to you? Let me know what you think.
NON NUDE and SPIRAL
NUDES
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by Marty Coleman | Jun 29, 2024 | Christianity - 2011-2013, Sketchbook History Tour |
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 bible that was given to me by a Pastor friend back in 1997. I drew in it from 1997 to1998. I didn’t draw over actual scriptural text, only over the opinion pages or blank areas. I liked having the text show through, sometimes because it helped inform the image and sometimes because it was a non sequitur to the image. Either way it adds interest to the image.
Part One is of people I have drawn with thoughts they may be thinking. Sometimes the thoughts may have stemmed from whatever the pastor was preaching about but often times it was just my imagination of what someone is thinking, unrelated to anything else.
Let me know if you have a favorite or if an image brings up some interesting thoughts of your own.
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by Marty Coleman | Jun 19, 2024 | Sketchbook History Tour |
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 place in California. Both places in California that we discussed had relatives we would either stay with or visit and as much as we love them we wanted this to be a ‘just us’ escape. Finally Linda said, How about LA? I said, sounds great! I was raised there so going back is always fun so off we went.
Each morning I got up early and walked a few blocks to Caffe Luxxe, a cool little spot on Montana Ave in Santa Monica near the ocean. I would get myself a Cafe Mocha and sit down to draw in my large sketchbook. It was fun because the same crowd was there most mornings and I got to know them and the staff. There were a lot of people in puffy coats and leggings!
When we left we sat at the departure gate for quite a while so I brought out my small sketchbook and did some quick drawings of those around me. During the flight I ink painted one of the drawings and gave her a thought that I saw reflected in her look.
I haven’t decided if I will paint the three cafe drawings but if I do I will edit this post and include those versions as well.
Click on a drawing to see it full size and scroll to see the rest.
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by Marty Coleman | May 19, 2024 | Sketchbook History Tour |
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 facing away. In these cases I take advantage of the challenge. The challenge of drawing hair (never an easy thing), but even more so, of drawing personality without a face. That is hard. And the definition of success in that endeavor is different than if I have a full set of facial features to clue you into what the person is feeling or thinking.
I think of it as the difference between music with lyrics (facial features) to tell you what it’s about and instrumental music (no facial features) where you aren’t told something explicitly, but indirectly. In that case the music becomes much more individual, with interpretations not helped or impeded by word definitions. Having said that I don’t always obey the rule. I may not show a face but I sometimes I have thought bubbles that tell what the person is thinking.
Color Drawings
Black and White Drawings
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by Marty Coleman | May 1, 2024 | Sketchbook History Tour |
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 will stay in place long enough. As with any live drawing, sometimes it works out, some times it doesn’t. There are many drawings I have of multiple people but in most they are all just sitting, not necessarily engaging with each other. It often is just 2 separate portraits that happen to be on the same page. But that isn’t the case with people who are talking to one another.
It’s a delicate process to create an image where it appears people are actually talking to one another. Obviously there is the task of drawing the mouth so it looks like it’s saying something but that isn’t always essential. Finding a non-verbal gesture that may indicate something, like a question, an exclamation or an attitude, can sometimes be even better than a mouth being open.
This selection of 10 goes all the way back to 1987. At that time I worked at Eulipia Restaurant in San Jose, California. I would often bring my sketchbook in my backpack because after work we would often decompress by sitting around the bar. Having my sketchbook with me meant I could draw while we relaxed. At that time I was drawing with a simple ball point pen, my only requirement being that it be black ink instead of blue.
The rest of these drawings were done with a Copic ink pen first then painted with Copic ink markers and in some cases Montana Acrylic paint markers.
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by Marty Coleman | Apr 18, 2024 | Sketchbook History Tour |
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 often ask permission in this situation since they are absorbed in something. But whenever possible I will show them the drawing afterwards and connect with them so they can see it when it is finished.
Someone on their phone is also a perfect opportunity to create a story by adding in thought or word bubbles. These I make up completely and don’t have anything to do with the real person. It’s just an idea I had based on the drawing and what I imagined they could be thinking about.
These drawings are from Sketchbooks starting around 2010 or so, when the iphone made extended phone usage much more prevalent.
Do you have a favorite? Which one is it?
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by Marty Coleman | Apr 4, 2024 | Sketchbook History Tour |
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 settings. I was spending time in coffee houses because I was live streaming regularly on the Periscope app and this was a fun and interesting way to engage my audience. The camera would be pointed at me and my drawing so I could talk while they saw my drawing appear. I would sometimes end the video with me going over the meet the subject of my drawing and introduce them as well.
These are a selection from my 2015-2017 sketchbook.
© 2024 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com
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by Marty Coleman | Feb 26, 2024 | Sketchbook History Tour, Travel |
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 sketchbook with me when I travel for that exact reason.
In some cases I met these people, found out their name and a small portion of their story. Some knew I was drawing them, like Jess the flight attendant. She was sitting staring down the aisle late at night and it was kind of hard to miss me drawing since I was the probably the only person with a light on in the cabin. Other times I am observing, taking in not just the face but the whole environment, like in ‘A Passenger’s Story’, which really more my story of what is happening all around her rather than what she is thinking. And then again I am often just imagining what someone might be thinking based on just a brief conversation like in ‘Cate Wishing’ or on nothing at all, like in ‘I Hope He’s Nice’.
Click on any image to start a slide show. Let me know what you think, do you have a favorite?
Gallery
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by Marty Coleman | Jan 3, 2024 | Sketchbook History Tour |
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 feel as they watch their world being destroyed. They have their differing opinions and beliefs but I believe their pain makes them much more alike than their religion and background make them different. Because of that I am confident of the same thing Allende is. I don’t know the solution to all these issues. But I believe the women of the region are more likely to find the answers than the men are. I can think of no better place and time than here and now to have women in charge instead of men.
The Sad Women, pen and ink on paper, 2024
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