115: Connecting the Dots

Wherein I answer my own 5 questions...

Jun 02, 2024

Welcome to Week 115 of the Draw or Die Club Newsletter for Artists.

Real quick plug off the top…STAY SHARP & DRAW EVERY DAMN DAY WITH US. Join our DAILY DRAWING CLUB, 5 bucks a month. JOIN HERE , nuff said.

Last week, we asked you 5 questions… this week I’ll answer.

I went ahead and took my own instructions and hand wrote my answers, I’ll toss the photo in. The reason to do it by hand is that out human brain really focuses when we hand draw or write, and finds it difficult to do more than one thing at once, it stays focused, AND it won’t lie. You’ll hear the truth…

I wanted to give a little more context to my answers and WHY or WHAT we get from answering these questions, as I’m answering I will observe my own learnings and highlight them.

#1 What was my first memory of making art…

I’m guessing 3 years old, I have a vivid memory of coloring with crayola brand crayons. But in tandem I have a memory of a female voice, probably my mom or big sister, scolding me for not doing it right. “You need to stay inside the lines! Like this!” and holding my hand and I recall kinda resisting against them moving my hand.

My learnings/thoughts: I’m not calling that a childhood trauma 😂, But the more I’ve studied life as I get older, I do know the things that happen to us when we are young usually subconsciously direct your life. Maybe this was why I always tend to NOT stay inside the lines in life. If someone gave me a stern rule to follow, or scolded me, my inside voice would say “yeah, right!” Or pretty much, “fuck you I won’t do what you tell me.”

#2 Artist I admire the most and why?

I’m sticking with Jack Kirby here. I loved his work ethic, endless ideas. And his passion for the craft of comic storytelling, he really did believe comics could change the world and that they were the best storytelling medium. Jack Kirby single handedly stopped Marvel Comics from closing the day they were moving furniture out, Stan Lee was crying, it was all over. Jack said, give me a weekend…. went to his basement studio in NYC known as “the dungeon” , worked the weekend and penciled an entire issue of Fantastic Four #1 which changed the game. Stan Lee put words over it, and it saved it all. Facts.

Thoughts: I always try to bring that energy wherever I work. When things seem impossible? I think we can outthink or out-imagine any problems. My first day at Spreadshop in 2012, I was marched in and introduced to the IT dept, the C-Level Director with a heavy German accent spoke: “This is D.J. Coffman, give him whatever he wants, he’s going to fix everything wrong with this company!” — He was half-joking, but I took it seriously. A tall order, but yeah, I did go on to help them make zillions, and always against a lot of odds.

#3 Art Mentor? Tell us about them?

My 7th grade Art Teacher, Mr. Crump. I wrote more about him in week 23 of the newsletter. But walking into his classroom was like walking into a living comic strip.

Thinking back on my journey now, it feels supernatural. That in Southwestern Pennsylvania, I was thrown into the “bad kids” class for drawing Iron Maiden’s Eddie, and treated like I would be a problem. All I wanted to do was draw cartoons and cool shit. My Dad moved us all the way to Southern California, and on my FIRST day of Middle School, a stranger in a strange land, I walked into Mr. Crump’s class and it was like a dreamland for a kid dreaming of comics.

What are the odds of that happening? I feel so much gratitude for that invisible hand that guided me to that spot. I still remember the feeling of wonder there.

Mr. Crump could “see” the spark in kids who would become storytellers or were the real deal. Back then, I didn’t know how he knew. He would pull me aside occasionally and impart some deeper wisdom that I wasn’t ready for.

But now I know how he “saw it” because I can see it in kids now too. It’s that 1000 yard stare. I must have had that stare a lot as a kid. I was living in my imagination. I do it as an adult too. “Day dreaming”, zoning out… my brain goes deep into an idea or visual. Artists and storytellers do this. It’s hard to “turn off”.

I don’t ever want to turn it off. But sometimes it’s a bit uncontrollable. Like, I don’t want it to happen when I’m in an important meeting. Or driving a car. Jack Kirby had to have his wife drive because he would often zone out and miss exits or go completely the wrong direction. Ever done that? I do it all the damn time.

On the flipside of the good mentor, I had that one Art Teacher who told my parents I had cartoon tunnel vision and wouldn’t amount to anything. She was a “stay in the lines!” kinda vibe.

#4 What Do I Struggle with the most with my art, or life as an artist?

Time. I have a delusional relationship with my own time. I always think I have more than I do, but somehow I magically get it all done. I mean, even right now, I would love to livestream EVERY morning… but in the practice of doing it, I was slipping or feeling a bit anxious or rushed or behind on other things. But I really want to do it all! EVERY DAY. It’s an obsession almost. 😅

Secondarily, I have a hard time saying no. I feel like i’m letting people down, especially other artists. It’s really hard for me to say NO to someone asking me to read their comics portfolios or give them advice. But I’ve learned to artfully say no more. I just don’t want to let people down.

#5 What am I currently working on?

I’m producing a full-color DAILY comic strip for GaryVee’s VeeFriends. It’s no small feat, but exactly what I love to do, and what I built myself to be. The daily format, or comic strip format, is what I’m most passionate about. I have an urge to encourage more artists to make more comics. I know many can’t do daily, it’s intense, but I highly encourage you to do a journal comic or something just for yourself! If you feel brave, share it!

My Learnings…

This is the magic of writing these things down. That I can actually now see the path, the odd connections, how the dots connect to where I am now.

That my passion to make art how I wanted (in cartoons and comics) always superseded authority of any kind. From the hand that held my crayon and tried to foce me to stay in the lines, to the high school art teacher who said comic strips were a lower artform and I had tunnel vision. I never listened to the haters.

That making a comic strip almost has felt like my destiny. Be it for myself, and “living off the land” of freelance and webcomics when I was young and raising a family. Or now that I’m 48 and it’s my full-time job working for one of the most successful and best-known entrepreneurs in the modern world.

Whenever my path may have strayed, going back to corporate jobs, it always felt like the invisible hand moved it back to where I’m supposed to be.
Is that just my over-active imagination, or is there some BIGGER purpose for me and my art? Maybe I’ll never see it or understand. Maybe I’ll be the one to inspire one of you to go off and change the world!

But for now… all I really want you to do is…