Norman's Jamaican Pen

Pastels from the archives

2008-12-24T08:50:00.004-04:00

In days gone by, I did a basic drawing course at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Perfoming Arts (formerly the Jamaica SChool of Art). That was before the days of Photoshop so I had to coulour things manually. I experimented with oil pastels (Messy! Verrry messy).

Addiction Poster - From the archives

2008-12-24T08:31:00.006-04:00

Back in the day, I used to make frequent presentations to youth about a wide variety of subjects. There was a time when I worked with at-risk youth and a number of them used marijuana frequently. I decided to design an addiction poster as a teaching tool. So, here is the poster I created; it is probably around ten years old (look, I mis spelt "paranoi"...ahh well, stuff happens. No wonder the kids are not learning).

Veronica rules

2007-08-31T20:18:00.001-04:00

Okay. Homeboy Asafa did not get the gold medal we all hoped he would have at the recent world championships. He is still Jamaica's champ, and we are all proud of him. I have a drawing of him elsewhere in this blog. It needs a thorough overhauling and I will be working on it real quick.

This post is a shout out to Veronica Campbell. All Jamaica is proud of her accomplishments on the tracks. Yea Veronica, we proud a yu! Straight! Rrrrrr!

I tried to find a picture of her from the recent games. Gettyimages.com has some really great shots, but they were too small. I did find an appropriately sized image of her from the last Olympics. This one is for you VC. Jamaica love yu more dan cook food!

Jamaican girl

2007-04-26T08:37:00.000-04:00

I was reasoning with a fellow artist and we both agreed that females are more difficult to draw than males. They have these soft delicate lines that can be flawed so easily. Men on the other hand have harsh rugged features and flawed lines can be easily made into parts of the drawing. The female needs more work (perhaps this is indicative of the type of effort that one needs to put into his relationship with his significant other? But...I digress) but the results are oftentimes worth the effort.

This Jamaican girl has flowing tresses and I am not complaining. Processed hair is easier to draw than the natural woolen hair. It is definiately easier to render than corn rows (one day I may take on the challenge of depicting a lass with corn rows).

Presenting a Jamiacan girl. She has the nice dark skin that I love so much; Micheal Hurd is describing delilah in his piece "Swinging Samson"; I am borrowing some of his lyrics here to complete the description of this piece: "She is pretty she is witty she has big brown eyes and several features quite remarkable in shape and size..." but let me stop right there.

Jamaican girl, from me to you.

Yute

2007-04-17T21:21:00.000-04:00

In my brief bio, I said that much of my drawings have a North American flavour as I have been influenced by hollywood.

Time has been good and I managed to acquire a cool little digital camera. I have been busy snapping photos of friends and acquantances and my collection of Jamaican images is growing nicely.

"Yute" is Jamaican for "youth". Here we use it mainly in reference to a young man (usually a teenager). So, I present you with "Yute", a portrait that is fully Jamaica. There is more where that came from and I will be sharing them as soon as they are completed (naturally).

Here I am sharing the pencilled and inked works. Photoshop is pretty cool and I enjoy appling the colours, hues, shades, tones...whatever.

Enjoy!!

Christmastime

2007-03-31T13:31:00.000-04:00

The birth of Christ was undoubtedly an epoch making event. Over the years however, there has been controversy regarding the exact date on which this event took place. The Christmas season is so commercialised, we have no doubt that Jesus is not at the centre of it.

When Christ was born, a star lead wise men to the place where he lay. Angels sang for the occasion.

Years ago I received a beautiful Christmas card. I say beautiful because of the stunning artwork that graced the front. The piece is signed by one "r.haas". This is all I know. I am sharing it now because I think it needs to be shared. I hope I am not violating anyone's copyright.

So, friends, enjoy this beautiful Christmas piece by r.haas (whomever (s)he may be).

Mary and Joseph

2007-03-10T08:56:00.000-04:00

So, the young man's fiancee announces that she is pregnant. The thing is, they have never had sex. Under the law, the thing to do is have the woman stoned for her folly. However, the young man decides that he is going to put her away quietly.

Enter the divine messenger, speaking to the young man, telling him that he is to proceed with the marriage. His faince was not unfaithful to him, she was not impregnated by a man, she was actually bearing holy seed.

The young man's name is Joseph and I like to regard him as the unsung hero in the Christmas story. He accepted the postion without complaint, and, he did not have sex with his bride Mary until after she gave birth to Messiah, Jesus Christ himself. Wow! A fine example of a decent man.

I am sharing the line drawing and the finished coloured piece. I imagined that the young couple must have breathed a united prayer of committment and thanksgiving after the angel spoke to Joseph. The light represents the presence of God in their lives.

Hot Girl Mackiesha

2007-03-06T03:36:00.000-04:00

In a previous post I mentioned that I wrote and illustrated a comic book entitled "Hot Girl Mackiesha". It was published by the Ministry of Health, an arm of the Jamaican government. This is the cover and samples of the interior artwork. I must say that I am not pleased with the cover. The image was distorted by the printers as they stretched it by the edges as against the corner. Also I wish I knew then what I know now, about Photoshop. Still, I am grateful to God for this achievement.

The Ministry of Health says that it is a popular item with the schools. The children and teenagers are apparently fascinated by the bright colours. It has a strong sexual abstinence message which is useful in this age of HIV/AIDS and a plethora of other sexually transmitted infections (STI's).

Bathsheba

2007-02-18T21:36:00.000-04:00

I looked to the work of Alfons Mucha, master of Art Nouveau, to produce this piece. Mucha is famous for drawing the most beautiful women, and Bathsheba was known for her beauty, among other things. Her beauty enticed King David and their adulterous tryst has been the topic of many a sermon. Their union produced a son whom the Lord killed. After David arranged the murder of Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, the two lovers got married. They had a son named Solomon who became famous for his wealth, wisdom and women. Jesus, Saviour of mankind, Son of God, came from this bloodline.

Sketchbook

2007-02-15T22:14:00.000-04:00

It's like this. I have been rummaging through my things at home. I stumbled upon an old sketch book. This is one piece from that volume. It is not even dated for crying out loud. I would estimate a 2000 date..perhaps. As you can see, it is a black and white piece rendered with my pilot pen.

Blasts from the past

2007-02-13T22:35:00.000-04:00

Long before I owned a PC and even knew that there was a software named Photoshop, I used to try my hand at colouring with pastels. These drawings were done back in the early 1990's I believe. I used them on a poster I had designed. The good thing about them is this, the folk look like Jamaicans.

Dreads

2007-02-13T19:42:00.000-04:00

Dreadlocks have always intrigued me. I think they make a wicked fashion statement. There was a time when I actively contemplated sprouting some of my own. But, how would that go down with my church? What would the neighbours think. I thus went to the extreme of shaving my head. But, I still live, so, maybe one day... As they say in Espana, "quien sabe?"

This is an experimental piece. Okay, so the dreads don't look authentic, but...well, it was an experiment. This was painted with Photoshop, that really cool software.

Famous

2007-02-13T04:35:00.000-04:00

These pieces feature faces from hollywood and some of my fellow Jamaicans.

Asafa Powell, world's fastest man is featured with our flag and national anthem. Everyone knows how good it feels to hear their nation's anthem being played at track meets. Jamaica's national anthem is a prayer to God almighty.

Merlene Ottey , even though she no longer represents Jamaica, has made our country proud as well.

Black or white?

2007-02-13T04:12:00.000-04:00

Many years ago I was making a presentation to a youth group at church. I displayed one of my drawings of Mary, mother of our Lord. One angry young man stated that my drawing was wrong. Mary was black, he insisted. Believe me when I say he was furious. I do not think he listened to anything that I said after he saw my drawing.

I am a black man, but I am not afro, or ethnocentric. In my opinion, Mary was not black and I do not belive that she was caucasian either. She was Jewish and this is how I choose to depict her. Perhaps I could have given her a darker skin tone. Maybe too much light has caused her to look...white. The drawing is a combination of the works of Vermeer and Mucha...two masters! I have included the black and white line drawing as a bonus. Whether Mary was black or white is not the real issue. (I must say that I have no difficulty depicting Mary, Jesus and other biblical characters in ways that will appeal to the various ethnic groups). What matters is whether you and I put our trust in the work that Jesus Christ did on the cross. Hey, he died for the yellow, black the white...