“I literally just sat down and said, I’m fucked!” he explained. “I was good at two things; I could draw, and I could do dishes.” And today? “I’m still a really good dishwasher.” Among other things, clearly.
“Yeah, so I had to get a job.” He explained, “There was a glut of work in comic books, and I could draw comic book stuff, so I got a job.
TOMM COKER
Graphic Artist & Illustrator
When I asked Tomm Coker how he became an illustrator, his answer was not a nostalgic wax backward, it was blunt and real. “I had my son at sixteen. You can’t live on pork ’n’ beans when you have a kid.”
So right away I see the story. A kid had a kid, he didn’t know what to do, so he did what he knew. Draw. What happens when life gets very real very fast? The gift of desperation can mean good sense slides in. That’s a shocking piece of news to get at sixteen, and he corrects me to explain that the news came at fifteen, the baby at sixteen.”
When I used the word Graphic Novel to describe the venue for his work, he told me he uses the term comic book (thank you) and that the term Graphic Novel was coined to legitimize comic books. The subtext being that he didn’t need retroactive legitimacy, he did what he did, no matter what it was called, and he has chosen to stick with the original term he had always used. Comic Books.
There’s something about being around a person whose mastered what they do, and makes a living at it. It’s not so much the idea of doing what they were meant to do, because it sounds corny, but in this situation the circumstances were set, the road narrowed, there was little choice, and the door opened.
Coker is a story teller and he works in visual beats that are moody, dark, specific, sexy, and primal. His rig (a tricked out, high-tech apple computer) is very impressive. When I mention Malcolm Gladwell’s concept of how it takes ten-thousand hours to master something, he gives me an idea of where he is on that range.“I think we figured it out a couple of years ago, my writing partner and I, and it was like seventy-eight thousand hours, or something close to that.”
Did you go to art school? No. “I got a scholarship to Pasadena, but my son was born by that point, and I couldn’t go away.” Does that mean he was self taught? “…People showed me, and were like really nice to me, and explained things to me that I didn’t understand.” Did you have mentors? “There was a convention in Oakland and I went there, and I’d get feed back from artists, and then I’d show stuff to editors, and they’d say, no. Then you’d spend all year drawing, and wait for the next year.”
Who would be there? Thirty or forty real artists.”
And you would…? Have real conversations.”
So repetition of feedback? Yeah, everybody tells you the same thing, and it shows you where you’re at.”
The best advice? To draw from life, and don’t draw from other people’s drawings.”
Wise words, and so we left it there…
A Graceful Update on a Moderne Home
Meet Jon Georges and Robert Sandoval. They’re so many things at once, a handsome couple with warm smiles, they’re both funny and fun and their house is a paragon of 1938 Moderne style that’s come of age in Franklin Hills.
Sitting down with them is to see a partnership in life and a joint venture in the art of living. This is what happens when two people understand the exterior of Moderne architecture and create an interior that perfects it.
One step past the door and you can see they took a methodical approach. It’s clear they studied and contemplated and got to know the house first, because every choice and detail feels like the right decision. There’s nothing off key, not one flat note.
The home is a perfect balance between the beauty of 1938 and the way we live now. Social formality has shifted from a dining room toward a multi-purpose central space. Unlike the 1930s, it’s all about the open kitchen today, where the prep and presentation of entertaining feeds off the laughter and conversation. It’s a difficult vibe to pull off in a Moderne space and yet, they not only structured a solution to an au currant demand, they put our classic Franklin Hills view front and center.
*** Moderne emerged in the 1930s and echoes the rise of industrialization. The style was inspired by the sleek designs of automobiles, trains, and ocean liners and sought to convey a sense of speed, efficiency, and modernity. Recurring motifs are rounded corners, horizontal lines, and smooth, shiny surfaces like chrome and glass. It often has a maritime motif which symbolized the cultural fascination with travel, progress, expansion and technological advances.
When they talk about the process, how they searched for inspiration and explored variations, there’s still a sense of excitement in their voice that answers who they are as partners. It’s clear they enjoyed the project, blending necessary functions like closets and storage into the existing curves and gleam of the original style and the result is sublime. The ultimate Franklin Hills gem.
Tressa Miller
“There were tons of people vying for the house, but they liked me.” If you know Tressa Miller it’s a plausible conclusion
Thank God!
B A L L E R H A R D W A R E Old School. Nice ’n’ Easy.
Personally, I don’t think I could have owned, maintained, or kept my house with out these guys.
When it comes to a D.I.Y. project, or your contractor needs a specific carriage bolt that’s 5/16”, it’s all there: keys, plumbing gadgets, gardening materials, electric fans, paint chips, saws, chains, tools, cleaning supplies, something framed or anything in the realm of artsy supplies, B A L L E R is your place. And it’s not just that the store has what we all need at some point in any given season, it’s the entire feel of the place; the discernible fact that very little has changed for decades becomes apparent when you walk in.
I’m delighted to confirm a few things. The family owns the property, and they have since the 1950s. The man who started the store, but is no longer with us, is referred to as Papa Baller, with all due respect. It’s still a family run business. The phone number was (still is) N O R M A N D I E 5 – 4149. And they have no plans to sell, and close shop.
Baller almost always has a solution. You go in, you need something, and you get it, no frills. If you don’t know exactly how to solve something it never stopped me from shooting a video of the problem, driving to the store, and asking one of the guys to watch it and tell me what might fix it. And they do. I love them. They’re indispensable to me.
Find them at www.ballerhardware.com 2505 Hyperion Ave. 90027