In an effort to build more followers and to better connect with fans of The Expanse, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and other science-fiction, I am going to give away some art reprints to randomly selected Twitter followers on April 15! All you have to do is follow me on Twitter (@jimwcoleman) and help support my artwork by sharing it, telling friends, etc.

This year, while in between projects, I decided to open a contest where people - anyone - could enter to have a free portrait drawn of them. I thought it would be a good exercise on my part and better publicity than I would get buying Facebook (or other) advertisements. That turned out to be right on all counts.

I have just completed one complex pen-and-ink original and I'm halfway through another. At this point, I'm not sure what I'll do next ... 

I have decided to start a new promotion called "Let me Draw You!" This will not only give me some new, fresh ideas, it will also be fun, and will help promote my website and my art work.

Excerpts from Level Heads XE, by Jim W. Coleman :

I'm several weeks into my Charlotte Gainsbourg piece ... this one, in particular, is intense ... made all the more so when I watch any one of the Lars Von Trier movies while working on it. My intention is to capture some of the thematic elements of the movies - with pieces and parts from all three but, at the same time, capture the beauty of the actress and the fragility of the character throughout. 

Being a huge Lars von Trier fan, I'm excited to announce that my next work will be a darkly-themed piece featuring the incredible actress/songwriter Charlotte Gainsbourg, pictured below.

All of my professional life, I have struggled with drawing hair. To be sure, I've gotten better at it as time has passed and my experience has increased but it's still been a struggle. I work a lot with models (for both figure and facial) and with photographs as well,  and I've found that I tend to shun those with difficult or challenging hair.

What does a Cardassian, a Klingon and actress Dana Dearmond have in common?  That may be the stuff of fantasy ... or it may be that one of those three is likely the subject of my next art original. I am nearing the end of the Armin Shimerman piece, and about halfway through the Bob Dylan piece, so it's time to start planning for the next in line ...

Elim Garak, played by actor Andrew J. Robinson, would certainly be a fun, challenging piece. I have always liked his Deep Space Nine character, as well as his role in the motion picture, "Shoot to Kill."

I've been an amateur astronomer since childhood when, as a young man, I was fortunate to have a kind man come to my home once a week to tutor me. He always brought his large Celestron 8 telescope and I developed a love of astrophotography. This went on for years. Like I said, I was very fortunate.

Today, 35 years later, I am still as passionate about it as ever.

Rev. James Anthony Colyn, 39, former pastor of the Glendale (Az.) Bible Baptist Church, received a sentence of seven and a half years in prison. Colyn was described by police as a "sexual predator" who molested a teenage girl who asked him for counseling because she was being abused by her stepfather. Colyn PLEADED GUILTY to a charge of attempted molestation as a plea bargain.