mARTy Zine Vol. 1

Martellus Bennett

I tend to spend a lot of my day alone.

Reflecting. Thinking. Writing. Reading. Drawing. Thinking some more, usually about some really deep shit like: is a hot dog a sandwich? What would I do in the case of a space zombie apocalypse? If I had one superpower what would it be? To answer that last one which I’ve spent a countless amount of hours thinking about I would want the ability to take other peoples superpowers – kind of like Kirby on Super Smash Bros, but that’s just me. What would your superpower be? I usually don’t share these thoughts and ideas out loud, but I’ve decided to open up my notebooks and share these brilliant moments of genius that I have when I am alone. I create all the time. It’s the best life ever. Retirement from the NFL is way more awesome than I thought it would be. Making plays was cool – but making art is so much more satisfying for me. I had several creative outlets during my NFL career, but now, it’s super dope to be doing all of those creative things for a living. In this ZINE there are poems, notes from meetings with people like Phil Jackson and other shit like that. Oh yeah, there’s also art that no one has ever seen and a short story called One Bad Apple that no one has ever read (written in 2014). The best thing about all of this is that I only made 500 copies, so it’s pretty fucking exclusive (I know people love exclusive shit).

I wouldn't consider myself an artist by any means.

I just love to draw and play with colors. Whatever it may be crayons, color pencils, pens, watercolors, sidewalk chalk, pastels, clay, acrylic, etc. - it doesn’t really matter what tool is at the end of my fingertips, they all work. I appreciate all forms of artistic expression. At times, I enjoy writing out my ideas more so than illustrating them. I find words to be as colorful as the most dynamic works of art. Coloring with words is a form of illustration on its own. Letters being put together to paint a picture that we all see differently in our imaginations. That’s some cool shit. I’m fascinated by the different mediums one can use when expressing their emotions. I personally try to find as many ways possible to communicate with others because not everyone speaks the same language, but art speaks to everyone.

In this sense, I’ve been creating for a very long time.

Recently, I began sharing a little more of these conversations on social media and other public forums. The more I share, the more people have been joining the discussion and even asking to purchase my work - which is amazing to me. I think all my shit is dope (don’t we all). Well, most of it, if I’m being totally honest I make a lot of whack shit as well. Don’t worry, none of the whack shit is in this mag.

It’s been really cool and motivating to see kids, parents, strangers, and friends connect with my work. However, I still struggle with the idea of selling my personal art because I feel like the moment I do, it will change from therapeutic art sessions to work stresses. There’s something freeing about drawing and creating with no agenda, not caring what it looks like or what it means. The ability to just sit and let your imagination run aimlessly, let colors bound wildly and have ideas leap out of your brain, cannonballing into a notebook makes me feel like I’m riding a black unicorn through a tropical forest. Yea, it makes me feel that awesome! Blank paper excites me because of the possibilities it represents: empty white spaces waiting to be filled with things that only you can dream up. You can make space cowboys or giant leprechaun kings. Donut monsters or a map to your dreams.
Paper needs a story to tell in order to live out its true purpose. And a creator needs a place to tell their stories to live out their true purpose. A piece of paper that stays blank, and a creator who dies with untold stories are one and the same. Unfulfilled storytellers. As a creator, you have to find the balance of living off of your art and staying true to yourself. So yes, I do sell some work that I create with the intentions of making profit through my company, Martellus Bennett’s Imagination Agency Studios. This consist of interactive apps, children’s books, films, toys, music, among other things. It’s hard to decide which ideas belong out in the world and not trapped in a notebook somewhere in my studio. My hope is that you guys get to meet all of the characters that I create at some point.
 
 

Paper needs a story to tell in order to live out its true purpose. And a creator needs a place to tell their stories to live out their true purpose. A piece of paper that stays blank, and a creator who dies with untold stories are one and the same. Unfulfilled storytellers. As a creator, you have to find the balance of living off of your art and staying true to yourself. So yes, I do sell some work that I create with the intentions of making profit through my company, Martellus Bennett’s Imagination Agency Studios. This consist of interactive apps, children’s books, films, toys, music, among other things. It’s hard to decide which ideas belong out in the world and not trapped in a notebook somewhere in my studio. My hope is that you guys get to meet all of the characters that I create at some point.

A Collection of Ideas, Incomplete Thoughts, and Experiences

With that being said,  I’ve felt the need to free more of my creations that have been suffocating inside my sketchbooks, allowing them to breathe and roam freely into the universe on a grand adventure of their own. I am still not at the point of selling the results of my art therapy sessions just yet, but this is a start. What you’re holding is a book full of late night thoughts, daddy/daughter doodle time, poems, sketches, incomplete ideas, and some other crazy stupid shit I think about. Enjoy em because I sure enjoyed creating them.

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November 26, 2018 /