He paints mainly using acrylic on wood panel, using a one-hair brush and viewing his work through jeweler's goggles. The smooth surface of the wood panel allows him to paint to an extraordinary level of microscopic detail. Through this painstaking process, he is able to paint an average of one square-inch a day. Coleman does not make sketches or preparatory drawings of his paintings before embarking on them. The paintings usually begin from one detail and grow almost organically. It takes Coleman between one and four years to complete a single painting.