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| Lunch Counter Guy, 6 x 8, graphite, Thirty Minute Drawing series |
Ellis and I go to a joint up the street every now and then when we want to pig out on pizza and a Maurice salad and not have to dress for the occasion. I always bring my camera, not the one in my phone, but the real thing that I can zoom in on other folks sitting at the lunch counter. This guy caught my eye. He was deep in thought--not paying attention to anyone or the football game on the big screen. He didn't kibitz with the pretty waitress. He just gave his order without looking up. What was he was hashing around in his head? Being a Saturday, not a work day, I figured he was on the outs with his family--maybe divorced? He looked sad--or mad at whatever went down that morning. Maybe he didn't get to see his kids? --And it was his weekend? Maybe it was job related? Nah. It was Saturday. I took his picture. I do love candid shots of people involved in life.
A word about my Thirty Minute Drawing Sessions. There are no rules about how many thirty minute sessions one wants to allot to a single drawing. The beach baby took up two sessions. That was rare. She was more complicated. This guy took one. The object is drawing a little bit everyday. I keep it simple--a 6 x 8 pad of Strathmore, a knead eraser (a prized possession), a Berol HB and a cup of coffee that always gets cold.
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| And there's no dress up at a thirty minute drawing session! I boost my drawing skills straight out of bed while soaking in the rays from my Sun Torch. Winter is just too damn dark. |
Love the sketch, Linda! He really does look lost in his thoughts, and you captured it perfectly. I love those kneaded erasers, too - always in my [non-dominant] hand, being scrunched and played with, as I work on the sketch.
ReplyDeleteHAPPY NEW YEAR to you and Ellis!!!
I NEED MY KNEAD! I, too, always hold it in my left hand kneading it clean while drawing with the right. AND it's on every art supply shopping list. You can't have too many. Happy New Year at long last to you too! I love January 1st when the holidays fade into history.
DeleteI had to do a double-take... that man reminds me of my FIL( minus 20 years).... wow
ReplyDelete"They" say we all have doubles. Maybe this is your FIL reincarnate? :-))
DeleteI only recently discovered the need for knead erasers ... I keep a supply to hand now. The analysis is as interesting as the sketch ... the reproduction is often more interesting than the person. Who was it who said, "You never really see a person until you draw them" ?
ReplyDeleteNew Year (and Christmas) was (were) interesting this year as we have an American staying ... and he is enjoying the differences in the way we celebrate the events. I love the differences in cultures, it stops mankind being monochromatic and makes it Technicolour.
I love drawing people. The process forces you to look at them closer than you would engaged .face to face conversation. A formal shoot may reveal insights, but the formality of it would resist the depth of those insights. I prefer to appear the camera fumble-bum and shoot them unaware of my presence. Ellis, or course, cringes when I go about such antics.
DeleteDear Linda I wish you a happy New Year with good health to support all your projects and your activities along with Ellis.
ReplyDeleteIt 'was a good idea to try to make a design in a short time and create a group on fb.
Sometimes the idea to join together to do something, it helps to be tenacious.
Your characters always have a story to tell us and they are very communicative because you really love paint and drawing human beings .
that's what I love about taking candid shots of people going about their lives. Their expressions speak volumes. You don't get that on a formal photo shoot. You don't get that having them pose in the studio under the lights.
DeleteHappy New Year to you , dear Linda, and a warm thank you for all your generous and encouraging comments on my work this past year. I was just reading your previous post (wonderful charcoal sketch of Pinch Me baby) and pondered the question you ask at the end - must you choose one style of painting over another. My thought is that the style will eventually choose you. You will no doubt find yourself developing a style that is all Linda - and everything you do will scream Linda. That is your style - there will be no battle, no loss of blood or gnashing of teeth. Eventually it will just happen - and you will know it! Here is a toast to a happy, healthy, prosperous and joyfully creative New Year!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to your you too, and for your comments. Your candidness in your blogs and your comments push me forward. I am grateful.
DeleteThe sketch and the text got me pondering on the mental processes going on in Lenin's head as he agonised over his analysis of political philosophy. It does look a little like him.
ReplyDeleteYOU'RE RIGHT! He does.I know very little abut Lenin--other than they tore down his statue. Don't we all agonize over our art, our decisions from time to time? I thought that was human nature. The amount of agonizing determines the survivors--less is better.
DeleteI remember drawing a similar drawing in a coffee shop...my guy was sad too. Funny, I can remember so much about that sketch session and feeling sad for him. I flat out wished I could ask him what was the matter. You did a great job and it is clever to sketch from the camera.
ReplyDeleteI think the camera has an advantage: It's fast. Actually doing a sketch calls for a lot of scrutinizing glances that I've found make people nervous. They feel they are being stared at and either fidget or get up and move on. Click and you have it--as long as you appear to be examining how to work your camera. The zoom lens work well to a point. If the subject is too far away, when you try to zoom in later on the computer, the pixels blur the image.
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