Stopped at a convenient Starbucks to pass some time and caught some baristas working and patrons in line. The one girl was pretty bundled up – long sleeves, vest, apron, fluffy scarf.
And some friends chatting and reading over their coffees.
Eventually the crowd thinned out and I ended up drawing my table and sketchbook of sketches (as seen in the very top picture). For whatever reason that always strikes me as silly and makes me smile. 😀
Back in the hospital cafeteria, I continue sketching the people that I see. When there’s no one paused in line I capture some quick details of the counter itself.
And, during a lull in the traffic, I switch from graphite pencil over to pen for variety.
Since I’ve been drawing people in the cafeteria, I realize that my speed needs some work. Even in drawing classes I struggled with gesture drawing, trying to put in too much detail in a very short amount of time. For practice, I found SketchDaily.net, which allows me to set a timer (ie: 30 seconds) and work through sketching people very quickly.
Additionally, since I’ve got a collection of partial sketchbooks from over the years, this gives me the opportunity to finally finish them up! I believe that I inherited the concept that you don’t get rid of unfinished notebooks from my grandparents (learned from growing up in the Great Depression and WWII).
I finally finished the sketchbook that I put together in one of my first college art classes (from the remnants I’d had floating around from years before). Yay! Next up were a few pieces of loose printer paper.
Coffee shops and libraries are great places to see a variety of people, who will pause for a few moments so that you can quickly sketch them. As are cafeterias and restaurants. While waiting for Ashley to finish work in the mornings I’ve been sitting in the hospital cafeteria, sipping on a coffee and sketching.
Almost everyone goes to the utensil/condiment counter, so it’s a great spot to catch them stationary for a few moments:
My favorite of the day was the elderly gentleman who sat at the table in front of me to eat. Quite the hair-do. Ashley said I can’t grow mine like that…. 🙁
Though, the lady in the serape poncho was pretty fun, too.
And when no one’s there, you can draw the condiments themselves! At least you know they won’t be moving on you.
Confession time, I’m not very good at just making art for the fun of it. I used to sketch and doodle a lot, but after college got out of the habit. Over the last year I’ve started again, in fits and starts. While I haven’t really made any 2017 resolutions, I am making it a point to make more art. Nothing serious, just art for me, for the fun of it.
Actually, I started in 2016. I re-organized my art supplies so they’re more accessible and tucked some sketchbooks and pens/pencils in a bag so they’re easy to grab.
Here are some doodles:
Sitting in the hospital lobby, waiting for Ashley to get off of work.
At a coffee shop, enjoying a French Press.
Someone at the register, ordering their coffee.
My focus while in art school was figurative work, which built on a few years of working as a portrait artist. Here are a few blasts from the past:
The superhero was drawn with chalk on black paper in 2011. Entering it into the 2012 National Arts Program netted me a Best of Show award.
A friend posted this picture as her facebook profile image. I thought it would be great fun to recreate with some charcoal in 2010.
Another facebook profile image, Bethany has really bright blue eyes, and she happened to be wearing a matching dress. Charcoal and pastel in 2010.
My wife modeled while I explored a new take on an old concept. This triptych was painted on canvas with acrylic in 2010.
One day, in a prior life, I was bored in the office. In a (successful) attempt to avoid tackling my inbox, this little guy was created.
He lived outside the office window for a few months, suspended from a nearby tree branch. On windy days, he really got a workout.
As I transitioned from that life to the next, he migrated from the tree branch to a collector’s private gallery (ie: a friend’s porch).
Out for a 2-night backpacking trip up past Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park. After a full week of exploring the park we took a lazy day at camp. While there I sketched Ashley as she enjoyed the view out over the valley, and a few of the awesome, gnarly branches of the shrubs surrounding the rock she was seated on.
Overnighting on the John Muir Trail in Yosemite National Park, we hiked up from our campsite in Little Yosemite Valley to the Half Dome trail. The cables haven’t been installed on HD itself, so the trail isn’t officially open, but we only made it about 3/4 of the way until running into snow anyway. Made for a great location to sit and enjoy the view down into Yosemite Valley and up at Half Dome. Pulled out the graphite and sketchbook to record the iconic granite monolith from the north side .
Got hot while hiking, so zipped off the bottom half of my pant legs, but then cooled down when stopped so pulled the fleece out of my bag.
Waiting for food to heat up while backpacking in Little Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park. Thought I’d sketch the stove, it’s been working great for about 10 years now.
