The corner of 4th and G Streets, Davis. “Scuse me mate, you’re in the way. Scuse me! Mate! Oi, Mate! Can you move a sec, I’m drawing? Mate do you have to stand right there? Mate you’ve been there for ages, just move along a little? Are you listening? Mate can you move?” I said over and over, but he didn’t move, he just stood there, like a statue. Well he wasn’t a statue, he was a sculpture. I didn’t really say any of that, not aloud anyway. This is one of the many pieces of urban art you can find dotted around downtown Davis, and since I was drawing this corner, with that funky looking wooden building next to where Little Prague used to be, I decided it would be more interesting to add him in. I think it’s a him. He’s lovely, covered in colourful mosaic-y bits. I’m all into that. He’s located next to Jack in the Box, which may possibly be the worst fast food chain restaurant in Davis. By the way if it were a real person standing there I wouldn’t be yelling at them to move. I would just move slightly myself, or draw them (but I’d prefer to move, as you know I don’t like drawing real people). The thing about drawing on location is that people and vehicles tend to move around, and if you’re drawing the permanent things then it’s not really a big deal. You can always look around them, fill in the gaps. This isn’t possible when drawing from a photo. In this sketch, the sculpture allowed me a sense of depth, a sense largely absent from my own thought processes (which mostly consisted of me pretending to yell “oi mate, can you move?” to an unmoveable piece of public art I have chosen to stand behind). Sunday afternoon in Davis, it doesn’t get better than this.
petescully 
There are people like that too, aren’t there? Immovable ones. One just has to take a slight detour and move on. :-D
I love the sketch, as always, and the post to go with it. It’s funny, I’ve been obsessed with doing “live action” sketches of people lately, and the fact that they move around so much is part of the challenge. I’m trying to figure out how to capture a little of that motion in a sketch, and to learn to take mental snapshots of what I’m seeing so that I can work from that when the person has moved on. I wouldn’t say I’m succeeding in this, exactly, but I’m having fun. Part of what I love about your work, though, is that you find the life and feeling in the still parts. I have no idea how you do that. But I really enjoy seeing the results. :-)
I paint landscapes and have many repeat distractions in the form of young men yelling, “Yo Picasso,” people jumping up and down in front of me saying, “Hey! You want to put me in your picture?” and folks who tell me their life stories while I work because I’m their captive audience. I’ve gotten used to this, but always enjoy my trips out to wilder spots where there’s less chance of being interrupted.
Reblogged this on hellterskelter.
I love your blog. You crack me up. I only wish I could do watercolors on-site, it seems like a circus balancing act to do that.
wow…I love to read this kind of writings…
And u have written massive…
Reblogged this on Little Deduction.