I love sketching in cafes, bars, and restaurants. It’s the prefect place to draw people because they’re moving enough that you’re forced to keep the sketch loose but not so much that you can’t capture them. It also feels more natural than sketching people on the train, or at the airport, or in class – all of which I’ve done, but definitely with less confidence.
Plus it’s riskier than sketching something that’s not moving, which makes it more fun. Will he move? Will a group come in and block the woman I’m sketching? Will that girl notice I’m staring at her? Will someone ask to see my whole sketchbook? Will I accidentally give someone dark eyeliner?
The answer to the last question, unfortunately, is yes – the woman in my second sketch was not wearing dark eyeliner, I just got too aggressive with her eye. Although in the drawing she matches the guy she’s sitting with (the one with the mohawk) much better than she did in real life.
The first sketch is at the Cambridge Queen’s Head, the second at Grendel’s Den, one of our favorite spots in Harvard square.
September 25, 2015.
