City Life: Sketches

If there is one guarantee about long trips in subway cars in the city, its that you will be sketched into the art book of one artist or another eventually.

I was waiting for a train to Brooklyn. Since I was at the terminal end, I could wait a while in the train before it actually leaves. It was late at night, it had been a long day at work so I had sat myself in a seat near a rail and so I can watch the time if I wanted and I just sat there. I was comfortable, holding onto my oversized backpack and leaning my head on the wall alternately watching the time and semi-snoozing. When they opened all the doors to admit people easier, I opened my eyes again and realised my neck was stiff, so I switched positions so my head was on the rail which gave me a perfect view of the artist boarding the train and sitting across from me.

How did I know the guy was an artist? He was carrying one of those over large black sketchbooks and a small box of writing implements. Just to verify, I peeked at his pages as he looked for the page he was looking for. Yes, full of art. Various kinds of images were hinted at but I would guess a slice of life super hero/villain kind of artist. But he IS the type of artist who sits on the train an quick sketches people. I didn’t look overlong, I was too tired to care. But I did catch the movements in my tired mostly closed eyes that are characteristic of all quick sketch artists I have run across. Sort of a bird-like glance up/look down/sketch/glance up again movement. There were a few people, I might not be the sketch he was making, but for some reason I have a feeling he was.

I was curious about what kind of quick sketch he was doing. While contemplating such thoughts I closed my eyes again and dozed until someone came to sit next to me and I had to change my admittedly slightly dramatic pose to one more normal. The thoughts came to me, he might be doing the guy down the row from me, he might be trying to get my sleeping face, he might be going for the bag, he might even have been going for the hands around the bags. I realised that a quick sketch didn’t have to be a profile or portrait. I never did see the actual image he sketched. A few times I glanced over and he was drawing some large creature or vehicle. Once, near the beginning of the ride, I saw him close the page he was working on as people entered the train and just contemplated two blank pages, but when I glanced up after the train was moving again, he was back to the quick sketch page. I saw a few vague shapes. It looked like it might’ve been three different sketches on the page, but one will never know. He left the train a few stops before mine.

I have seen quick sketch artists on the train before. Lately, they have been this kind where they surreptitious sketch other commuters, but in the past there have been the ones that pass out the sketches to the one they sketched. I ended up picking one up the first year I was here in the city. I have a scan of it laying around somewhere, perhaps I will upload it.

So, if you are in the city for a long while, observe those around you and try to spot yourself being sketched randomly. It’ll happen eventually.

Tags: artists, city life, drawing