#OneWeek100People2017: Day 1: Sketching At The Mall
I’m not a fan of sketching “challenges” because, to me, this turns my hobby into a job and I’ve had enough of those in my life. But when Liz Steel and Marc Taro Holmes proposed that people draw 100 people in 5 days, I just couldn’t refuse. If you want to see the people sketches from other people, just give the hashtag in the title to Mr Google.
I knew that to draw 100 people in a week I’d have to concentrate on quick-sketching them. I also knew that I had a problem because I’d already committed to a sketching session on Tuesday that would have me spend the day away from people so I had to accomplish this task in four days rather than five.
I headed to the mall this morning with the idea that maybe I could get more than the daily requirement of 20 people done. I found a seat in front of a stand-alone coffee vendor. Because they have no seats, their customers ask for coffee, it’s handed to them, and they leave. Occasionally a line will develop but I was there between coffee break and lunch, I guess, because it was mostly one person at a time and they were there less than a minute. It was like being in a shooting gallery but with a pen in my hand.
One thing surprised me. I got an audience, which was a bit disconcerting because they wanted to talk to me and I was trying to keep up with the people showing up for coffee. It was a unique challenge but they were easy to please as audiences always are.
One thing was clear. The intimidating number of 100 was not as formidable as I’d thought before I started. I was producing one of these people every couple minutes in spite of conversations with my audience and the occasional lull in coffee traffic.
When I got to 37 it was time for a break so I bought a coffee and spent some time showing people what I was doing and answering the typical questions. I was happy with the head start I’d gotten on the week, but if I wasn’t going to be able to sketch tomorrow, I was already behind (grin). Heck, let’s face it. This is kinda nuts.
As I was leaving I walked by the food court and I couldn’t pass it up. Just 3 more so I could have enough for today and tomorrow. I sat down and started drawing people who were ordering poutine, a disgusting concoction of fries with salty gravy and cheese curds. I filled the page before I finally packed up and went home.
This evening I was watching TV news and started drawing the talking heads. This added another 6 to the head count (pun intended) so I’ve drawn 50 people so far. More to come. How are you doing with your 100 people challenge?
