Tuesday, November 10, 2009

In Flight 2

Hunting Buddies, Passenger 8D
graphite on paper
9.75" x 7.5"

Passenger 26D
graphite on paper
9.75" x 7.5"

These two drawings were done on my recent trip to California. The two gentlemen (one very lightly drawn across the aisle) in the first drawing were headed to Sioux Falls on a pheasant hunting trip. He turned out to be a very interesting guy and showed enough interest in the Arts, that I felt comfortable enough to show him the drawing when he woke up. His reply was a very Southern "oh, bless your heart". Now my understanding of that term is that it is a southern way of 1) filling space in a conversation, but more importantly 2)a nice way of insulting the person you are saying it to. Perhaps, passenger 8D did not intend to use it in that way, but I could not help chuckling to myself. I guess its similar to the term "oh, how interesting", not necessarily bad, but not so good either. Maybe he was just uncomfortable with the realization that a stranger had taken advantage of his sleeping visage (which is a thought that also makes me chuckle). Passenger 26D, in fact, was visibly annoyed with me for drawing him, turning a cold shoulder to me at one point, but I continued to draw him despite his discomfort. He had no interest in even saying hello when he sat down next to me and therefore I felt no obligation to be generous with the decency to stop drawing him when I noticed his discomfort. Horrible, I know.

2 comments:

  1. I used to take the train home from the first boarding school I attended, in southern Virginia, all the time. I often found myself sketching other passengers. There's always such an interesting range of reactions when people see you working!

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  2. Yes, Cavaticat, that is so true! It's such a great time to catch an un-posed person though that I think its worth the risk.

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