diner napkin 2 and painting

A couple of weeks ago I was sitting at the diner on 4th and Union drawing the people at the table across from me. This one girl happened to be particularly large, and I exaggerated every roll and fold associated to her shapely form. Then the waitress asked if she could have the drawing, she liked it so much she told me. Even though I was actually going to use this as a research sketch for my short film, I gave it to her since she was really enthusiastic about it. I never expected her to walk over to the girl I'd been drawing and show her! Man Alive!, was I ever blushing at that moment. I hope she wasn't insulted. Fortunately the last two weeks I've been able to get the window table, and these are from this morning. I thought I'd also post up a sample of some of the paintings (well- markers and some watercolours) that I've been experimenting with in the last two weeks.

diner napkin

This napkin drawing was done this past Sunday afternoon, after finishing up my breakfast and waiting for my orange juice that never arrived. The wind was blowing the leaves in every which way but I guess you’ll have to take my word for it since there are none depicted in this quick sketch. I never bothered to ask for my orange juice, by the way…but she did re-fill my coffee cup with fresh coffee. Then I went for a walk on a beautiful windy fall day.

Sketching in Gowanus

I'm fascinated by water towers. I don't recall ever seeing any growing up on the West Coast, nor when I was living in Montreal. Before I moved here I had a few dreams of strange buildings adorned with water towers and helicopters flying high above, which seemed odd at the time because I'd never see that many helicopters where I was living, until I moved here, and anyone who lives in Brooklyn or Manhattan probably never notices them anymore since it is such a common occurrence to see a police helicopter fly overhead. Maybe I'm just trying to say simply : follow your dreams, write them down, paint them, draw them, whatever..... just be true to yourself.
These two towers are just around the corner from my place on 3rd Avenue, I am totally infatuated by the one on the top, since I pass it everyday to and from work, no matter how bad the weather is, how much rain, ice or frost it has to endure, it is still standing strong. I aspire to be like that water tower.