The Art of Reading # 7 : Chain Readers 2
(ink & watercolour on paper, Café Masko, Mojacar Playa, 14/01/2009)
Back at Cafe Masko yesterday… and again they were all reading a newspaper…
but this time, with the exception thats proves the rule!
The Art of Reading # 6 : Chain Readers
(ink & watercolour on paper, Café Masko, Mojacar Playa, 13/01/2009)
On the way back from the Driving Range yesterday, my sporty Rocker Kev Moore invited me to a coffee with a doughnut in our lovely Cafe Masco, by the beach in Mojacar, where last spring I used to sketch people. It was a little late already and most of the people had gone home for lunch, but some tables were still busy… and invariably, at each of them, there was somebody reading a newspaper…
so I simply put them all together in this sketch, which represents quite well what most of the population are doing here, in Andalucia, on a sunny day…
The Art of Reading # 5 : Devouring The News
Another trip to a cafe by the beach yesterday… there are many people around here right now, too many to feel comfortable sketching on the cafe terraces. Not enough room between “my preys” and me, too much tension in the air then… but luckily some of them are so involved in reading the newspapers that they
1. don’t notice me
2. sit still long enough!
Well, considering his face, especially his nose, I guess this guy was devouring the sport news!
The Art of Reading # 4 : Gone with The Wind
I don’t know about you, but I am a very undisciplined newspaper reader. When I read a newspaper, – what, I confess, I seldom do, above all because I don’t want my happiness to be spoiled by all the bad news… I know, I know, very immature and egotistical!- it is simply a fight. It is really not easy, for a tiny creature such as I, to cope with it: hold the vast billowing pages, fold them properly, keep them in the right order, etc. It’s like an Origami class. The result being that I have pages all over and the bigger the paper, the bigger the mess!
The situation escalates dramatically when I try to read a newspaper sitting by the beach, where the wind is usually blowing. And I am not the only one fighting against the elements. I saw this woman the other day as I was sketching in a cafe by the beach, it was simply hilarious. She had not the slightest idea how to keep all the pages in her hands, they literally flew all over the place! And you won’t believe what I also saw: one even made it out to sea and a boat snapped it up, took the wind and sailed off with it!
PS: I think this is a problem which we women have. When I watch men reading newspapers, they are normally much more disciplined, and in fact they don’t like it at all when the pages get in the wrong order or the crises are in the wrong place…
The Art of Reading #3 : A Literate Tattoo
When you observe people reading their newspapers, above all, I guess, when they sit in a public place like our Cafe Masko, you really can see that the whole personality is involved in this act. Not only the hands which hold the paper, but also the body , the head, the hair, the lips, etc.
Even the tattoo seems “to lend an eye”!
To be honest, just by looking at the way this guy is reading, I know that he could not be my friend. You might think that I judge too quickly, but this attitude says so much about his character, I find. I would be really interested to know what YOU think he is inside, when you look at my sketch. It would be great if you could tell me in your comments…
Anyway, he was a great model for me, and I am thankful for it!
ATTENTION PLEASE!
I speak and read French, German, English, Spanish, and understand some others too…
so please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or to contact me in your own language!
The Art of Reading #2: Little Fat Hands
As I saw this woman reading her newspaper, I was totally fascinated by her little fat hands and arms, especially by her wrists, in this case only a line between arm and hand. This kind of transitions between different parts of the body can be very thankful to draw and make the charm of the whole drawing… look at baby wrists or ankles and you will understand what I mean… it is so touching some how. By this woman here, too… and strange enough, the way she holds the newspaper makes even think then her fingers are too small
The Art of Reading #1: The Wall
I started this series of sketches about people reading newspapers in my main blog some weeks ago, but as I decided to present all my paintings concerning people here, it is where they belong now.
It really fascinating to watch at them. To start with some of the papers are so gigantic that the people’s arms and hands seem to grow accordingly! So if you think, looking at this first sketch, that I don’t know the natural length of arms, you are wrong. Look at people reading newspaper, and you will see: their arms are suddenly made of elastic stuff!
What amazes me sometimes is when people come together to a Cafe, and one starts reading, holding the newspaper between him/her and friends. I find that incredibly impolite and careless!
This is by the way my nightmare picture of a couple: sitting at breakfast, the man reading newspaper, and holding it between him and her in a way that they can’t see each other. Like a wall, kind of. And in fact I guess it is really meant as a wall, consciously or not!
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