Waiting

The Queuers in the Café

As the queuers at the garden centre café are facing the counter there's no temptation to get sidetracked into trying to capture a likeness, nor is there so much of chance that they'll spot me sketching them. Phew. The straw-hatted waitress - she looks like a character from a Renoir painting - spots me as she comes past and smiles but I don't get chance to draw her as she breezes about with trays.

The queuers also keep moving of course, in a more limited context, but that's a good thing; it concentrates my mind and forces me to look for the essentials. It's not just a question of camera-like what-you-see-is-what-you-get observation; there's a certain amount of reconstruction involved as a particular figure drifts along in the queue or transfers weight from one leg to the other.

Years ago, when I attended a life drawing class we were sometimes given a series of five-minute poses as a warm up exercise, but I think the queue in the café is even better because the poses are more natural; they're not poses struck with any idea that the person might be drawn.

Another advantage: you could never assemble such a range of characters for a life class. Everyone in the queue seems to me fascinating to draw because of their particular shape, size, age, stance, clothing; they're all individual characters. As I've brought a handful of watercolour pencils with me I add a quick suggestion of colour to a couple of the drawings. I think this brings them to life.

I'll try and draw figures more regularly.

Chinchilla

In the pets department this chinchilla sits huddled up at the top of its cage while its partner is visible only as a rear end and tail protruding from a hollow log at the bottom.