The Food Court Essence

5/6/15 Diamine Eclipse ink, Canson XL 140 lb. paper

I’ve noted several times before that the Northgate food court is not the most inspiring sketching environment. It’s too dark, the arrangement of tables is awkward, and people tend to scarf down their meals and dash off quickly – not very cooperative “victims.” But since I was running a few errands at the mall anyway, I used the food court for a type of practice I don’t do often enough: very quick sketches that attempt to capture only the essence of a person’s gesture or posture.

For this type of exercise, I like to use a brush pen or, as today, my Platinum fountain pen with the big, fat music nib, which won’t allow me to start fussing around with facial features or other details. All I can get are the large shapes.

My inspiration for these is Manuel Hernández, a master of the gestural sketch. I have been following his sketches on Flickr for a long time. I so admire how he is able to capture a person’s mood, attitude or expression in the slump of a shoulder, the weight of the head or the impatient tapping of a foot.