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| 4/8/19 He was fairly far away, which made it easier to avoid detection. |
While
I was feverishly drawing people during the #OneWeek100People2019
challenge, some followers (non-sketchers) on social media inevitably asked me
if I have ever been caught by a “victim” while sketching them. (This is also a
major concern of unseasoned sketchers who feel self-conscious sketching in public.)
I am proud to say that, in my seven-plus years of sketching several hundreds of
people by now, I have never yet been
caught or confronted.
How
do I do it? Mainly, I’m fast, so I don’t linger or stare long at any one
victim. Here are some other practical tips:
 |
| 4/12/19 OK, she was easy -- she was dozing. |
- Choose victims who are engrossed in their phones, laptops or (sadly, rarely) books. They will never notice you. Even if they are not engrossed, most people are busy inside their own heads and don’t care what you are up to.
- One caveat about the above tip: People who are in the middle of a text conversation tend to type quickly, then look around while they are waiting for the other person to respond. I watch for this rhythm, and I time my own glances at the victim to match the moments that they look back at their phones.
- In general, men are more oblivious than women. I think women are generally more aware of others in public places and tend to sense if someone is looking at them for longer than a glance. Women are easier to sketch if they are engaged in conversation.
- Easy victims are those whose profiles you can see – you are outside their peripheral vision. Even easier, of course, are the ones facing away from you completely.
- Avoid “head bobbing” (as Liz Steel calls it); the frequent, unnatural motion attracts attention. Liz suggests glancing up and then working from memory to avoid bobbing. My approach is to simply lift my eyes instead of my head.
- If your victim starts to look up, and you sense that you are about to be noticed, quickly look away, then write rapidly in your sketchbook. You will look like you’re journaling.
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| 4/11/19 Fully engrossed and even occasionally smiling at what he was seeing. |
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| 4/17/19 In the background, you can see my victim at fairly close range. He was reading a book (!) as I sketched him. I was impressed by his beard. |
Brilliant! I'lll have to remember these strategies. I was caught once, recently, probably because I was craning at an unnatural angle. When confronted, I attempted to emulate James Gurney's recommendation of showing him my sketch and befriending him, but he wasn't having any of it. One of the many ways in which I am not James Gurney.
ReplyDeleteThat's too bad that your "victim" wasn't friendly! And we would all benefit from being more like James Gurney! ;-)
DeleteI agree... subjects on their devices are the best and easiest. I, too, use the "move the eyes, not the head" technique.
ReplyDeleteA good reason to have well-adjusted progressive lenses! ;-)
DeleteIn today's times it is the norm for people to be engrossed in their phones which is good for us when we are sketching them. It is very rare that people notice. I was on the NYC subway with my friend and we were both sketching. Unfortunately we made the mistake of sitting on opposite sides of the car so we would have different people to sketch. The woman sitting next to me saw that I was sketching the people opposite me and she realized Susan was sketching her. She whispered to her friend next to her that they were being sketched and she put her hand and her phone right in front of her face blocking it. So Susan just continued to sketch her exactly that way. lol
ReplyDeleteHa! I can see that two sketchers might attract more attention than one! ;-)
Delete