7/29/20 Green Lake neighborhood |
“Oh, you’re sketching. . .?”
I was standing in this dead-end street in front of the house
where the man had come from. I held up my sketchbook so he could see what I was
doing. As he approached the edge of my “safe zone,” I said, “I’m sorry. . .”
and started to back away. Normally, I would have enjoyed sharing my sketchbook
as I have with countless curious passers-by who have approached me these past
nine years.
He stopped immediately and backed off himself. Embarrassed,
he said, “Oh, I’m so sorry. . . I got so interested that I forgot . . .”
We chatted briefly from a safe distance. As he turned toward
his house, I said, “I would have loved to have shown you my sketches.”
Nodding, he smiled and said, “Maybe in a year. . . ?”
It broke my heart.
I am feeling the same way. I feel like I am grieving all the changes. Drawing does provide a harbor for a while.........
ReplyDeleteLove your sketch, esp. the red tree in the front!
Keep sketching, Cathy! It's the best self-therapy one can do!
DeleteSo many different species of trees, Tina! I wish I could name them all. So sad you couldn't show your neighbor your sketch :-(
ReplyDeleteThat takes away some of the joy of sketching, doesn't it? Sad state of affairs.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely some of the joy of sketching on location is being able to share with interested passers-by.
DeleteThis post makes me wonder if "Urban Sketching" will ultimately become another casualty of COVID. The main things driving it - cheap/easy travel and big in person social gatherings - are not coming back for the foreseeable future, if ever. It reminds me of the question if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a noise? Is it really "Urban Sketching" if you do it on your own, in your own backyard, or a six block radius of home, and afterwards, there's no one to show your drawings to? It will be interesting to see how the whole concept evolves.
ReplyDelete