Early Morning Practice

As is my practice when traveling, I try to get out early to a coffee shop of some sort to draw, read, or write before the rest of my family is up and about.  On the day after Independence Day I walked over to a local Starbucks for my venti size Cafe Mocha.  This woman was deep into her work and I, thinking she would likely be there for a while and I could get a good drawing in, sat down at the table next to her.  I couldn’t see her face because of her hair hanging down and that added a technical element to the drawing challenge I liked.

How I make my Drawing Decisions

The only real movement she made was to lean forward closer to the laptop screen or further back. I drew her hair, hoodie and body first, leaving her face and it’s angle until I was sure I could get it right. The hoodie actually had a couple stripes down the arms but I didn’t like the idea of breaking up the lines with more lines so I didn’t include them.  Her skirt was a print with very light and delicate flowers. I know I could get the colors right even if I couldn’t get the flowers in detail so I went with dots of colors.  

She had on a ankle bracelet that I wanted to include but I didn’t really like where it fell on her leg, feeling it looks a bit too much like a sock top or a tattoo. I really liked her little container of watermelon and made sure to include that.  She had a book on top of it which I thought might make it harder to recognize as a container if I added the book on top but I did it anyway, just another challenge.  I finally committed to drawing her profile at a certain angle behind the hair.  I felt like I got it right though the neck line from the chin probably could have been just a tad bit farther to the left.

I tried a number of different markers for shading, experimenting with layering a slightly darker shade of whatever color I had used.  That worked somewhat but it wasn’t really dark enough so I eventually used my go-to color for shading, Prismacolor Celadon Green.
 

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Reference and Record

I took a photo just in case I didn’t have a chance to finish the drawing and wanted some later reference.

Reference Photo

I usually like to show the drawings I do of strangers to them if possible. She started folding paper into little rectangles and tearing them apart. She then proceeded to make what looked like spelling test cards. I noticed she had a couple big words on her screen and I got the impression she might be studying English, perhaps not speaking it at all. I wasn’t sure if I should approach her or not because of that but I decided I would.

Esther at Starbucks

It turned out she spoke English perfectly and was happy to see the drawing. I gave her my card and told her to email me so I could send her a copy of it. I also told her to come to the blog in a few days and I would have it up for all to enjoy.  Let’s hope she does. Esther, if you do, leave a comment, ok?

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Drawing, photos and story by Marty Coleman

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