Tuesday, September 28, 2010

"Starbucks at the Mall and the Queen of Nairobi"

I've been wanting to sketch this for a long time, but you have to have the primo parking stall to be in the right positon; and until today, it's always been filled.

I did have to wait for a guy driving an old Ford pick-up to pull out of the stall. I waited patiently in the adjacent row, only having to pull out twice because someone drove up behind me, and drive the 'ciruit' to get back into position: that's right, I was Patient. He had his foot on the brake the whole time, but was on his cell phone.

When it was time for me to leave, without thinking about it, I gathered up my pencils, pens, watercolor kit, etc., to put back into my satchel. The car was running, my foot was on the brake. All of sudden I hear a car-horn go off. I check my rearview and see the Queen of Nairobi sitting behind the wheel of her black 'beemer,' all pissed that I was taking my time. Sheeeesh. Where's the respect? lol

watercolor and ink

7 comments:

  1. I like you sketch, AND your story! Some days it seems like everybody you see is impatient, irritable, and totally self-absorbed. I make a game of trying to make them laugh or smile, just to show them what they're missing!
    Just last week I was brave enough to sit across the street from an ice cream shop and sketch it. I did get several curious looks from folks, and one woman called out of her car window to ask if she could see what I was "painting". (I only had a pencil and paper with me...) I told her no, I had just barely started...
    Art is definitely an adventure!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The wait was definitely worth it! This is a really nice little drawing. I love the green umbrella and also how you handled the glass in the windows and doors. nancy

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well, it was worth the wait--your patience paid off. The sketch is excellent! One of the things I like about sketching is that it slows me down and makes me pay attention to my surroundings.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm sorry, but I would have taken my foot off the brake and continued to sit there taking my time putting things away or drawing or whatever!

    Rude people only think of themselves, how did she know that you hadn't just pulled into the space? Or that you were waiting for someone to get the order and bring it out? I might have been tempted to run to her car and ask if there was some kind of emergency?

    Your drawing is great...I'm a Starbucks fan and love this rendition.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What you have to do for the sake of art! I'm glad you managed to sketch this scene and shared it with us.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Patience paid off because this is a terrific sketch! There sure are a lot of self-entitled jerks out there and most of them are behind the wheel of big expensive cars. I just ignore them.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Really nice sketch! And I do admire your patience, and yeah people can be obnoxiously rude when they are in a hurry especially when they are in a car. When I was on the highway, sometimes a car would come up to me so fast even when I am trying to overtake(going a little over the speed limit to do so), and when I am done I'd switch to the left lane and let the 'rushing one' go. My wife would ask me "why didn't you just tap your brake?" I said to her "Well, it could be an emergency, and maybe he just wanted to go to the next exit just for the bathroom". And a few seconds later you'd see that car taking the next exit ^^

    ReplyDelete