Milky Way, Netanya
Patron in a hat
Woman in red top
Businessman
Our favorite coffeeshop here in the sleepy town of Netanya is called cleverly The Milky Way, Shvil Ha-Halav in Hebrew. They serve beautiful cappuchino and enourmously sized salads. Now they are also famous for being the first cafe where I braved sketching patrons. The man in a hat is a regular, I noted him a while ago, but didn’t sketch because I didn’t have a good view until this one. The woman in red had interesting multiple chins as I looked at them in profile. Between eating and talking she kept repositioning them making my work more difficult. I generalized the best I could. The last guy had a very busy and no nonsense air about him, he chatted briskly with his companion, then got up and quickly left while I had my head down to my sketchbook for a moment, I didn’t even see him going. This is all I had time to do while he was sitting there.
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Love the texture in the first sketch, the color in the second and the expression in the third. Be careful – sketching on site becomes addictive.
Thank you, Linda! You are right – sketching on site is a great fun! I also feel that there is immediacy in images done this way that I do not see in my planned drawings. I intend to do a lot of onsite sketching, hopefully I will become better and faster with it.
I think these are all so special. How wonderful to take in the moments on your visit by drawing. I absolutely love the first one because of that FAN! What a riot. I had to draw and paint a fan for that painting of the policemen I did. That was difficult for me. Yours is great. I like the on-the-spot drawings because they help to give our brains and hands information they would not have had, had we not taken the time. Good for you, Alex. Love these posts.
I loved that fan :D! Such an interesting geometry there! My dad, a painter himself, felt that I shouldn’t have included it as it draws attention away from the figure. I see what he was saying, but I loved the ellipses and wanted to play with them for what it was worth. All of these sketches have student quality to them, almost childish images, but I feel how I begin to see more than I ever had before with every new drawing. It is amazing to realize that!
Great work! Really special!
Hooray for the husband’s comment! What fun to have you visit!
terrific sketches and I commend you for drawing in the coffee shop. I sometimes try to draw on the subway, but then don’t want anyone to see! Good for you for doing it.
It was scary to begin, to get my book and pencils out, and allow people to watch and judge, and realize that I am a pretender, not an artist. To my surprise the public was extraordinarily supportive. Those who took a moment to look into my book piled compliments even for my most feeble results, the ones I hesitate to post here. It was a great confidence builder!
This is such an interesting comment. I had an instructor that had us meet in public places to draw and he would say to us that, “as “feeble” as we may think our drawings are, others will be fascinated that we have the desire and the skills to even attempt to draw from life and what is going on around us”. He would remind us that we were doing what others have never done. LOL He even asked us, “How many times have you heard someone say, Hey! I can’t even draw stick figures. This is great!” I often think on this as I draw or paint in public. With that attitude, I welcome others interests in what I do and hope, by my example, they may someday have the confidence to spur their own artistic selves into motion. 🙂
Sounds like a great instructor, Leslie! Sometimes a brief sentence from a teacher has a profound effect when it lands at the correct time, when you are ready. I had an experience like that once when a quick sentence from a teacher (not even my teacher) forever changed how I look at painting a portrait. It removed my fear!
I always wanted to sketch in public places, and now I can!!!