I had taken the animators to the mall for drawing last semester so I decided to take both classes out on the streets of Wilmington to do some drawing from life. Wilmington is really a colorful city of contrasts. you have a really run down ghetto aspect mixed with the banking hubb of America. The main street is a weird mix of the sidewalk seemingly always under construction, muslim tables selling their insense, mix tapes, and sundries, sidewalk cafes, black owned and run businesses, pawn shops,and up scale coffee shops with business men and women eating along with a mix of pan handlers, crack heads and weirdos. So there should be plenty to draw!
I had a guy stop and say he used to be an art teacher up in Boston and a few more people stop and ask what I was doing, they were interested in drawing. it seems people are always curious to see an actual artist out creating something. I suppose to many it's like magic or a parlor trick.
As we all headed out down the street and my instructions were simple: grab the essence of the person, do a getsure, draw with your eyes first, take it in, then draw. Sometimes you have 15-20 seconds to study a person passing by...you can't do detail drawings. later you can refer back to these drawings and do drawings from them, remember some specific feature or the unique walk, nose, etc.
In the afternoon I went bak with the animators and stopped in Romney Square to sketch. While I watched and sketched some kids playing football I noticed a lady standing at the bottom of the sculpture of some general on a horse in the entrance. This lady was really going on about something...that something soon became apparent. George W Bush. At first I thought it was demonstration but then I noticed it was only the lone woman...a one woman protest. She marched around the park stopping evey so often in fron of people to rant about Bush. It appeared she didn't have all her marbles as she talked about being homeless for five years and that it was enough. When most people see somebody they think is nuts they try and ignore them at first, and above all AVOID EYE CONTACT!
The students were sort of amused and put off, and one even moved when she approached him to rant. Hey, I agree with her, I think Bush is a complete asshole, a terrible president which history will condem, but you can't talk publically about offing him, which is what they lady started doing..."there are rumors of his assasination" she started saying. Also "she was sent by god as a messenger." She reapeated this several times, another possibly homeless person or bum yelled at her to "go find somebody to talk to".
I did several sketches of her and wrote down some of what she said. She had a weather beaten appearence, like an old Kenndey lady from New England. As we left to head back to class the cops were rolling up, I guess her ranting about the president had gotten somebody pissed...I suspect it would be easy with all those republican, asshole bankers on lunch within earshot.
Anyway here are some of my on-the-spot-gestures from the park and the "Bush Lady." I agree with her about not letting the republican asshole machine and Bush ruin or stop my dreams...or anyone else's.
3 comments:
Michael,
First let me say that I do not like Bush either. Never have. Voted for Gore the first time around. I disliked Kerry as well, although he was my first choice as to whom to vote for in the last election. Then I realized he would pull us out of Iraq too quickly--man, you just can't go into a country, destroy the entire infrastructure, then bale, leaving the people there defenseless. So, unfortunatly, as much as I despise the man (and anyone who uses religious and financial ideals as reasons for starting war), I voted for Bush only because I was terrified for the lives of the Iraqi people and knew they couldn't be abandoned and left to OTHER religious zealots without a defense system of their own. After all, the American War Machine is the devil I know (or presume to)
Second, I believe politics has become the new racism. It is a conveniently acceptable form of hatred one can express against an entire group of people that encompasses huge numbers of individuals of all different walks of life and different races. Republicans hate Dems and Dems hate Republicans. It is far too easy to lump the good in with the bad, the fair-minded in with the dogmatic, the kind and caring in with the haters and "evil doers". My point here is that there are a lot of decent Republicans out there. To call a group (bankers) assholes and to attach the prefix "Republican" is somehow wrong to me. It presumes too much. I know from my own experience (my husband is one of those Republican bankers) that many of these people are caring individuals who want the best for the people in this world and are in no way assholes. Yes, I know my husband comes off as cold, and we do have our problems, but he is not an asshole and isn't even a fair sampling of the people he works with (more of whom I would guess are actually Dems, BTW).
Third, you are my friend and I admire and respect you as an individual. I respect your sentiment here, though I believe the thinking to be a little askew. I hope my words here are not misinterpreted--I agree that Bush has got more than the good of the Iraqi people at heart (I'm not convinced he has a heart really). I can't even stand to hear the sound of his voice, or any politician for that matter. I just can't take the rhetoric. The bullshit. The blatant lying to my face they all seem guilty of. Please try to consider that not all Republicans are assholes in the same way that Bush and his followers should consider that not all Muslim people are evil. Or Democrats for that matter.
:)
Kel
Greed is the new racism. The Democrats are assholes too! Don't get me wrong. Basically the whole lot needs to be dumped. They have balls now, but they needed balls 4 years ago. Sure, you have a few good eggs, but mostly rotten ones. Look, I kinda' admired McCain, even though he isn't pro choice, but to see him swallow the Bush Dick Doctrine Bullshit, get back in bed with assholes like Jerry Fawell, reversing his previous stance, then the utter embarassment of his bagdad walk...please!
I can support a president I don't agree with everything on if I feel overall he can do a good job. After all, I have friends who are republicans. I'm an independent.
I'm sorry, I can't justify going along with Bush, or the republican mindset, the conservative mindset and that includes anyone who isn't a republican but has that core value sense. I just can't agree with them at all. the idea that a republican is better than a democrat with managing world affairs is just wrong to me. History proves this. wait until the end of the year when they will be forced to bug-out of Iraq, and leave those poor folks completely fucked...cause they are. We have only allowed about 7,000 to relocate here and destroyed so many lives, familys. There is no good solution now, we are screwed. Smart people realize they are whipped.
wait till we are paying $4 gas this summer. We collectively have to lump this and hope the lumps smooth out over 20 years.
Sure maybe every banker isn't an ass, but many, many are. Maybe your hubby is a guy with his heart in the right place, but I wasn't talking about him.
I didn't like Kerry, Don't like Hilary, kinda' like Obama, but let's see, he may become just as lame as the rest.
And you didn't say anything about the art...:-)
hahaha! Yeah, you're right. I got a little distracted by politics and forgot about the artwork! I like the crazy lady, the morbidly obese lady and the kids the most. I've got to get to something like this during the summer. I'm finding I like the quick gestures these days. They seem more lively than things I spend too much time on and you've captured movement and a casual feeling with these people as you might find in a park atmosphere.
Now back to politics......
Sorry, but I have to take issue with the whole banker thing. Sure, there are more Repubs than Dems in that business, but many of them are artists as well. Did you know that? And that to say there is some kind of mindset with these people is to buy into the notion that they are all like the talking heads we all hear from. Yes, some of them are like that--my parents for instance. Can't talk politics with them because they are as blind as a bleeding heart liberal. You know the type, the one who buys into a mindset because someone tells them that some poor down and out guy is getting a rough deal on something. Sure, that person's heart is in the right place, but what about how their actions are going to affect other things, like a street, a neighborhood, city or entire country? They react without considering the total fallout of their actions. Enter Kerry. He proved me right with his policy for exiting Iraq. Couldn't even get the other Dems to go along with that one.
My point here is that you say you saw a group of people in a park, many of whom were, I'm guessing, wearing business clothes. From that, you assume they are bankers. Since they are bankers, they are Republicans. Since they are Republicans, they are assholes. My dear friend, if that isn't profiling, then please tell me what is.
(BTW, the last four letters in the word verification below are--kwfu. How's that for ironic? Consider it a message sent!!)
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