Painting with a big brush and lots of paint

A few days ago I was at the local McDonalds grabbing lunch with family and while we milled about waiting on our food a gentleman in a booth caught my attention. He was an older man, sun had taken his skin and transformed it into a leather like husk. He had glasses on and based on the style he bought the frames about the time my Dad bought his last pair, 1970 something. His hat was an older brown style, in an old time shape, but still held its shape well. Shirt-classic light weight with pearl snaps the kind everyone I knew and know wears. Basically the real deal vs. the value menu drug store cowboys I sometimes see at my local Mickey D's.

His eyes and the general disdain on his face caught my attention more than anything. He wasn't hip on eating his Quarter Pounder it didn't seem, and he wasn't pleased with the out of control kids a couple booths down from him either. His don't mess with me demeanor didn't stop me from breaking out my handy dandy sketch book and capturing his gesture, gaze and clothing. An interesting note birders call this GISS, or general impression, size, and shape and it works for sketching anything, including rare birds out of their natural habitat like the one I captured eating his burger.

As I sketched I caught him looking at me. He had a pretty strong look, but he was hip enough to know what I was up to and he gave me a small grin. Probably because my flannel shirt, old dust and crud colored jeans, and Farm Credit ball cap met his uniform approval. I finished the sketch as he finished his fries and I managed to get in basic color before he fled the craziness that is fast food for the sanctuary of his old pickup truck. I don't know his name, don't even know what his voice sounded like but his appearance told a tale. I look for characters, characters with stories to tell, to fill my sketchbooks. Sometimes these characters are people, sometimes, places, and even sometimes critters. They are all things I know, I love, and I want to remember. Rural life isn't alway fun, sometimes it isn't even pleasant but it is always full of character with stories to tell.

As a young artist I didn't know what I wanted to say as an artist and I spent a lot of time thinking about it and traveling to find it. Lucky enough for me it is as close as the Limon McDonalds. The people, places, and critters I have known and seen become the stuff of art-at least for me. My next blog I will show my little sketching kit and offer a few tips for those of you character hunters looking for your next model. Hope you enjoy my little sketch of this one of a kind character I found.

As always thank you for taking the ride with me.

JR Monks

jrmonks.com