Keeping Busy at the Market

For well over a year now I have been at the Fredericton's Boyce Market every Saturday morning, enjoying the vibe, meeting new people, talking with friends and selling cards. Some days are busy, others are slow and on one Saturday in mid-winter I got skunked - didn't sell a single card.

I have never been a morning person so getting up at 6:00 in the morning is a challenge and on those slow days I was in danger of nodding off. I took a book to read or did some writing or browsing to keep myself awake and reasonably alert, but six hours of slow time is a long time! I needed to use the time constructively.

So I started sketching - just doodling at first, trying to catch the shape of a face or a nose on the folks strolling by. The market is a great place to people watch! I decided to try some portrait sketches. I brought charcoal pencils and paper with me to market.

It's challenge enough to draw someone who is standing still but altogether too much for me if they are moving. One Saturday morning I got a text from my daughter who was visiting a much-loved uncle with a photo of him at the helm of his boat. Working from that photo, (which didn't move at all!) I did this scribble.

Nothin' wrong with working from photos. Lots of artists do and I have never tried to hide the fact that I do.

Then I snuck some photos of children, using my iPhone. I hung this drawing at my booth, hoping it would generate some interest and trusting that her parents would excuse the intrusion. I gave it to them when they returned on another market day, several weeks later.

Thinking I might be on to something, I invited anyone who was interested to bring me a photo and I would do a sketch from it, saying that, if they didn't like it they could choose not to take it. It would be practice for me.

Also thought I would offer to do some in colour. Watercolour has always seemed to me to be an unforgiving medium but I made some attempts. This is the only one I was reasonably happy with. (I still find it an unforgiving medium.)

Then there are coloured pencils - something I associate with children's drawing - but I dug out a box of them that I have stashed away for visiting grandkids, bought a few more and gave them a try.

More practice... and lots of fun but these take a lot more time than a charcoal sketch and I'm always a little uncertain about the result.

So, after all the experimentation, I have now settled on charcoal. I am fairly confident about the end results and and I never have any trouble filling the time on a slow day at the Market. Send me a photo or attach it to an email or a text and and I'll see what I can do with it. Some examples:

You can choose to take only the drawing on 9x12 grey-toned paper, or the drawing with a white mat only or matted and in either a 13x10 or 16 x 12 frame.