Parking Lot Characters: The LargeTopless Guy

I was nearly finished with this one before I realized just how much this fellow looked like a middle-aged Charlie Brown gone to seed. It was one of the first sunny days we had had this year, and I wasn't even all the way to my usual sketching grounds when I spied this gomer strutting down the main drag in downtown Oak Grove. This is what happens in Oregon after a cold and drizzly spring and early summer, guys like this feel compelled to take their shirts off and wander around at the first provocative hint of sunshine. Now as an artist and former connoisseur of nude dancing establishments I've probably seen well over a hundred miles of naked human flesh, some of it more pleasant than others, and I consider the human form to be a fascinating piece of machinery, and generally take each one as is. However, when I see sights like this it really makes me wonder about the über-conservative folks who get so offended by public breastfeeding. Seriously! A woman can grow a small human being inside her body, and then after it is born, use her body to feed that same little human. How amazing is that?! Yet, here we are in the year 2011 and despite a growing laundry list of the benefits of breastfeeding to both mother and child, there are still people who are offended by this act as if it's something dirty and shameful. Meanwhile, this character, and his ilk, like so many fur-less bears, can lumber down pretty much any Main Street  in the great US of A with nary a glance. I'm just sayin' it seems a little backward to me.

Thanks for stopping by.
Cheers!

A large topless guy strolling down the street.

Parking Lot Characters: The Oak Grove Wiseguy

Okay, I've got absolutely no proof that this guy has any ties to the mob, but he looked a bit like a wiseguy with his Hawaiian shirt and the way he was swaggering around the parking lot, but in little Oak Grove, Oregon, it isn't very likely. The funny thing about this guy is that the day I happened to see him was the very same day that they caught James "Whitey" Bulger, the former Boston mob boss and number two on the FBI's Most Wanted List. How's that for a coincidence? Gosh! I hope I haven't just outed some poor slob in the Federal Witness Protection Program— Oops! I really don't think he is a gangster or any kind of fugitive, in fact, the more I look at this drawing the more I realize he looks more like an old lesbian on vacation—I really don't know what that means, it just sounds funny. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers!

The Oak Grove wiseguy making his way across the parking lot.

Parking Lot Characters: The Worried Sweater Girl

I hit the coffee shop on Wednesday with high hopes for a new addition the the Parking Lot Character Series,  but I'm afraid it was pretty slim pickins. In fact, about the best I could do was this little worried gal in a striped sweater. Not that there's anything wrong with her, well other than the fact that I didn't give her a mouth (maybe that's why she's so worried). She was just kind of bland for the PLC Series, that's all I'm saying. Actually, there was one other character who would have been pretty good, I think, I didn't get a very good look form the front. He was a big lumpy redneck in a ginormous pickup with a dune-buggy on a trailer. Ironically, the reason I missed him is because I was sketching the striped sweater girl to kill time while I waited for Mr. redneck to come back from the liquor store. Before I knew it he was back in the truck and roaring out of the parking lot; all I saw was a hint of bushy mustache and a ball cap. Dammit Anyway! Maybe next time I should take a spotter with me to keep me on track.

The Worried Sweater Girl.

The Parking Lot Characters Series is a somewhat irregular collection of posts featuring semi-finished drawings of people I observe while sketching and drinking coffee in a local parking lot, which is shared by super market, a liquor store, a big corporate coffee shop and a handful of other small businesses. I then take the rough sketches back to the studio and rework them in ink and color before posting them here.

Parking Lot Characters: The Crazy Manure Lady

The Parking Lot Characters Series is a collection of semi-finished drawings of people I observe while sketching and drinking coffee in a local parking lot, which is shared by super market, a liquor store, a big corporate coffee shop and a handful of other small businesses. I then take the rough sketches back to the studio and rework them in ink and color before posting them here.

Here's a special weekend edition of Parking Lot Characters, although the original sketch was done about the middle of last week. I had barely turned my car off when I spied this charming lady angrily yammering to herself while she humped what appeared to be a heavy bag of some type of farm animal poop across the parking lot. I had the windows rolled up and she was on the other end of the parking lot, so couldn't hear what she was screeching about. In fact, she was actually so far away that I couldn't even tell for sure if  it was a bag of manure or not, but the idea amused me so I put it in. Truth be told, I strongly suspect she had one of those newfangled Bluetooth deals on the far side of her head, which is a perfect example of why you should not indulge in that particular technology—because you look like a raving nut-bar to the rest of us.

Crazy Manure Lady.

Parking Lot Characters: The Angry Bamboo Man

The Parking Lot Characters Series is a collection of semi-finished drawings of people I observe while sketching and drinking coffee in a local parking lot, which is shared by super market, a liquor store, a big corporate coffee shop and a handful of other small businesses. I then take the rough sketches back to the studio and rework them in ink and color before posting them here.

I was going to do a new Parking Lot Character on Wednesday, but when I got to the coffee shop I realized that I had forgotten my sketch pad (which resulted in a swearing festival). I finally remembered the pad the next time I went, but then with the long weekend . . . well, lets skip the long explanation and just say that I'm a little behind in my Parking Lot Character series and this one is from sometime last week, or maybe from the weekend. Anyway, there is a certain type of older guy who always seems to look angry no matter what he is doing. Today's offering was just such a fellow. He had that irritated look about him when he went in to Fred Meyers (Krogers  for you non-Northwesterners), but when he came back with an unruly gaggle of bamboo under his arm, he really looked pissed! I don't know if the cashier wouldn't give him a sack for his bamboo, or if  he just hated the stuff, but whatever the case, he was not happy, and I'm glad I was there to document it.
Cheers!

Parking Lot Characters: The Magnificent Beard

The Parking Lot Characters Series is a collection of semi-finished drawings of people I observe while sketching and drinking coffee in a local parking lot, which is shared by super market, a liquor store, a big corporate coffee shop and a handful of other small businesses. I then take the rough sketches back to the studio and rework them in ink and color before posting them here.

Howdy Kids! Earlier this afternoon I was out getting coffee and running some errands, which means that I was out in my car sketching and drinking my coffee (so that I wouldn't have to listen to Starbucks' crappy music selection). If you're a people-watcher like me, a busy parking lot can be a treasure trove of interesting characters and assorted goof-balls. Today's lucky winner is this gentleman  who was sporting a truly magnificent beard. Incidentally, the real background was  more a suburban setting, but this is what came out of my pencil, so it looks like he's strolling around downtown, when he was actually in more of a strip-mall type place.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers!

This gent was sporting a truly magnificent beard.