Sunday, February 17, 2013

Sketching a Coke can

A few years ago I was sitting in a beer garden in Clonmel, Ireland, looking for something to sketch, when my eye fell upon a crushed Coke can on the table next to me.

No one was sitting at the table, and they hadn't cleaned it up yet, so I grabbed the can, set it up in front of me, and started drawing.

Halfway into the drawing, enjoying the music and the Guinness, I glanced up to find the can was not there. The server was heading off with it.

"Pardon me," I said. "Might I have the can back?" She turned, shook the can to see that it was empty, raised an eyebrow, and handed me the can.

I labored on for another fifteen minutes and was surprised to see another hand reaching to grab it, this time a guy clearing tables.

I was quicker this time. I pulled the can to my chest. "Oh, no, please if you don't mind, I'll keep it," I said. Just to be sure, I wrapped the fingers of my left hand around the base can to keep it from being plucked away.

After that they left me with the can, but they never seemed to understand what I was doing with a piece of trash.
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10 comments:

  1. Tom HartFebruary 17, 2013 at 9:06 AM

    One man's trash...

    This is a great reminder of how sketches weld a time into the artist's memory - much better than a photo generally does.

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  2. H SmithFebruary 17, 2013 at 9:47 AM

    Hi James. Great stuff as usual.

    Here's a request for a future blog post.

    You are clearly well steeped in dinosaur anatomy, and by extension reptile and bird anatomy.

    There are plenty of good books about mammal anatomy, but I've yet to find any equivalent reference for birds or reptiles.

    What sort of references helped you in your work?

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  3. Keith ParkerFebruary 17, 2013 at 10:41 AM

    I think he just held a bunch of scientists hostage in a museum until they divulged all their secrets of Dino-anatomy. ;)

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  4. Celeste BerginFebruary 17, 2013 at 10:45 AM

    ...such beauty in a twisted can!

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  5. Keith ParkerFebruary 17, 2013 at 11:06 AM

    Addressing the actual post, I must say that this is only the funnier stories you have shared James. I keep imagining how odd they must have found you. Not quite as funny as the one with the farm animal heads on people that made it into Imaginative Realism, but it's still a great story. Thanks for sharing.

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  6. UnknownFebruary 17, 2013 at 4:55 PM

    Simplicity... finding subjects that are there, all around us.

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  7. Dan KentFebruary 17, 2013 at 7:17 PM

    And who says painters are strange!

    Great sketch.

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  8. AmberFebruary 17, 2013 at 11:25 PM

    Did they not see your sketch book and that you were drawing it? Sounds like they were simply on autopilot. ;)

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  9. K_tigressFebruary 18, 2013 at 12:52 AM

    Same reason why any one would sketch popcorn.

    The drawing pencils are clearly there. Can't you see the table is "ocupado" with various pencils, a sketch pad and an artist? ;)

    Yup apparently there are more zombies these days then the living trying to make a decent living.

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  10. Joe WinklerFebruary 22, 2013 at 6:31 PM

    Nice work!
    The version I did a while back is in oil and says "Diet Pepsi" Trash is the best! LOL!

    ReplyDelete

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