"Lucinda, Portrait Of A Land Baroness!"

It's a cold, wet Starbuck's staring 'da window day, but I probably won't do it. Got too much other stuff to take care of. Carl, a chubby, gruff, bear of a guy at the Senior Center wants me to bring one of my sketchbooks to show some other friends there. I guess he's tired of watching people play cards, Bunco and scuffle over the Bingo winnings. Anyway, I tried to consolidate four books into one last night. I kinda hate tearing out pages, but I am not sure I can trust the seniors with all four of my sketchbooks.

Carl's gonna be my new agent, ha!

He's promised to tell me the seniors' reaction to my portraits. But, ya gotta love 'em. I dropped off the sketchbook and showed a few of the sketches to some staff members. Three of the staff decided to make a game out of looking at the portraits. They were going to cover, with opaque tape, the names of the people I drew, and have the seniors guess who's who! When I was making my escape, I overheard one staff member trying to decide what the winner would get…

Oh, I certainly don't wanna be a part of that scene, ha!

Here's one of the newer sketches I've yet to show!

This lady's name is Lucinda, but she goes by "Cynda."Amongst the many, Cynda watches over my mom at the senior center. Whenever possible, she admonishes me to take good care of my mom and I always retort with some sarcastic quip. After about a year of this, it has become kind of a running joke we utilize to start the morning.

She is not always at the senior center because she has five, count 'em, five homes around the country. Every now and then, she has visit and care for. She is always pining for her condo in Playa del Rey. By her own admission, Cynda also is a crackerjack gambler and will proudly show you the Lexus LS 300 should won on a twenty dollar lottery ticket.

Today, Cynda was not at the center today when I dropped off my sketches, so she probably won't get the chance to see her portrait.

Maybe, another time, if she behaves!

Copyright 2014/ Ben Bensen III

"It's Just Me And A Room Full Of Chairs!"

A foreshortening nightmare...

Well, this is another doctor and another waiting opportunity to incorporate an **electric eraser. I thought it was really cruel for the doctor to make me wait until I finished this on site foreshortening exercise. He was probably sitting behind some mirrored one way window, laughing his "stethoscope" off watching me struggle through this unmusical set of chairs.

My comment atop in the left hand portion of the sketch refers to a "privacy issue" I had with a little old lady in a waiting room earlier in the day. For the details of that sketch and my personal encounter, go to:
GraphicGumbo...Daily: "Granny Hangs Ten On The Internet!"

sketchiethoughts.blogspot.com

** Just a technical note… an electric eraser would not have helped…

Copyright 2014/ Ben Bensen III

"Granny Hangs Ten On The Internet!"

Invading her privacy and her concentration, I guess.

Okay, you are right. It isn't what you thought it would be about. The visual isn't a septuagenarian surfer shooting the curls, but this feisty grandma was deep in concentration about something on the web. I apologize to my readers, and to her!

The intense little lady was probably scouring Web MD for a reason to believe, and she probably didn't need me aggravating her with my constant perusals. I'm pretty happy with this sketch, but it always comes with a price… constant staring on my part.

You know, up down, up down, erase… up down, up down!

Eventually, she got up and went to the restroom or, at least, that was what I thought. But, a few minutes later, a nurse came by and politely asked me to put away my sketchbook. I obliged. In the five or six years I've been keeping up my chops by sketching, when I sketch people I have to be cognizant that some people just might be freaked out by my close scrutiny of their space. It's a fine line between being obtrusive and being not so. I would have to say that it is a very rare occasion that someone let's me know not to sketch them; whether they say so in words, looks or body language.

I remember an incident, at a buffet restaurant, where my subject was not only aggravated by me staring at, and sketching him, but, simultaneously disappointed, at his perusal of my portrayal of his rather rugged visage. I'm sure, one day, some lawyer or Congressman will get elected when he or she gets legislation passed to prevent artists, photographers and chefs from stealing, invading or otherwise intruding one's parameters without "the expressed written permission of the NFL or other reputable corporation.

But, it did not deter me, for when the gruff little granny split for her interview with the doctor, I pulled out the book and finished my sketch.

Luckily, I had enough drawn and just had to refine the sketch and make it worthy of my time… and,  I won't ever show her my finished piece… even if she asks!

So there!

Copyright 2014/ Ben Bensen III

"Waiting… The Devil's Workshop?"

I tried to draw this without tone, but failed!

This past month, I have had the pleasure of visiting five different doctors' offices for the expressed pleasure of sketching their office decor. It never fails, no matter how early you arrive, your fifteen to twenty minute visit, will take you all morning long.

Today was no different.

I haven't been to the gym very much in the new year. I have many excuses, but the biggest one is
called,"inertia!" I went one afternoon, and in a fit of enthusiasm, I sprained my ankle on calf extension machine doing toe raises. Something went "pop" and I crumbled. So, here I was, one week later, awaiting my turn to have my ankle examined. Turns out, it was just a severe fascia sprain , but the wait to see the doctor was a severe pain.

After about ten minutes, I decided to make the best of my down time by drawing the young and beautiful assistant eating breakfast behind the glass sliding window. The more I looked, the more I saw. There were numerous levels of reflections in front of her face, and behind her in another window reflecting another awaiting patient... and then, in another window that overlapped the first two windows, another person standing outside deciding whether to waste his entire morning… waiting!

Anyway, I had fun playing with this nuance of reflected life. And, that's right, I said,"life." It's one of those things artists do a lot… levels of reflections of light and life. "Light" is safer...

What is it they say about an idle mind? Well, it's not my fault. Blame it all on waiting for a doctor!

Copyright 2014/ Ben Bensen III