On Clothing
I draw a lot of humans, which means I draw a lot of clothing. And unless I’m drawing something historical—which requires a crawl through a book on costumes, or sometimes a time machine—that means I do a lot of people watching. Lots of walking around town, through quiet neighborhoods and bustling city centers, just seeing the choices people make when it comes to covering their bones. Not fashion models or Netflix actors, mind you—EVERYDAY people. Like you and me and… um… your aunt… Jeannie.
The flip-side of all this is that (a) my feet hurt a lot, and (b) I ride a fine line between observant artist and creepy weirdo. I control for creepiness by limiting myself to only a glance or two, and then relying on my memory for the important details. Then, when I get a chance, I record all the relevant details as best I can. I have a pretty good accuracy rate, I think. Every now and then I see the same person again, and get to double-check. Like, this guy who looks like some sort of Portuguese Bus Sailor
I saw him again the other day and I had pretty much everything right except his face. He was more merry and cherubic than I remembered. Probably because he wasn’t on the bus.
Anywhooo, enjoy this smattering of reference drawings I’ve made over the last few months. All these people were real people I saw, and—with the exception of one individual—none of them punched me in the face for staring! Guess which one, and you’ll win a free trip in my time machine! Experience the birth of American Rock music! Not that we HAVE TO go back to the 1950’s, I just park it behind a Hard Rock Cafe to steal their power outlet.