C Spain

C doesn’t mind my posting these two sketches of him, and that is a sure sign of his opinion that they don’t look at all like him. I’d have to agree, as will, I suspect, those of you who know him.



And yet, didn’t I get that certain slide of shoulder and his distinctive unwillingness to sit in a chair in accordance with its design?



They say it’s difficult to render the faces of those closest to you, and in these cases, my first strikes at the paper were to the limbs. The faces came last and were rushed while calling for la quenta over empty espresso cups. Complicating the process is the fact that he won’t sit still, not even for a photo. Further, during both sessions, he was looking down at his writing, and squinting in the full sun, having not packed sun glasses and unwilling to wear the extra pair I packed and never giving over enough time to select a new pair from the many street vendors he stepped around.

I should have simply blocked in the face, the same way I color-blocked the other areas first. I was thinking Milton Avery at the onset of each sketch. He certainly never fed much detail into his faces, and he’d raise one of his vaguely drawn eyebrows at the comparison.

Also, I never know when to quit. Had I photographed these when they were, in my estimation, half done, or, had I been arrested by some guardian angel who’d have stayed my hand before screwing things up, the result would have been nicely sophisticated rather than passably jaunty.

I’ll put these away for ten years and then we’ll see what better evokes the memory of those moments, the photos or the sketches.