Absolutely spectacular day in Chicago. Brilliant light, mild temp, people out & excited. This is Chicago coming out of a long winter like the butterfly from the chrysalis. Shot to Green City Farmers Market in Lincoln Park. Ate a baked good, & with a blues band playing to the shoppers, looked for a subject to eat up a good hour.
Enter Primordial Foods, purveyors of gourmet mushrooms & micro greens, from Bloomington, Ind. Loved the backlighting. Still serving customers as the afternoon traffic started thinning, one gent was seated & I was attracted to his shadowy profile balancing the standing figure of his partner.
Of course, of course, you guessed it, up he got as a second customer came up to the stall. I worked on the tent, table and mushroom monger #2 with the possibility he’d return to the chair, as the composition was a bit heavily weighted on the right. In time he did, then got right back up. Got on the phone, walked about the tent & behind me as he talked. Kept working & he kept teasing with the chair. As I stated, the market was nearing the end of a long day, so, did what I refrain from doing. That is interfering with the natural order of the universe. I walked over as they were without customers & said, “Hi gents. Been sketching y’all,(showed ‘em my progress), & I’m gonna break my rule and ask if you could return to that chair.” They smiled, dude #1 said ,”Sure, I could have a seat.” Said if you gotta get up for customers or start packing soon that’s cool. I just need about 8 minutes to toss you in. Intros made, Tom’s seated, Dylan tending the table, I got down to it. I mean, what about this day wasn’t life on the good side fellas? You’re young, making money, selling good product, in a beautiful setting, on a glorious day. Tom, my man, poured in that chair, with a cool breeze off the lake, blues music stirring the soul, the close of a job well done, you are the poster child of Got It Made In The Shade pardner.
Got him. Showed ‘em. Said I’d finish the sketch while they packed.
All packed up, pics were taken, hands got shaken, I wished those two fine fellas well & a safe return to lovely Bloomington.
Fountain pen and Pitt Artist Pens on Clairefontaine Rhodia notebook.
#primordialfoods #drawyourday #sketch
Almost at the end of the season for most vendors at the Evanston Farmers Market. Gotta B Crepes got slammed with devoted customers on their finale day till the state of Illinois lifts the ban on indoor seating. they’ll take a vacation till the COVID-19 infection rates drops and Gov. Pritzker lifts the order.
Nice Guy Nick said Henry’s Farm has another week in Evanston.
I used Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens, an F-C Essentio and Graf von Faber fountain pen on a Clairefontaine Stillman & Birn Beta Series Watercolour sketchbook.
At the Green City Farmers Market Saturday. Intense light and loads of deep shadow beneath the trees. First sketch executed on Rhodia Dot Grid notebook with just one marker. That marker however was the chromium green opaque Pitt Artist Pen Dual Nib Marker by Faber-Castell. The big brush nib allowed me rapid and broad coverage, which would increase in depth and saturation with each pass. Very quick, lite strokes and finger prints produced mid tones and textures, i.e. grass blades. The 1.8 nib added line work on the field for weeds and grass. The idea here was to worked rapidly and economically avoiding fusing over details.
