These were drawn on different days, in different places.
A salt shaker and sugar rack at Beans & Barley on Milwaukee’s East Side—a place that is gone now. A chair at Starbucks, which is still there.
When I go places, I wait.
Waiting is filled with observation.
Observation is recorded with marks.
Marks spark memory.
I can look at a few pencil lines years later and remember where I was.
Maybe that’s what a sketchbook really keeps. Not drawings of things, but evidence of moments.
For Doodle Addicts, I would use this rather than making Beans & Barley the whole story. The loss of Beans & Barley gives one sketch poignancy, but your larger idea is better: drawing converts otherwise disposable waiting into memory.
"It's fascinating. Hornets are one of the apex insects, but their nests only last a season
before they fall apart because the whole colony died. Just like a heart."
Henry and Lucy caught these fish while fishing with Grandpa. The remarkable natural color—blue-green, gold, orange, violet, and pink—made the catch especially striking. A great subject for a watercolor study of color, texture, transparency, and reflected light.
Blue ballpoint pen portrait built through line, repetition, and accumulated marks. I let the background grow dense and restless while keeping the face comparatively quiet—using the brim and shadow to divide the portrait between what is revealed and what remains hidden.
