has anyone on the board tried doing street portrait ? could you described your experience and how you prepare. that seems like a great job, as you get paid for basically doing quick study. does it actually pay well, tough? how do you fix your prices ?

File: 218 KB, 850x700, street-portrait.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

Anonymous Mon Jul 16 18:37:56 2018 No.3521930 [Reply] [Original]

has anyone on the board tried doing street portrait ? could you described your experience and how you prepare. that seems like a great job, as you get paid for basically doing quick study. does it actually pay well, tough? how do you fix your prices ?

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 16 18:40:49 2018 No.3521931 >>3521930 Im surprised you could get anyone to sit still posing long enough without them fidgeting for their phone these days, much less getting them to pay you for it.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 16 18:47:16 2018 No.3521938 >>3521931 you don't need a person to sit still to draw them

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 16 18:53:48 2018 No.3521943 >>3521931 >>3521938 also I guess an experimented street artist should be able to talk up the customer so they stay somewhat still and focused on you.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 16 18:57:18 2018 No.3521945 >>3521930 >get out from your basement >ever

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 16 19:01:02 2018 No.3521949 >>3521945 this. if you it then you're NGMI

Anonymous Mon Jul 16 19:05:17 2018 No.3521952
File: 1.38 MB, 2448x3060, IMG_1596.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>3521931
Can confirm, I draw a lot of people while they're on their phones or looking down, I could probably go through my phone and find a ton of sketches like that

Yeah this one was sandwiched between two OTHER drawings of girls on their phones lmao

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 16 19:08:10 2018 No.3521955 >>3521952 yea but ur drawings are hardly studies, more like wild impressions

Anonymous Mon Jul 16 19:21:57 2018 No.3521970

>>3521930

I can't give you too much detail, but my roommate was a professional caricature artist at various theme-parks in Orlando for a few years. It paid his bills but was not a particularly fulfilling job as I recall.

As I recall it was a bit stressful and frustrating, but that's specifically in a theme-park environment, working for a company, so doing it for yourself on the street may be a different matter.

Still it probably gave him lots of practice and he's currently an animation artist who's worked at several L.A. studios.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 16 19:33:27 2018 No.3521977 >>3521970 do you have any idea what kind of tools and paper he used ?

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 16 19:52:16 2018 No.3521995 >>3521977 Not sure. Just large decent quality drawing paper and big graphite pencils, I think. He's never been much of a tool-fetishist. Usually just draws with whatever's handy.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 16 22:44:33 2018 No.3522203 Nobody on this board tries anything other than digital art in their mom's basement.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 16 22:48:35 2018 No.3522208 >>3521931 >unironic boomerposting

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 17 00:59:02 2018 No.3522421 File: 1.75 MB, 300x225, 1420797180858.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>3521952 I can see you've spent a lot of time drawing faces and have never practiced hands ever. It's not looking good mate.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 17 01:53:54 2018 No.3522514 >>3522421 If you honestly think I've never practiced hands you need to lurk more

Anonymous Tue Jul 17 01:57:42 2018 No.3522519

I see guys do this in a park near my work. The cartoonist/caricature guy seems to work with generic markers, an assortment of eddings. The ones doing more normal portraits charcoal or pencil, I guess it's whatever medium you work best with.
From what I've seen the caricature guy seems to do best. Wether the normies have more interest in that, or if he's just more charismatic, I'm unsure... but it seems like those types of portraits do best if it's making money you're interested in.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 17 03:25:41 2018 No.3522682 >>3521930 notice how the girl looks more like the other girl she drew than the actual girl you learn to draw faster not better

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 17 03:44:21 2018 No.3522725 >>3522514 i think he was making a joke you sensitive faggot.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 17 08:03:46 2018 No.3523074 >>3522725 I mean... I was kind of making a joke, but seriously those hands though, were you holding the pencil with two hands when you drew them?

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 17 09:10:02 2018 No.3523179 >>3523074 Bro you try drawing hands that are rapidly typing on a touch phone. Not in a "come at me bro" kind of way, just in a "man it really sucks that I never get to draw hands in public because people don't keep them still" kind of way.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 17 09:14:54 2018 No.3523183 >>3523179 in the airport people are often asleep. is a good chance to draw people who aren't moving

Anonymous Tue Jul 17 09:16:58 2018 No.3523184

>>3523179
I'm just taking umbrage with that you think I don't practice hands because I spent like a year posting nothing but hand drawings to the board. Idk you draw enough hands typing on phones and eventually it just gets tiring. I don't want to do it anymore. I have models come over to sit for paintings and you have to explicitly tell them not to use their phones during posing. It's just a fucking nightmare.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 17 09:20:09 2018 No.3523189 File: 1.42 MB, 3264x2448, IMG_0067.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>3523184 I mean it's everywhere. On the beach, at the park, coffee shops, bars, bookstores, libraries, you can't escape having to draw people on their phones

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 17 09:30:35 2018 No.3523202 >>3523189 woah you saw nicolas cage at the beach?

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 17 09:58:22 2018 No.3523246 >>3523202 he's been drawing the same girl from his dreams for like a week straight. Hope you aren't creeping people on the beach

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 17 12:16:01 2018 No.3523400 >>3523246 Seeing as on any given day women are the worst things on the planet, uhhhhhh, no. I just draw them because they let me.

>>	Anonymous Wed Jul 18 00:58:08 2018 No.3524483 >>3523400 incel detected

>>	Anonymous Wed Jul 18 01:09:39 2018 No.3524503 This is literally all I want to do. If I can get good enough that I can do this without being laughed at for poor quality, I will be a completely content person. But my skill is still low.

>>	Anonymous Wed Jul 18 05:18:26 2018 No.3524797 >>3524503 Just keep grinding Anon.

>>	Anonymous Wed Jul 18 06:49:38 2018 No.3524865 >>3521930 why did he her a goat tee

>>	Anonymous Wed Jul 18 23:31:02 2018 No.3526356 >>3524865 It's called fashion sweetie.

Anonymous Thu Jul 19 01:10:01 2018 No.3526461
File: 731 KB, 600x600, sign.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>3521930
Yes. I traveled to NYC a couple years ago to give it a shot. I got a pretty good story out of it. It's 2am and I need to go to sleep, but if this thread is around when I have free time in the next few days, I'll type it up.

Pic related is my sign. It would be really neat if someone here remembered me.

quote this comment and I'll answer your questions. When there's time I'll try to dig up the sign and take a timestamp pic for proof.

Anonymous Thu Jul 19 01:17:42 2018 No.3526465
File: 758 KB, 597x601, Screen Shot 2018-07-19 at 1.10.46 AM.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

On second thought, this could get real blog-posty, and that's kind of a no-no around here. Here are some bullets off the top of my head, let me know which are most interesting:

> the "scene" of people already doing this
> economics/pricing/stragegy
> tools
> vendor medallions
> more general scene of street vendors in NYC
> the time I bought a portrait to get an idea of how it's done
> the time I tipped a street performer with a drawing because I had no money
> the time a guy took my tools and drew me
> meeting Jacob Torossian
> the guards at the Brooklyn Museum

>>	Anonymous Thu Jul 19 01:39:00 2018 No.3526474 >>3526465 Honestly all of these sound like they could be good. Just tell us whatever you feel like.

>>	Anonymous Thu Jul 19 02:05:39 2018 No.3526490 >>3526465 Those last 4 points sound like goat stories, let us know Anon.

>>	Anonymous Thu Jul 19 02:48:19 2018 No.3526520 >>3526465 Make a blog then and link it! Share the knowledge

>>	Anonymous Thu Jul 19 07:27:50 2018 No.3526821 >>3521952 how much did you charge them for this shit

>>	Anonymous Thu Jul 19 08:09:25 2018 No.3526874 >>3526821 $0.00

>>	Anonymous Thu Jul 19 22:04:18 2018 No.3528041 >>3523184 I can see why that's frustrating, but do you really expect anyone her to be familiar with the body of work that you've posted on /ic/? Get over yourself

>>	Anonymous Fri Jul 20 21:38:17 2018 No.3529758 >>3526874 dumb

Anonymous Sat Jul 21 08:10:09 2018 No.3530332

>>3521930

Oh man. I went to Covent Garden in central London when I was like 19 and sat there all day with a 'free portraits' sign.

I thought it would be a good way to learn how to get likenesses of people with the pressure to perform for strangers pushing me to do my best work.

The first people that came over were a pair of giggling young qts who wanted me to draw them both together.

I'm just so glad that the people that day took their portraits away and I didn't photograph them or anything, because I know I'd be cringing hard if I saw them today.

Anonymous Sat Jul 21 11:18:54 2018 No.3530483
File: 109 KB, 800x600, sign.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>3526474
>>3526490
>>3526520
>>3526465

Okay I've got a little bit of time before I go to work. I'm going to start at the beginning because someone will inevitably ask "why did you think this was a good idea?"

I had been working in charcoal at weekly life-drawing sessions, sort-of focusing on portraits, for about 2 years. I also was interested in a career that would afford me the opportunity to travel from city to city at my leisure. Always liked big cities, especially NYC. Drawing is one of the things I'm halfway good at, and I've spent a lot of time on it, but I hate how isolating it is working on "finished" pieces.

I'm at an old friend's house one day and notice there are some portraits hanging on their wall. Turns out they paid $40 a pop for them sometime around 2004, and had them done in times square. They said each took about 40 minutes for the artist to make.

Right here a light goes off in my head. I'm at a level where about 2/3 of my portraits come out as good as the ones they have on the wall. I head home and work out a spreadsheet with expenses like food, lodging, materials, plane ticket, etc. and figure out that if I can sell 5 drawings a day, I can live (thinly, but nonetheless) in Manhattan until it gets too cold to draw outside. I spend a year saving and planning. I take some time off work and figure if all goes well I'll call from NYC and quit. If it doesn't go well, hopefully I'll at least sell enough to pay for the trip (spoiler: I didn't).

>>3522514
I remember this phase

oh also, I forgot about drawing in times square and meeting spider man, that's definitely worth retelling.

Anonymous Sat Jul 21 11:24:14 2018 No.3530486

I couldn't find anyone who knew anything about this business. I even made a thread here like this one, and barely anyone posted. No helpful information.

I worked out that I can't just hand people paper, so I bought some cellophane bags. Bags are too flimsy, so I bought chipboard and cut it to fit inside the bags. My customers would be able to carry their drawings around, safe from rain and accidental folding. I drew up a sign (not the one pictured), bought a couple folding chairs, one for me, one for whoever I was drawing.

The drawing setup was going to be just bulldog clips+paper+charcoal+fixative for the finished product. Basically the same setup I used in weekly sessions, except I bought nicer paper and cut it to fit perfectly in the bags.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 21 11:40:10 2018 No.3530504 File: 517 KB, 717x1000, july-11-2018.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>3530483 >I remember this phase im a better portrait painter than you, calm down please. If I set up portraits in Times Square I could make $800 every day easily

Anonymous Sat Jul 21 12:07:16 2018 No.3530526

>>3530504
I fucking hate you please stop posting on this board. I do not like to be a mean person but I have to say this because you are the biggest cunt on this board by a very large margin. Never seen such an undeserved smugness and inflated ego in my entire life

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 21 12:10:27 2018 No.3530527 >>3530526 im glad you hate me, I won best in show at an art show 2 days ago and nobody applauded because they hate me too. I hope I win so many contest, make so much money, and get so good at this that everybody fucking hates me and stops doing art.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 21 12:16:00 2018 No.3530531 >>3529758 He's drawing strangers dumbass. You can't draw an unsolicited picture and then try and force them to pay for something they never asked for.

Anonymous Sat Jul 21 12:18:15 2018 No.3530534

>>3530527
Yeah but the thing you seem to be misunderstanding is that the hate stems purely from your personality, and has nothing to do with your skill level whatsoever. So keep chasing the fantasy of being "the talented asshole" when no one's really thinking that. They're just thinking about how insufferable you are

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 21 12:18:23 2018 No.3530535 >>3530504 >im a better portrait painter than you >$800 every day easily wow an actual dunning Krueger on this board

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 21 12:43:57 2018 No.3530577 >>3530535 okay snowflake, sorry I made you feel bad :(

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 21 12:45:52 2018 No.3530581 >>3530577 you should seek mental health help for your delusions

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 21 12:46:12 2018 No.3530582 >>3530483 good luck anon, report back to tell us your result.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 21 12:47:21 2018 No.3530587 >>3530581 They won't be delusions if I make them a reality, anon

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 21 14:01:26 2018 No.3530669 >>3526461 How much did you charge for one? How long did you take for the demo pieces? How long did the clients sit? Do you think the signs work was nicer or of equal quality of your life pieces?

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 21 14:37:06 2018 No.3530708 >>3530504 >I could make $800 every day easily Pure unrefined autism

Anonymous Sat Jul 21 15:51:47 2018 No.3530811

>>3530527
Anon, you are talented. What you'll soon realize is that the person who is likeable and mediocre, will always beat the person who is talented, but no one likes them. In dramas you can get away with being the smart asshole, but in real life people won't put up with an asshole.

ESPECIALLY, in the art world where you need a decent social game to get by.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 21 16:30:54 2018 No.3530853 >>3530587 >if

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 21 16:40:39 2018 No.3530858 >>3530811 I'm likeable and talented though so I'm going to go incredibly far in life. Most people on /ic/ are the mediocre artist nobody likes. None of you have people skills, let alone artistic skills.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 21 16:45:18 2018 No.3530859 >>3530858 Even talented is honestly a stretch for me, I'd say I fall into the likable and mediocre category most of the time.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 21 18:51:08 2018 No.3530991 >>3530858 You will not be the crab that leaves this bucket.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 21 19:21:47 2018 No.3531023 >>3530858 Unlikable ,mediocre AND cringey, the craziest combo

Anonymous Sat Jul 21 20:25:13 2018 No.3531087

>>3530504
>800 a day just because NYC
Kek I grew up in NYC. I don't think I've ever even seen someone sit down for one. The natives are too busy doing their own shit and don't have money for that, and most tourists will save their money for the stuff they had planned.
NYC is a money sink don't be fooled.

Anonymous Sun Jul 22 00:07:43 2018 No.3531301

>>3530504
>im a better portrait painter than you, calm down please.
I did not claim the contrary. I've asked you for advice in /trad/, where you apparently have a less hostile attitude. Been watching your work since '12 and never seen this side of you, Brian.

>>3530669
Answers when I get another chunk of time to type. Ask more questions to give me direction.

>>3531087
My experience lines up with this.

>>	Anonymous Sun Jul 22 03:10:03 2018 No.3531571 >>3521952 that scribble hand Oh honey no what were you thinkin

>>	Anonymous Sun Jul 22 06:59:53 2018 No.3531760 Cool beans.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 23 00:27:10 2018 No.3533048 >>3530483 I hope the thread doesn't go under before you share some live drawing stories anon

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 23 00:36:36 2018 No.3533056 >>3530858 You just said no one clapped for you because everyone hates you. Now you’re saying you’re very likeable and sociable. Which is it lad?

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 23 07:56:21 2018 No.3533480 >>3533048 Second this

Anonymous Mon Jul 23 09:48:05 2018 No.3533582
File: 664 KB, 601x603, Screen Shot 2018-07-23 at 9.23.36 AM.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>3533048
>>3533480
okay, so I'm in the city and I've got no idea where to set up shop. It's dark out because I spent the whole day flying to NYC and humping my luggage from JFK through the subway to 105th. The nice people at my hostel recommended I go to 42nd street since that's where all the tourist traps are. They also said they expected me to do really well because "you're white and you speak good english." Hmm.

I take my meager sign and set up in the first free space I find (by Ripley's believe-it-or-not). On the way there I see another dude set up to draw and it looks like OP's pic. Guy's got a dolly-cart with fold out wings that he can hang "show-off" pieces from. Behind the display, he's got a milk crate full of supplies.

It takes about 30 minutes of sitting with the sign and smiling at people to realize I need to
A. Open my mouth to catch people's attention
B. Have work on display to "prove" what I can do.

B is a pain in the ass, but I'll come back to it in the next post. In front of Ripley's, I figure without work to catch attention, I might get noticed if I'm working on a really good drawing. The only thing around that's organic and not moving is a statue of Ghostbusters' Slimer in Ripley's lobby, so I get started on that.

Soon enough this dude and his wife come up and I'm all excited. Through broken english and gestures, he tells me "I do this, what you do" and motions that he wants me to let him have my materials so he can draw me. The guy obviously wants me to know what a noob I am, but I'm excited and this whole thing is the beginning of an adventure anyway, so whatever.

The drawing looks like me, but it's halfway between a caricature and an actual 'fine portrait'. There's no variation in value, and although it kinda looks like me, it also kinda looks like a chipmunk. I think it occurred to the guy after a couple minutes that he wasn't going to get paid, so he didn't want to put in more than 10 minutes on the drawing.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 23 09:55:51 2018 No.3533591 >>3533582 Sounds like that guy should be posting on /ic/

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 23 10:22:51 2018 No.3533634 >>3533582 What was the ethnicity of the guy that drew you?

Anonymous Mon Jul 23 10:29:45 2018 No.3533644
File: 16 KB, 405x405, eminem.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>3533582
cont.

I went into this thing figuring I'd spend about 40 minutes on a drawing. In 40 minutes, with decent lighting, I could get a piece of work I was proud of about 75% of the time. Frankly, I felt like I wasn't as good as I needed to be, but the weather was turning and I wasn't about to wait through winter to get going on this.

For anyone here who has only drawn from photos and not life, 10 minutes is enough time to get a really good likeness, but not to add careful detail or gradation. Compare

>>3530504
and
https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/60um7v/this_photorealistic_charcoal_drawing_of_emma/

Other than being Emma Watson, the second picture is obviously drawn from a photograph, and obviously drawn in no less than 3 hours. No way in hell anyone is going get that kind of rendering done in a single-sitting portrait.

Which leads me to what I noticed about the other guys I saw around the city doing this: the drawings they had on display were 5+ hour drawings from photographs 90% of the time. Jane McTourist can't tell this just by looking though, so she sees the sign and thinks she's gonna walk away looking like a fucking movie star.

The other thing I noticed, after seeing enough of these guys, is that a lot of them must be working together because they have the same drawings on display. They didn't even draw the display drawings themselves. I shit you not, I saw a drawing of attached pic of Eminem no less than 5 times in different places on the same day.

Look at the charcoal portraits in OP's pic. They've all got a bright white margin, and uneven, colored (look how one is kinda blue and the one above is kinda yellow) background gradation. The guy didn't tape out the edges of the paper, he *printed* those drawings. You can even see that the signature is cut off in some of them.

The drawing the tourist gets isn't going to look like the display drawings.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 23 10:33:34 2018 No.3533649 >>3533634 >i do this, what yo do you can smell the chinese just reading the words

Anonymous Mon Jul 23 10:43:30 2018 No.3533664

>>3533644
cont.

Take a look at OP's pic again. The girl sitting is clearly lit by the sun from above. The top of her hair is lit more brightly than the hair to either side of her face. She's got clear shadow-shapes on her face, there's a cast-shadow from her nose and hair. None of this shows up in the drawing. The guy just put in some shading on the top of the hair because he "knows" it goes there from all the time he's spent drawing photos. He's not really drawing what he sees. I'm pointing all this out because it'll be important when I get to the Torossian story.

Anyway, by the third or fourth day it's clear I need some work that's going to impress people. I don't have access to a computer that I can copy a celebrity photo from, and I had no luck finding an iconic photo in magazines for sale, so I figure I'll do one better and copy some statues in a museum. It's easy to get a good drawing off a master-statue because most of the compositional work has been done for you.

The internet tells me that The MET has weird rules about drawing, but The Brooklyn Museum doesn't, so I head there. I walk around and find a Saint Gaudens bust of Lincoln I like and I post up. I notice a guard walk by and peer over my shoulder during the opening strokes of the drawing. He does not seem impressed, but he doesn't say anything to stop me.

Anonymous Mon Jul 23 11:02:30 2018 No.3533677

>>3533664
cont.

If you've ever been to an art museum, you're probably familiar with the attitude the guards keep. They're not unfriendly, but they're not usually friendly either. It's kind of like they're moving statues who are ready to bark at you/throw you out if you do anything against the rules. The guards at TBM were about the same. I always figured guards were anybody's getting paid a little above minimum to walk around and be gently menacing. I never considered that these might be people who really give a fuck about art and admire it as much as I do, and thus chose to work for a security wage so they can be around it all day.

So I'm about an hour and a half into the Lincoln portrait and I hear a quiet but excited "Woah, Dude!" from behind me and look over my shoulder to see the guard who walked by and another checking out my work but trying not to interrupt me. We chat for a bit and they're really happy to see semi-traditional work being made.

"I walked by earlier and was like 'look at this guy thinking he's gonna draw Lincoln' but dang man, that really looks just like it!" I tell them what I'm up to in NYC and they're all "you're like that Titanic guy, you probably get laid all the time doing this, huh?"

I just smiled and chuckled because I didn't have the heart to tell them that girls usually only pose nude for me after I've been involved with them, and pretty rarely at that.

They move on, but they send along a bunch of the other guards on the floor and some from other floors to check out my work. This is super flattering and a needed ego-boost, because at this point I've been in NYC for 4 days, sold nothing and been ignored by no less than 300 people I've tried to call over to my setup.

At one point a guard of higher rank comes by and talks to me. She's pretty excited too and walks me over to a roped off space. "You should come back in two weeks! Iggy Pop is going to do a nude modeling session, I can get you a spot."

More?

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 23 11:50:50 2018 No.3533740 >>3533677 >"You should come back in two weeks! Iggy Pop is going to do a nude modeling session, I can get you a spot." >More? Do you really need to ask?

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 23 12:05:32 2018 No.3533751 >>3533740 Haha alright. Unfortunately there's no Iggy Pop story, I was out of the city by then because the weather turned cold. I've gotta get ready for work, more soon.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 23 17:01:25 2018 No.3534109 >>3533751 you're a good story teller, tell us more of your experiences in museums or life drawing sessions ;)

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 23 17:24:54 2018 No.3534140 >>3533677 could you post any of your work? Doesn't have to be super finished or anything, I'm just curious about what it looks like.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 24 12:59:06 2018 No.3535473 >>3533751 Waiting

Anonymous Tue Jul 24 13:45:21 2018 No.3535557
File: 526 KB, 1326x600, compare.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

On the second day, before I decided to make a new sign, I spent a day walking around trying to decide if I'd have better luck in Central Park, in front of The Met, 42nd, etc.

The Met seemed like a natural place, and indeed among the vendors there was a guy selling portraits. His setup seemed different than the ones I had seen so far: his drawings didn't look like drawings from photographs. A bit stylized maybe, but closer to the from-life-realism I wanted to hawk to people. I did not notice until later that every drawing was from one of 3 angles and they were all of women.

I decide to sit for the guy to get an idea of how an experienced artist 'runs things'. He quotes me $25 for the drawing. This increases my trust, because the dude on 42nd the night before had a sign that said 'PORTRAITS $5' but upon closer inspection had 'PORTRAITS' printed real big with a tiny $40 next to it, and 'caricature' printed real tiny with a big $5 next to it. I figure this guy's forthrightness about price will be reflected in the quality of work.

His english is poor, but he answers questions about stuff like what time he shows up (6:30 - 7 am, otherwise someone else gets the spot) how many people he draws a day, etc. His answers seem about 10% dishonest, with just a little bit of bragging to make me feel like I've sat down with the greatest artist in all of NYC.

Unfortunately, his work says otherwise. I can immediately tell he relies on symbol drawing because he starts with these big googly pretty eyes. It's at this point I notice what I mentioned about all of his drawings. He hardly looks at me, and doesn't look up at all while he draws the neck/shoulders, which are at a completely different angle than the one I know he sees. See pic related. This guy's drawing is in the center. Left is the guy's drawing I mentioned before, and right is a 25 minute self-portrait from that time. I had a shitty meme haircut then, I don't anymore.

Anonymous Tue Jul 24 14:06:48 2018 No.3535595

>>3535557
cont.

He's finishing up the drawing and I hand him two twenties as I had no change. He hands me back a $5 and when I bring up his quote, he maintains that he always said $35. I decide not to argue, but ask for something to carry the drawing in.

"Oh I have very special bag, from California! None of other street artists have this special bag. $15."

He keeps trying to push it on me until I try to politely tell him I don't really care about the drawing, that I'm trying to do this as well and just wanted to see how a 'pro' does it. I don't think I folded the drawing in front of him, but that's how I wound up carrying it.

When I got to NYC, I was worried that my work wasn't going to be strong enough compared to everyone else, but by this point I realize that even if half my work comes out bad, my bad work is par with my competition. HOWEVER, I'm going to have a very difficult time selling for my planned $35/40 because all the tourists see signs that say $5/$10 next to 5 hour drawings and don't find out the real price my competition charges until they've sat through the whole thing.

Whatever. Time to set up shop. Third day I head to Columbus Circle and find an empty vendor medallion. It's next to a dude selling photographs of NYC. I feel awkward about selling art so close to another guy selling art even if it's a of a different type, so I ask him if it's okay and he laughs that I would be so polite. This guy's english isn't perfect either, but somehow he's 100% better at communicating. Unlike the other two, he's not treating me like some dumb schmuck (even if I am). I find out quickly that he's been vending photos in NYC for 8 years and the guy runs through all the basics of the scene, when people show up, how much money he makes (iirc ~30-50k depending on the year), why he likes it, etc.

He points out that I definitely need a sign that shows off my work, which I agree with. He also tells me I gotta be 100% more outgoing.

Anonymous Tue Jul 24 14:22:35 2018 No.3535617
File: 226 KB, 880x658, IMG_20161023_141858.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>3535595
"Draw pretty girls man! See those girls over there? Go up to them! don't worry, I'll watch your sign and stuff. Go tell them how beautiful they are! It doesn't matter, just get them over here! Drag them if you have to!"

I had just been saying "Hey can I interest you in a drawing?" or "Fine portraits! Fast! Cheap! Makes a great gift for your Mom!" and other BS pitches from my chair to anyone who made eye contact. In retrospect, I wish I had been less afraid of being obnoxious. I realize now that the 3 worst-case-scenarios are A. Having someone fuck up my sign while I'm not looking B. Cops telling me to scram C. Boyfriends/dads threatening me.

I did approach those girls, but at this point I don't have a free-standing sign, just the cardboard one you see in
>>3533582
that I was setting on a chair. When I approached the girls the wind was blowing it over no matter how I taped it up, so at that point I decided to spend the next few days making drawings and building a new sign. I got a piece of poster-board from Blick, cut it into sections and taped them back together so I could fold it for carrying, then I attached bags to keep display drawings safe from rain. To get it to stand free, I bought 4 big-ass stretcher frame pieces (pic) and a hacksaw to assemble them into a wooden triangle+kickstand. With tape and string I'd attach them together & to the sign. This way I could disassemble the whole thing and carry it around. It was a lot to carry though:
- 2 folding chairs
- 1.5x3 Folding sign
- Duffel full of drawing boards/papers/tape/spray etc
- Giant-ass wooden triangle

Even once I had the freestanding sign, I didn't approach people as strongly as I should have.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 24 15:27:14 2018 No.3535692 >>3535617 The people demand more!

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 24 17:28:38 2018 No.3535926 File: 13 KB, 304x304, yelawolf.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>3535557 keep going yela

>>	Anonymous Wed Jul 25 19:18:01 2018 No.3537537 >>3535617 this is great.

>>	Anonymous Wed Jul 25 21:56:16 2018 No.3537728 >>3535617 hey are you still in nyc? i am pastelchu on deviantart. wanna meet?

>>	Anonymous Wed Jul 25 22:18:07 2018 No.3537761 >>3535617 Can't believe this thread is still alive, great stuff man! Don't leave us on this cliffhanger.

Anonymous Thu Jul 26 12:23:07 2018 No.3538568
File: 162 KB, 600x400, mall.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

The place I wound up hanging out to draw most was the Pentral Park Mall. Even if you've never heard of it, you know what it is because you've seen it in countless paintings.

Elsewhere in NYC you need to find a "vendor medallion" in order to set up. The medallions are marked on official maps you can find online, but they're these tiny green things set into the pavement. Maybe the size of a quarter.

Naturally, since they don't move, all the good spots get set up on by vendors who know where they are and vend for a living.

However, in the parks, you're allowed to set up anywhere that is pavement as long as you're not a nuisance. I went in and read the laws pertaining to all this stuff because I wanted to play by the book and not risk failure over a technicality. Before setting up I asked the park cops and brought up the law on my phone and they basically said "I've never seen that law in my life. Just stay off the grass, out of the way, and don't cause problems."

I even registered myself as a vending business with NY state and got a Tax ID, which is that official looking piece of paper on the right side of the sign
>>3530483
>>3526461

NY state sends you an official copy and it's illegal to photocopy it. IIrc you can reprint it and it invalidates the old one, but I can't remember how that all works.

Sitting on the mall, I'm getting turned down a ton, but all of a sudden I noticed that I didn't care that much because damn, sitting on the mall is so beautiful/peaceful. It's hard to describe, but it dawned on my how nice this would be as an occupation if I were pulling in enough money to be comfortable, because all I do all day is smile at people and enjoy the weather. Go where I want when I want. It was an ephemeral feeling I can't really capture at the moment.

Anonymous Thu Jul 26 12:37:07 2018 No.3538585
File: 449 KB, 598x597, Screen Shot 2018-07-26 at 12.15.07 PM.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>3538568
cont.

One lady walks by and looks extra interested and I try to reel her in. She says "ok ok maybe later" and walks on. Whatever, basically what I'd expected. I haven't sold a single drawing yet.

Then, she comes back with her kid. "Okay how much to draw both of us?" At this point I just want to say I sold a drawing, so I lowball her $10 per head. She seems hesitant so I drop it to $10 for the whole drawing.

"Okay but how long?" I can tell she doesn't want to fuck around with sitting for long, so I say 30 minutes. Now, I'm used to drawing under a strict time limit, I even have a stopwatch with me so I can keep track of when I need to move on to the next 'stage' of a drawing.

However, I'm also used to drawing one model at a time, who knows how to hold still. Always adults, so I'm used to adult facial proportions. Never bothered to learn kids'.

It becomes clear very fast that I'm not going to be happy with this drawing, because drawing two people well is a 40 minute ordeal *if they were holding still*, and after 5 minutes the kid is losing his smile and moving around a bunch. 20 minutes in and he's *clearly* not happy sitting anymore (scowling) and his mom is losing patience and asking how much longer. I cut it short to 25 minutes and scribble in some details.

Drawing looks ugly to me and I'm ready for them to leave it, but I hand it to them and suddenly they're smiling even more than when they'd first sat down. Genuine excitement. The mom insists on paying me the $20 I'd originally asked for, so I guess I exceeded her expectations. It was cool how the kid's face lit up 100% so much from the scowl the second he saw the drawing.

>>	Anonymous Thu Jul 26 12:41:37 2018 No.3538590 >>3538585 aww, that's so sweet. please cont

Anonymous Thu Jul 26 12:43:59 2018 No.3538591

It's good that it was nice and scenic because 99% of my time wass pitching people and getting turned down. Over and over and over. It's basically this:
>>3531087

There was a group of guys that seemed interested in my display drawings and commented how they were better than the ones they usually see.

"Thanks man! How about you take a seat and you can take one home?"
"Lol, no thanks. I live here and I know y'all are a total scam."

I also had plenty of people approach me, with a wonderful diversity of languages and backgrounds and ask "How much for this? $5? No? Guy over there does it for $5."

No fucking way I'm doing this for $5. Also no way I'm agreeing to $5 and then cranking it up to $35/$40 like the so many of the others I saw. I can stomach being obnoxious in approaching people, but I just can't lie about price to people.

All in all, I only sold a handful of drawings. If I had the opportunity to go back/live in NYC I'm sure I could build up a respectable amount of business over a few months with a different promotion strategy (rely on reputation/ predictable location /social media rather than low price).

That said, I wound up deciding I wouldn't want to commit to this long term. Even at a high skill level, as I would learn by meeting J Torossian, the money just isn't there anymore because there are so many people selling for $5. But next I'll talk about drawing in Times Square and meeting french spiderman.

Also, rules on vending in parks:

https://www.nycgovparks.org/pagefiles/57/expressive-matter-faq.pdf

>>	Anonymous Thu Jul 26 17:14:02 2018 No.3538851 >>3538591 Sounds like a pretty frustrating situation overall, glad you managed to get some enjoyment out of the experience

>>	Anonymous Thu Jul 26 18:23:57 2018 No.3538959 >>3538585 cute, the drawing looks nice too!

>>	Anonymous Thu Jul 26 21:58:28 2018 No.3539200 File: 304 KB, 924x890, chrome_2018-07-26_21-57-25.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>3530504 DK Dunning-Kong He's the shitter of the bunch

>>	Anonymous Thu Jul 26 22:28:15 2018 No.3539233 >>3522514 >implying you have any notoriety on an anonymous anime imageboard.

>>	Anonymous Thu Jul 26 23:23:46 2018 No.3539314 >>3530504 Still don't see hands in the pic anon...

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 28 17:44:18 2018 No.3541640 >>3538591 moar pls

Anonymous Sat Jul 28 18:02:43 2018 No.3541662
File: 152 KB, 1050x1136, 2018-06-29 14.13.10.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>3524483
>beta cuckhold detected.

Even the chadest of pussy slayers realizes how utterly shit and vapid whore women have become especially in recent years.
A lot of that has to do with the internet and the rise of instant gratification and e-peen stroking where its practically the norm to whore you self on instagram these days. But its mostly (especially now) this poisoned atmosphere (mostly by feminist minority groups) of women and subsequent entitled attitudes. Its only going to get worse I'm afraid and if you can't see the storm on the horizon then you're a fucking retard.

>>	Anonymous Sat Jul 28 23:32:48 2018 No.3542040 >>3541640 Ok, tomorrow morning or monday morning. Kinda late now, just got off work & gotta go to gym.

>>	Anonymous Sun Jul 29 06:18:44 2018 No.3542392 >>3542040 Thanks for the stories man, great to read

>>	Anonymous Sun Jul 29 08:58:47 2018 No.3542521 >>3521943 yes good point

>>	Anonymous Sun Jul 29 09:00:50 2018 No.3542522 >>3521931 based retard

>>	Anonymous Sun Jul 29 09:03:48 2018 No.3542524 >>3523184 wait. is this a thing? models will start to use their fucking phone in the middle of the session?

>>	Anonymous Sun Jul 29 09:05:05 2018 No.3542525 >>3523189 your linework looks like it has a lot of potential behind it. i likey

>>	Anonymous Sun Jul 29 13:47:56 2018 No.3542795 >>3541662 >get called incel >double down with some frustrated virgin type shit i love it

Anonymous Mon Jul 30 21:53:37 2018 No.3544300

>>3538591

A couple nights, once it was too dark in the park, I went to Times Square to draw. Unlike the parks, Times Square doesn't have medallions. Instead it has two or three strips for vending/performing whatever marked by a green area. First-come, first-serve. I didn't know this though.

The first thing I notice is that there's a police station right there. You can see the NYPD sign in one of my pics.

I'm carrying all my shit and approach one of the cops standing guard. He asks what my gig is, I point out my tax ID and he chuckles and says I'm too legit to quit or something. He says as long as the people already in the green space don't mind me there, I'm good to hang out. The other people on the strip are various people in mascot costumes, walking around selling photos. Mickey, Spidey (before disney bought those rights) and a bunch of others, not organized by any corporate ownership. 100% sure these guys just bought costumes and started asking people for money for pics. They're sort of 'using' the whole strip by walking up and down it, but never occupy the whole thing. I think setup and hope it doesn't turn into this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrBOoriLEcQ

Anonymous Mon Jul 30 22:09:42 2018 No.3544314

>>3544300
Times square is basically the same story as >>3538591
However, it wasn't as dreamily pleasant as the park. It was a lot of fun in it's frenetic way, but would definitely get old faster than the park.

I decide I need to catch attention by working on some drawings and copying one of the pictures of people around me. There's an H&M ad with a really pretty girl on it. Unfortunately, it's 4 stories tall, so it's in too warped a perspective to easily copy. Imagine looking at your computer screen from a 10 degree angle (if perpendicular is 90) and you've got an idea.

Once I was settled in, I put together that getting a portrait from a sittern and not a picture would be drawing on "nightmare mode". I usually rely on constant lighting and look for shadow shapes to express what I'm looking at, that's what ends with the most realistic, attractive results.

In Times Square, at night, the lighting is changing every. fucking. second. And it's not predictably changing, it's almost perfect randomness. One moment someone's whole face is lit from the front with bright red light, another moment it's lit from the side with a blue strobe light, all of a sudden there's a patterned shadow cast, etc.

No one in Times Square wanted to sit for a drawing for $15 (my decided minimum). Lots of people asked if I would do it for $5.

While I'm hanging out, Spider Man comes up to me. Points at my Tax ID and asks where I got my "license" and how much it cost me. He's somehow really pushy and forward with his question but also perfectly polite. I liked him immediately. Broken english, but this time the accent sounds super thickly French. I imagine he had a twirly moustache underneath the mask. (maybe that's offensive) Apparently, he had no idea of the legality of his business and had started hoping no one would stop him. However, he wanted to be as legit as he could. It was difficult to explain that it wasn't a city license and he had a very difficult time believing that it was free.

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 30 22:18:49 2018 No.3544321 >>3521952 HERRO YOU JESTER JRAW ME PAY ME MIRRION DORRAR

Anonymous Mon Jul 30 22:33:55 2018 No.3544344

>>3544314
Eventually I managed to get some version of "there's no fee, they just want you to prove that you are able to pay taxes on the money you collect." I think I remember him saying something about how great america is. Come to think of it, I don't know if it really was a french accent, but that's how it registered with me.

I didn't speak with any of the other mascots but they all seemed to know each other well, maybe be working together. Spider man asked me about my work a little and I him, but we both got back to it. Once in a while he would come over and check on me, make a joke. Really really kind dude.

Also, Spiderman and the mascot were there on the second night. On the first night, when I met the cop, there was a group of breakdancer/extreme calisthenic athletes. They were doing flips off each other and stuff. I didn't talk to them. I wound up hanging out for one or two rounds of their routine, but since they were getting ALL of the attention that night, I started to pack up. As I did, the cop jogged over.

"Calling it a night?'

(laughing not to seem down) "Yeah, I don't think charcoal is going to compete with those guys. No worries."

"Definitely not! I bet you've made a ton of money other nights. I know how much you portrait guys make I've seen the bills!"
(I think he gave me a gentle slap on the back, don't remember for sure)
"I'm looking forward to seeing you back out here!"

The cop gave me his real big ol' smile. It didn't seem weird or insincere at all, especially the last part. It was really encouraging, not in small part because it seemed like he really thought I was making a bunch of money. He was so friendly, even more than spider man. Honestly, it was weird, just because I've never known a cop to be that personable. If the friendliest cop I've ever met was at 10, this guy was at 300.

Anonymous Mon Jul 30 23:08:48 2018 No.3544384

Before I walked into central park to set up for drawing, I'd never been. I stopped at a map to check things out. I noticed a blurb about this ornate tile room or something where people perform. "I should try to find that maybe, sounds cool".

Anyway, The Mall is mostly just a walkway with a bunch of statues, lamps, benches and great views of the landscape for a mile or so. The south end, where I entered, is super-cool, but not necessarily any cooler than the rest of the park. The first couple times I went, I entered through the south side and then exited in the same direction (because I coming from the art store, then heading to 42nd). After I'd been there a few times, I decided to explore to the other end.

Good move.

There's a more open area, a small stage, and some food vendors. Lots of performers. Pretty cool stuff. I can hear opera in the distance and I figure there's some event where they're playing music. I keep going north and there are these really, really ornate staircases leading down to a small lake, and then I see there's this big fountain (Bethesda fountain). Opera music is getting louder.

Holy hell it's fucking beautiful. I know it's nothing for people who live in cities, but I'm from a place where the nearest "big city" is... run down. The weather is beautiful, the stairs I'm standing on are beautiful, the green water is contrasting the red bricks, everything is stunning. I'm head into those dark arches and once my eyes adjust I realize I'm inside the tile place. Hell yeah.

Anonymous Mon Jul 30 23:27:16 2018 No.3544403

All the while, the opera is getting louder. I see people dancing in costumes and a boombox and seem to realize where it's coming from, except they pick up the boombox and I realize it's turned off. I look around and there's just one girl in street clothes with a plastic cup belting out the tunes. Hoooooly shit it was amazing. I walk past her up another set of stairs and my knees feel weak. She's singing Ave Maria, which happens to be my mother's favorite song.

SWIM candyflipped (acid+ecstasy) one time and as intensely enjoyable as that was, this was the "highest" I've ever felt. The joy/pleasure/whatever were so much that my knees felt weak I had to sit down and restrain myself from crying like a schmuck. It was weird to me because I've been to/seen other really beautiful things and not had such a powerful reaction. Apparently this is a thing, it's called Stendhal syndrome. The 'history' section on wiki is dead-on to what I felt.

I'm sure Bethesda Fountain is NBD for lots of people, but I think the combo of the architecture, the music (being sang by seemingly just an "anybody" who lives in NYC) and my "going for it" with trying to make it as a street artist, and having Jacob Torrosian (next post), the cop and the brooklyn museum guards compliment me, combined to be overwhelming.

I felt my pockets for change to give the girl, but I had none. I went down, waited for her to finish a song and explained my situation. "This is really awkward, I was so moved by Ave Maria that I had to sit down. I want to tip you but don't have any money. Can I draw your portrait instead?"

I was embarrassed because frankly it didn't come out very good. It looked like her, but not in a flattering way. She seemed happy though and invited me to a performance or something. Turns out she's a student at Juilliard or one of those other high-level conservatories. Unfortunately I had to skip it because I was 100% committed to spending as much time as I could hawking drawings before flying back.

Anonymous Mon Jul 30 23:29:57 2018 No.3544409
File: 150 KB, 1024x578, bethy 2.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

forgot pic. This doesn't do it justice, there's amazing views basically anywhere you stand and the whole of being there, totally enveloped by it, is way bigger than the sum of the views you get on google images for "bethesda terrace"

>>	Anonymous Mon Jul 30 23:55:53 2018 No.3544426 >>3544409 Wow, I don't live in ny but I visited last year and distinctly remember this fountain and the passage under the arches. Like you said, it's really beautiful.

>>	Anonymous Tue Jul 31 08:34:10 2018 No.3544891 >>3526461 >quote this comment Jesus Christ, reddit, settle down. gib story please

Anonymous Wed Aug 1 10:23:30 2018 No.3546645

>>3530483
>>3533582
>>3533644
>>3533664
>>3533677
>>3535557
>>3535595
>>3535617
>>3538568
>>3538585
>>3538591
>>3544300
>>3544314
>>3544344
>>3544384
>>3544403

OP here, thank you so much! I tough that thread died so I was surprised seeing it again. your story is so cool! sure you didn't make a lot of money but you seem to had lot of fun and created a lot of opportunity. that motivate me a lot for trying it!

Anonymous Wed Aug 1 10:35:43 2018 No.3546657

>>3538585
This is so cute.

I go to an anime con in mexico (where I live), in there I get to have an artist stand, where you make money mostly of drawing people.

Pricing is different in a culture where money is low, but people try to meet the 5 dollar mark per darwing. I just take a photo of them and tell them 30 minutes is enough (which is fine, since I ask them to pay upfront).

I try to set myself as a different artist, given there are so many artists in there for the duration of the con, so I try to have a little twist, makerting myself as someone that will draw you as a magical creature, or a ninja, or a hero.

Many girls like to asks themselsves to be fairies or unicorns, and a lot of boys like to be demons and dragons and such.

But kids are so impresionable, they often go away with a big smile on their faces, saying things like "look mom its me". Its a very nice experience.

I really want to get better as an artists, I think that is a nice niché to cover, but I still struggle with realism, and making them look how they actually look like.

Anonymous Fri Aug 3 02:10:37 2018 No.3548973

There was a bodega near my hotel that I started buying breakfast sandwiches at. Owned/run by mexicans. Big language barrier, I ordered by pointing. Really nice though. There's some teenagers/kids who hang out out front and speak solid english.

One day, I brought my sign in and the lady at the cash register starts freaking out in spanish. She runs around to my side of the counter and starts pointing at my sign then out the door and back and forth while speaking very quickly..

She runs outside and a kid comes back in.

"Did you draw those?"

"Yeah man."

"My mom wants you to paint a mural here on this wall outside our shop. She wants it to be friendly for families around here. We can pay you [250-500].

I would have loved to do it, but the money wouldn't have been enough to pay for the multiple day's food/lodging the mural would require. I hope they found someone.

Anonymous Fri Aug 3 06:13:55 2018 No.3549180

>>3544403
>>3548973
Dude no lie, your life sounds like a movie. Always jumping from one adventure to the next. It seems like even though you didn’t rake in the dough, you experienced some beautiful moments. Thanks for sharing.
>>3546657
I also liked reading through your experience as well. I hope you get to where you wanna be and thanks for sharing.

Anonymous Sat Aug 4 17:57:49 2018 No.3550943

>>3530504
lol you're not all that. stay humble and be willing to learn. i remember your pics of girls in coffee shops like 2 years ago. you haven't improved. you need to improve line weight, mark making, laying down structure with minimal lines, time efficiency, i could go on. it's like you've never had a real critique or paid attention to other artists. you are high school level.

>>	Anonymous Sat Aug 4 21:17:29 2018 No.3551142 >>3522682 I noticed that right away

Anonymous Sat Aug 4 22:26:23 2018 No.3551200

Before I left Mexico I thought it would be a good idea to check out some of the local entertainment venues so I went back to the bodega to ask the boy what stuff there was to do around town for fun and suddenly a menacing look crept across his face as he replied “my mom is number one prostitute in Tabasco, Mexico. She’s so hot they named the fucking pepper sauce after that bitch.”

Long story short, I ended up fucking the shit out of his mom back at my hotel while he jerked himself off in a corner of the room while screaming out words in Spanish I still don’t understand.

And don’t worry, he was 18. Although, that wouldn’t really have mattered anyway because the age of consent in Mexico is 12 I think.

>>	Anonymous Sun Aug 5 03:32:54 2018 No.3551467 >>3550943 not Brian, but, Post Your Work.

>>	Anonymous Sun Aug 5 04:23:20 2018 No.3551518 >>3530504 Lol brian you are such a delusional fuck.

>>	Anonymous Tue Aug 7 02:07:04 2018 No.3554187 one more story, tomorrow morning.

>>	Anonymous Tue Aug 7 05:24:09 2018 No.3554320 >>3546645 thanks OP that was a great story. I might give it a go in my city. We dont have any artists on the streets and we have a ok stream of tourists. so easy money

>>	Anonymous Wed Aug 8 15:45:51 2018 No.3556273 Thanks for the quality stories. Makes all the time I waste on this site worth it. First time I've used the thread watcher for ages.

>>	Anonymous Wed Aug 8 16:34:42 2018 No.3556352 File: 34 KB, 615x409, not-the-messiah-life-of-brian.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>3551518 >Lol brian you are such a delusional fuck. He's not the messiah! He's a very naughty boy!

>>	Anonymous Wed Aug 8 18:50:44 2018 No.3556624 >>3530504 You suck ass

Anonymous Thu Aug 9 21:29:13 2018 No.3558421

Okay so just to set the stage a little, before I left for this trip, I didn't think I was good enough. My marketing plan was "have a sign that says 'Portraiture', get one person to sit, then draw a really amazing portrait. That will interest your next customer, who will wait for you to finish so they can get a nice family heirloom. With any luck a line or small crowd will start to form."

However, I knew I wasn't as good as all that. Definitely not bad, good enough that my top 30-40% of work would be worth at least $40, but the other 60% definitely not good enough to draw a crowd.

In spring 2016, when saw the portraits at my friend's house and first got the idea, I kept telling myself I'd start dedicating 3 to 5 hours every day to really cement anatomy/forms/etc in my head. However, June arrived and I had not furthered my plans any more, nor had I practiced at all. The last time I'd been doing regular life drawing was in 2015 (all the drawing I mentioned happened in the 3-4 years leading up to july 2015.) midway through the year and getting older and feeling a need to kickstart my career/life, I bought a one-way plane ticket to NYC for september, hoping that would give me enough time to get my abilities polished up, but close enough to be 'tangible' and for my plans not to change. (If I booked a year out, who knows if I'd stick to the plan or not.)

Anyway, I hit mid-august and still didn't practice, in true d/ic/k form. Finally, as august was ending, I moved my trip into early October to buy myself a little more time, and started doing 30 minute self portraits from a mirror every day. Drawing from a mirror is cheaper and more difficult than from a professional model, though easier than a stranger in a park.

Anonymous Thu Aug 9 21:43:59 2018 No.3558452

>>3558421
One of the things I noticed drawing myself every day was that my expression was pretty stoic.
see the far right on
>>3535557

When you're focused on a drawing, and not a total expert, it's unlikely that you're going to be keeping a clearly happy expression. I figured the people posing for me would also be unlikely to keep a naturally smiling expression. The methods I use to achieve drawings rely pretty strictly on what I'm seeing and not any sort of formulaic "do this to represent a smile", so if I didn't want people to look sad or stern, I figured I'd need a way to keep them smiling.

I consulted with a friend who is a stand up comedian and asked what he would do to keep someone laughing for 30 minutes. Although he is easily the funniest person I know, he was unable to proffer any good advice. Maybe he was keeping the secrets of his trade, or maybe it just comes so naturally to him that he can't explain it.

I never figured out a good method, but decided that if I could keep myself smiling, it would reflect at least somewhat in my sitter. It turned out not to be too hard, because I've always liked cities, and it would probably take NYC a solid 6 months to start wearing on me. I was cheesing the whole time, even when I stepped in a foot deep mud puddle and soaked my leg up to the knee. (very NYC)

Anyway, the gist I'm getting at is that when October came around, I was super excited to go to NYC and give this thing a shot, even though I was convinced I wasn't ready. In my head I pictured all these artists sitting on the street who could just look at anyone and knock out a stellar likeness in 15 minutes while they entertained customers with essentially a stand-up routine. I figured that anyone who could make it was basically near Loomis-tier. Hence my surprise when I found out I could make representational drawings from what I saw better than almost everyone of them I saw.

Except one dude. One dude stood out. No sign of celebrities-- no sign at all.

Anonymous Fri Aug 10 13:18:54 2018 No.3559451

This guy is also setup on the mall and he's just got his easel and an umbrella for his sitters. When there's no one sitting for him, I saw him put up one drawing, but if he had a sitter, he let his drawing be the marketing tool. Basically, he was doing what I had planned on, but was not good enough for.

This guy was obviously playing a different game than all the other street artists. They, like me, used charcoal pencils. This guy was working with brushes. His work was also actually what he was looking at, he wasn't running off symbols.

Admittedly, he was stylizing his work, blowing out highlights so people look 'shiny', but he definitely had really, really solid fundamentals and understanding of form/light/shadow. If I was 10% better than the other artists, this guy was 1000% better than all of us. He was essentially what I had imagined NYC street artists to be.

I observed him a handful of times before I approached him to talk.

>>	Anonymous Fri Aug 10 13:32:09 2018 No.3559465 File: 557 KB, 1024x766, toro.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] forgot pic. More after work. Going to see if I can get the video I took of him working into webm.

>>	Anonymous Fri Aug 10 13:38:26 2018 No.3559472 >>3559465 sort of looks like he's drawing himself instead of his subject

>>	Anonymous Sat Aug 11 06:50:26 2018 No.3560698 >>3544314 French anon here, I don't care, stereotypes make me laugh. Also your story is amazing! More!

>>	Anonymous Sat Aug 11 11:42:01 2018 No.3560902 File: 364 KB, 1079x1269, image.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>3533644 Early Eminem or late Eminem?

>>	Anonymous Sat Aug 11 12:14:10 2018 No.3560939 File: 79 KB, 572x597, A-Roman-Artist,-The-Art-Of-Drawing.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dldpiI1MQY

>>	Anonymous Sun Aug 12 02:16:48 2018 No.3561912 this is some good stuff

>>	Anonymous Sun Aug 12 03:23:33 2018 No.3561972 >>3559465 Fug that’s good. I like how your stories slowly built up and then you introduced this guy like a boss level.

>>	Anonymous Sun Aug 12 05:39:57 2018 No.3562079 Any tips on learning how to sketch portraits really fast? What videos/books/tutorials did help you the most?

>>	Anonymous Sun Aug 12 06:51:17 2018 No.3562145 >>3521931 We truly live in a society

>>	Anonymous Sun Aug 12 13:47:57 2018 No.3562450 >>3559451 >>3559465 gonna need you to get back in this thread asap. I gotta know what this dude said to you.

>>	Anonymous Mon Aug 13 06:09:26 2018 No.3563250 >>3531087 > don't think I've ever even seen someone sit down for one. Obvious transplant is obvious.

Anonymous Mon Aug 13 06:12:47 2018 No.3563254

>>3521930
i was thinking of doing something like this but making a big show out of it but doing like picasso sorta paintings. but like where the striped shirt and the berret and go on about how beautiful the sitter is, stuff like that, what do you think?

>>	Anonymous Mon Aug 13 06:58:30 2018 No.3563291 >>3563254 that could work, if you have the personality to pull it off. I know I definitely couldn't.

Anonymous Mon Aug 13 16:37:04 2018 No.3563905

>>3562079
1. copy Bridgman illustrations and attend life drawing sessions as often as you can. Try to apply what you learn from him about form to what you see. With bridgman, most lines convey something about the form. if you see two lines next to one another, or a line with a 'hook' on the end, he's not just being messy, he's showing that there's a subtle plane change of some sort there.
Loomis = duplo
Hampton = lego
Bridgman = NANOMACHINES

2. Get darren rousar's sight-size book on cast drawing and a cast or two. Do it "the right way" and take your time. 40 hours a drawing seems like a lot, but you'll learn a ton and train your sense of proportion/value perception. This will help immensely with step 1.

3. draw from a mirror

these three are the activities that have had the most noticeably positive impact for me. The more time I spend on them, the more confident I seem to feel with drawing quickly from life.

Anonymous Mon Aug 13 16:51:18 2018 No.3563927

>>3559465
I catch him when he's not got a sitter and ask if he minds if I take a photo of his setup. He says it's no problem, no problem. Do I want a drawing? I am handsome, etc I should have a drawing! Come, sit and listen to the music with me! (he has a radio playing classical).

"Oh, no, I'm just interested in how you work. You use materials I haven't seen. But maybe you shouldn't tell me too much, since I'm the competition"

"Competition?" He gives me a confused look. I turn around my sign and show him the drawings (pictured in earlier post)

His face lights up and he gets all excited. "you are artist too! and you are good, like me! you are not shit!" I don't remember the exact broken english he used, but he conveyed in a "poetic" manner that I use light and shadow to convey form, rather than symbol drawing. this, to him, is *actually* drawing, as opposed to something I'll get to in a minute.

JT says he's happy to answer any of my questions, and so I ask him lots of stuff. I wish I had it recorded. Among the answers I remember are that he's been doing this for years; he is/was a professor of art in Moscow. He's from Ukraine. Drawing in NYC is what he does to relax in the off-season.

Eventually I come around to something that's been on my mind: This guy is the "real deal" in terms of ability. So how's business? Was I failing because of inability, or because the market for $40 drawings doesn't exist due to all the $5 signs? JT was getting more business than I was, but he didn't seem that busy. There were no lines.

"It used to be different. They used to call me best artist (he meant street artist) in New York! I would draw, and I had crowds!"

I'm smiling, but skeptical until he pulls out an old newspaper clipping from the new york times or one of the big NYC papers. Sure enough, it has a picture of him in his setup, surrounded by a crowd about two or three rings deep.

He turns sour "Before, there were very few. Only us who could actually draw. But now-"

Anonymous Mon Aug 13 17:05:47 2018 No.3563951
File: 94 KB, 525x675, lincoln2.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

JT scrunches his lower lip up in disapproval, stretches out an upturned palm, and sweeps it along a semicircle to indicate the other 3 portrait guys in sight.

"Now these fucking [ethnic group] come in. They are SHIT. They do not know how to draw! Not like you and me! they are businessmen! They lie!"

JT is pretty upset/angry as he says this, but he softens when he comes back to me and him and art.

"When you draw someone, you love them, no? you look at them, and you must love everyone." I can tell he doesn't mean love, but is using the term to indicate a genuine and deep appreciation for a person. When you look at someone, what does their likeness tell you about them? Where do you imagine they've been? Where might they be going? Are they wearing lots of makeup? Do they have scars? Are they bald from stress? Tired from a life of work? do they have the confident gaze of success or eyes that dart around with nervousness? Etc, etc.

His attention comes back to my drawings, specifically the one of Lincoln. "You are very good! I mean, you are shit (friendly) you know? Of course you are shit, you are young! but you are also very good! You are not as good as me, I am great artist, like Holbein! But one day you will be very good too! Where do you get (make) this drawing?"

"I noticed the signs all the other guys had feature "Wow!" pieces, so I went to the brooklyn museum to look at a statue and make some of my own. I didn't spend too much time, just enough to make it decent"

He goes into another angry rant about the other guys undercutting him. "But next summer, I come back! I can do what they can't! I will bring COLORS!"

>>	Anonymous Mon Aug 13 17:14:31 2018 No.3563969 >>3563951 Colors could be a powerful aid desu. Pastels or watercolor or something. Even just to,light up eyes or record hair

Anonymous Mon Aug 13 17:14:36 2018 No.3563971

He moves back to my drawings and starts talking about technique with me. He explains that what's holding me back is that I'm working with charcoal, and with charcoal, form can only be captured bit-by-bit. Instead I ought to use large brushes and dry oil. With this method, I can grasp the main forms "All at once!" and with a few flourishes he looks at me and blocks in the shape of my head. It's clear from this that he could probably make a drawing of the Lincoln bust with better-organized values in about a third the time it took me (120 min).

We discuss materials and techniques more and he explains and demonstrates a handful of things, many of which I had no notepad on me to record them with. I am unfortunately forgetful when it comes to conversational detail. We talked politics, where I'm from and how I got into art, where he's from, how I should come study under him in Moscow some time, and so on and so forth. All the while he'll get into how angry he is about the others ruining art for people on the street, artists and tourists alike. Then he'll get back to something he's happy about.

If I remember more of what he said about art and his experience, I'll post it, but this is the gist of it.

I think I've gotten through all the art-related stories from this excursion. If you guys have any questions, ask away. Later I'll double check to see if there's any I missed. Webm in a minute, I converted it too hi-res for /ic/.

>>	Anonymous Mon Aug 13 17:18:53 2018 No.3563974 >>3563971 Damn this guy sounds really interesting. Did you ever get clear and straight photographs of his stuff?

>>	Anonymous Mon Aug 13 17:44:18 2018 No.3564010 File: 2.30 MB, 1000x563, torovidshort1.webm [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]

>>	Anonymous Mon Aug 13 17:52:01 2018 No.3564017 File: 2.85 MB, 1000x563, torovidshort2.webm [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>3564010 >He

>>	Anonymous Mon Aug 13 17:56:43 2018 No.3564024 File: 2.08 MB, 1000x563, torovidshort3.webm [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>3564017

>>	Anonymous Mon Aug 13 18:01:45 2018 No.3564029 File: 1.90 MB, 1000x563, torovidshort4.webm [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>3563974 no, just these videos. You can google Jacob Torossian and there's some of his work, but not a lot.

>>	Anonymous Mon Aug 13 19:57:35 2018 No.3564117 File: 164 KB, 425x271, GHETTO COVER.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] "Are you drawing me?" "I am. Do you mind?" "I do" "I'm sorry. I'll stop then" True story.

Anonymous Mon Aug 13 21:49:54 2018 No.3564237

>>3530483
>>3533644
>>3533664
>>3533677
>>3535557
>>3535617
>>3538585
>>3544300
>>3544314
>>3544344
>>3544384
>>3544403
>>3548973
>>3558421
>>3558452
>>3563905
>>3563927
>>3563971
Great stories! I really appreciate you taking the time to type them out. Whenever I mull over ways to make some money drawing, I always imagine it'd be online. Flying out to a big city to draw on the streets is really impressive. Just having that drive and motivation, I'd call that making it. You really cheered me up today anon. Good luck.

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/ic/ - Artwork/Critique