Bad reactions from people you are sketching?

[Steph Laberis]

This just floored me - my roomie came back from our weekly sketch jam at the cafe with this story to share:

This couple that was sitting at a table next to them got REALLY mad that (Dude A) was drawing them. He wasn't even focusing on them, he was drawing in their silhouettes in the background of a much larger sketch. So they stood up and yelled and yelled and yelled at him, hardly giving him time to apologize. (Dude B) retorted, trying to stand up for (Dude A) but there was just more yelling and swearing and the pencil-neck of a guy said he would take (Dude B) on any time.

It was quite an event. Even after (Dude A) apologized very politely they were still not satisfied and there was more yelling. My Roomie made a comment that they were acting very immaturely, to which they responded "F-YOU!" proving her point.

They finally started leaving, and when one of the shyest and sweetest girls in our group started moving on to a completely new conversation, the perturbed lady rudely interrupted "BLAH BLAH BLAH" - apparently she felt very important at that moment. Another member of the group told them that this was now a private conversation and that they really should keep walking, as they were hanging in the doorway to start more crap.

I wasn't there for the actual event, as I have been laid up for 2 days with a sprained back, but I would have been ripshit to have witnessed this, especially knowing how shy and sweet the members of my group are. I have never heard of this happening before.

Has anyone ever encountered this kind of douchebaggery while cafe sketching, or are we just lucky with all the bitter hippies/hipsters in the area?

[Ellingsworth]

Holy molly, sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed...(the people, not you Steph)

I can't understand why they would get angry, hell I would feel honored if someone wanted to sketch me. I guess some people are just always miserable and take it out on other people for stupid reasons. I haven't been sketching in public yet but I might start doing it in this Starbucks I have down my street, from now on I'll ask them before starting, so this was a nice heads up. :(

[Costau D]

You really shouldnt have to ask man. These types of events I think are 1 in a million. My jaw would be to the floor if I saw this happen as described by Steph.

[Ellingsworth]

You really shouldnt have to ask man. These types of events I think are 1 in a million. My jaw would be to the floor if I saw this happen as described by Steph.

Yeah, I guess your right. I wonder if the people that own the shop would care? I'm guessing not, as long as you buy something. I'll probably still ask the people that work there, though.

[hito]

I was sketching with the NYC group in Central Park a while back, the girl in the group was sketching a dude on a bench directly across.

The guy takes notice after a bit and ask to confirm, then goes into a tirade about how she was drawing him without permission and it was rude and threatened unpleasant actions if he found the sketch online. He never got loud or rude, just spoke as if he was his own attorney. After about 5 or 6 minutes he took out a camera phone and too a snap of the group, claiming that he is going to use this as collateral to ensure that the sketch of him does not end up on the net.

After that he got up and left, seeming almost disappointed that we didn't get into the argument with him.

I spent a good deal of time sketching at mall after I moved here, and never had anyone unpleasant. Most of the time people just looked away, if they noticed at all. A few times people came up and were just pleasant and curious.

[Ilaekae]

I had a similar experience just about two months ago, but it was with photography. A friend asked me to shoot some of the participants at an event I helped stage, being careful not to include a few participants that had indicated in advance that they did not want to be included. I memorized who these people were, and started working. I was using a 400mm lens in a ball room, so you understand what was happening visually--at low light levels, your depth of field is zilch to start with. As I was shooting across the room, a woman came up on my right, slapped my camera and said I was an asshole for photographing her. I tried to explain politely that I couldn't even see her, let alone focus on her even if I wanted to, but she called me a fuckin' liar at least 6 times and just refused to listen to any thing I was saying.

I just left, emptied both my cameras, and went back and threw the rolls of film into her food plate, telling her to shove them up her ample ass. A male at the table laughed until she screamed at him, so he got red-faced and stood up to defend her honor. He ended up on the table face down in some cheese dip about six seconds later. It was not a good day. The only good thing to come out of it was that I wasn't allowed into the event armed for security reasons or I'd be in jail right now...

ADD: Steph, after thinking about this for a minute, I'm guessing that your two love birds were up to something they shouldn't have been and didn't want a record of the event...heeheehee...

[Steph Laberis]

I had a similar experience just about two months ago, but it was with photography. A friend asked me to shoot some of the participants at an event I helped stage, being careful not to include a few participants that had indicated in advance that they did not want to be included.

Was this a Comic Book Porn convention, you dirty old man? ;)

I'm surprised that there are already 2 similar experiences posted here. I can almost understand that some would feel that being drawn is an "intrusion" or something, but it's hard to be objective when you're an artist and certainly no excuse for physical threats. In the rare times I've caught a stranger drawing me, it's always been positive, resulting in crits, new friends or flirting.

I hope they're back at the cafe on Sunday when we meet again. Pencil-neck is going to be limping home with 3rd degree burns... or more likely, drawn with a very tiny wang and spammed all over myspace and 4chan >:D

[Ilaekae]

"Was this a Comic Book Porn convention, you dirty old man?"

I wish! I'm sorry to say it was at the Mensa MindGames event that we staged in Pittsburgh this year. They have a license to get together once a year and play about 3000 games submitted by various companies for a critical review. The results acan be seen at local toy stores on the game box lables. It usually says something like "Mensa MindGames Winner" or some such shit...

Porn fans at least have some class...:nohope:

[Costau D]

You were at a mensa event? (Forgive my sweeping statement) The room mustve been filled with people who walk straight and cant sit due to piles of sticks shoved up their asses. I'm only kidding, but still.

[fukifino]

Wow, that's just crazy. I've done my share of sketching in Starbucks and whatnot and never had anyone complain or even come over to look. Of course, I also take pains to not make it obvious I'm drawing them, hehe. But man...those two you described are class A assholes, Steph.

[Ilaekae]

Watch it, Monkey Boy. I'm a paid up member...





...and the damn splinters up my ass aren;t a joking matter...:confident

[Qitsune]

The worst I've had have been ppl peeking over my shoulder and giggling like mad.

[megas_imperius]

I've had a slightly different problem--people have, upon learning that I'm an artist, demanded that I draw them. Right there, 15 minute sketch, because they said so.

At least they always say they like it.

[sve]

Maybe you sketched American Most Wanted.

[JustinBeckett]

Wow, that is a pretty harsh situation.

I have never had that, usually when i draw random people they almost always look at me funny... But when i am drawing my own thing in a cafe, a bunch of people always stop by and compliment me on my work, i have had so many people hand me there business card...Most of them, there seems to be no reason for me to even contact them, haha. Its funny cause the people i try drawing look at me funny, but then come over later and compliment me...Weird..

~JB

[Meli Hitchcock]

O.o Wow that's terrible. I've never had anyone get confrontational over me sketching them. Usually if they figure it out they get up and leave or ask me if I was drawing them and we start up a polite conversation. Most of the time I get left well enough alone though, but there are times bystanders pluck up the courage to come over and peek over my shoulder or just ask me if they can see what I'm drawing.

[life on the sofa]

bitch slap 'em tell 'em to sit their ass down, they have fucked up your sketch selfish sonz of bitches.


:)


the worst ive had is drawing my girlfreind while we were out somewhere and every 10 minutes or so someone would come along and ask her if she knew there was a guy over there drawing her...i swear i thought it was a joke because about 9 people asked her in about 20 minutes i was getting stressed.

we were even sitting at the same table but she was reading a book and i was drawing..its not like i was some weirdo taking quick photos up her skirt ...gah.


also once i was drawing the cafe i was in ..tables, chairs, people, counters coffees everything and they were fairly rough pictures untill a lady complained, called me a pervert complained to the staff and i got kicked out of the cafe..i was a bit gobsmacked to be honest. i was polite to the woman at first but some words were exchanged when she returned with a member of the staff called me a disgusting pervert. ..god..some people.

ive never encountered or heard of an incident reaching the level you described though steph :S..i would have lost my temper and kung fooed that guy :)

[ChaoticKnight]

Thats a bit ridiculous. Photos are one thing, but drawing people is perfectly legal. Especially if you leave out a bit of the likeness till later.
Never had anything like that happen to me, but I wouldn't take it. I'd call the cops for harassment or complain to the establishment myself. You can even draw like an iconic smiley face over the person's head if they're being a true idiot.

[timpaatkins]

hehe, sounds scary steph. I always make sure that my subjects are either quite far away, OR so self obsessed that they dont care about anything but themselves. Most times I get a whole gang of schoolchildren come up to me and look when Im painting and have a chat. (without a doubt, these kids are all black, very polite, and very interested. Just noting. Even if they are with a bunch of their not-so interested friends, and one would expect at least some piss taking in good fun, that has never happened) I think its really great, I love when their moms come up and as me if they are bothering me, hehe. I feel like such an adult!
Sometimes I notice that I have started sketching the "wrong guy" its easy to tell on their body language, so I just switch to someone else. After all, it is kind on an invasion of someones privacy, and I can make a lot of people uncomfortable. Come to think of it, I myself would probably find it not so pleasant. But hey, that hasn't stopped me yet!

[timpaatkins]

hehe, sounds scary steph. I always make sure that my subjects are either quite far away, OR so self obsessed that they dont care about anything but themselves. Most times I get a whole gang of schoolchildren come up to me and look when Im painting and have a chat. (without a doubt, these kids are all black, very polite, and very interested. Just noting. Even if they are with a bunch of their not-so interested friends, and one would expect at least some piss taking in good fun, that has never happened) I think its really great, I love when their moms come up and as me if they are bothering me, hehe. I feel like such an adult!
Sometimes I notice that I have started sketching the "wrong guy" its easy to tell on their body language, so I just switch to someone else. After all, it is kind on an invasion of someones privacy, and I can make a lot of people uncomfortable. Come to think of it, I myself would probably find it not so pleasant. But hey, that hasn't stopped me yet!

[James Kei]

I learned real quick that sketching native americans is a bad idea.
They believe that if you reproduce their likeness, you are stealing their soul.

[Steph Laberis]

I learned real quick that sketching native americans is a bad idea.
They believe that if you reproduce their likeness, you are stealing their soul.

It's strange that you mention that - towards the end of the incident, when the rude couple was hanging in the doorway and harassed my shy friend, she had been talking about that very same belief. So in essence she was sort of sympathizing with the couple's initial reaction and they were just so abrasive that they didn't care what was coming out of her mouth. When she tried to explain that, they just kept cursing at her and talking over her.

>:{

[FlipMcgee]

I had a bad subject reaction once even though I was granted permission to draw.

It was at work. Facing me, behind my monitor, was this obese girl. I got tired sneak-drawing spaceships and whatnot so I asked her if she'd be interested if I do a quick portrait sketch of her. (She's fugly and I wasn't trying to impress her or anything. Just felt like life drawing on the spot.).

So I sketched her up. Nothing fancy just a 3 or 4 incher on copy paper using ballpen. I thought I got a good likeness of her. Before I showed her what I did she looked excited, probably a new experience for her being drawn. So I gave the paper to her and WHAM! Fucking meltdown.

I kid you not. She just went psycho. She started hyperventillating and saying I made her look like a guy. She started verbalizing revenge scenarious on me like drawing me ugly and shit.

I was shocked. Didn't expect it since I didn't even do a caricature or overexaggerated her fucking neck rolls and huge jugs. Couldn't really answer back since I was supposed to do work. Good thing another fat lady supported me and saying that it's actually hard to do a good drawing of a "big girl". These pacified the bitch somewhat.

This fugly girl said she was going to tear my sketch but I think she just kept it. She quit the company not long after but not before she made sure I see her up close with thick make up in the last Christmas party. The other four girls I've done sketches for in the office gave me much better responses. And they all look pretty actually.



.

[SBACHAN]

i feel your pain Steph....
i had a very similar experience here in nyc about over a year back, on the F train going into south queens.
I was coming home from the school at about 12 or 1 am , dude whom i was sketching literally got in my face about it. "I said sorry, didn't mean to offend you, blah blah blah...." he continued to mumble and swear and then got off at the next stop.
since then nothing ever happened. may the streak continue.....

[Justin.]

One time I was drawing these kids in school. They were really impolite, trying to initmidate me and call me names and crap. Then one of them came up to me, bent down like he was trying to tie his shoe (flip-flops), and intentionally backed his ass into my face. I asked him wtf, they laughed and walked away.
Next day, same people, same kid walks over and sits on the bench I'm at. He's slowly moving towards me like a creep, and when I see him slowly raise his hand (probably to mess up the pencil or take the sketchbook), I asked him if he knew he was sitting in gum. He jumped up and yelled "FUCK" and was feeling his ass up for the non-existant gum, his friends were rolling over on the table laughing, and about half the cafeteria was staring at him rubbing his butt.

it was glorious.

[jadefoodog]

i hate you all i have been trying to start a sketchgroup in my local area for like a year and a half now and absolutly nothing to show for it. but back on topic nobody has ever questioned me drawing them could be cause i do it in places like art galleries and my tattoo shop or because this town isnt so big and i know everyone in town. probably being 6 foot 6 and having many a tattoo

[Costau D]

Airports, always airports. Or any transportation place. The International airport isnt to far from me and I've been there quite a few times. No one pays attention to you, and everyone is in a hurry. And if they start a confrontation, there's the security near the gate. bunch of interesting people, and varieties of personalities.

Airports

Zoos

Oxygen bars (no joke, filled with hippies)

Cyber cafes

Coffee Shops (not starbucks)

Subways

Theme Parks

Catholic Churches- Not during mass hours, open to the public, I still go for confession VERY rarely because it's free therapy and it's against their oath for the priest to say anything hehehe


Any place where people are either relaxed or going on about their own business...

Those are my favorite though.

[Justin.]

I don't live anywhere close to any bus or air terminal. I wish I did, really, last time I was in an airport I filled 20 sketchbook pages full up in about 3-4 hours.

[|NTeRN]

ive had a few people get up and walk away when they notice me. i tend to not care if someone sees me drawing them. to me its nothing more then doing homework, so why be any different then actually doing homework. never have had a problem


i have had a few issues when telling people im studying to be an artist. (mind you, unlike most here, i have no desire for working in illustration or conception, i want to be an easel painter, doing still life, portraits, figures, and landscapes) anyways when i was 18 (4 yrs ago) i had just started a job at Target. My second week there i was talking to my boss, who i didnt know too well, and he started asking me about school. I tell him im double majoring in animation and illustration and he gets an odd look on his face. he asks me why and i tell him its cause ive always loved to draw and paint and cant see myself doing anything else for a career. he tells him it would be smarter for me to go into business cause i probally wouldnt make it as an artist. Now i get pissed off reply "why so i could work ar target for the rest of my life like you? well he went livid, but before he could say anything i got in my car and took off (i had just clocked out for the night and we had been walking to our cars) needless to say we had a tense relationship from that point on.

another situation was about 4 weeks ago. i now work at a popular sushi bar waiting tables (im actually in talks to be trained as a sushi chef tho, so im keeping my fingers crossed for that) and im talking to an older couple who had just sat down and they ask me if im going to school. i tell them im an art student and before i can finish my little talk about Watts Atelier the guy tells me im a moron. me trying not to be rude cause i dont know if hes being an ass or he has an odd sense of humor and hes like "ya, you heard me, your a moron for going into art. your going to be broke all of your life, no girl is gonan want to be with a homeless art bum, and your never gonna make anything with yourself." his wife just looks at him and slaps him and tells me hes just grumpy and has a weird humor. Turns out hes actually a professional photographer and just wanted to see if i was serious about art or not. he was actually fun to talk to after that.

[mambo]

I learned real quick that sketching native americans is a bad idea.
They believe that if you reproduce their likeness, you are stealing their soul.

Sorry but this is absolute rubbish. I'm native American and I don't believe that. Nor does any of my family. My father who was born and raised on a reservation has spent his entire life sketching in cafes, plazas and public areas and has never once had a problem. There are any number of famous native American artists who use models and render people all the time. Despite common and ignorant misconceptions we don't all wear our hair in braids and run around in regalia recoiling from soul-stealing cameras and sketch artists.

Not sure where you got this stereotype but it's total BS.:[



In response to the OP... I've never had anything but positive experiences sketching people. And I sketch every single day for at least an hour or two... have done for years and years. It helps that I'm 6'3", 200lbs and come from a competitive boxing/Muay Thai background. :D I think a lot of this has to do with the confidence your project. If you show the slightest weakness some people will take that and use it as an excuse to grandstand. I've generally ended up with quite few phone numbers of nice looking girls after I've popped off an attractive sketch. My non artistically inclined friends are always jealous. :D

As to the length these idiots took it with the yelling. Sorry but you get what you settle for. I'm not gonna put up with some chump mouthing off. You have to draw the line. If you let people walk all over you... you will soon have a cue of these kind of people waiting their turn to do so. Better luck in future.

[Coinpurse]

bwuahahaha funny experiences.

Go through them enough and you'll loose the value of caring.
When I draw someone, I make sure they don't notice. And if they do, I usually just continue drawing them if they approach. I live in South Florida, only the nastiest of people will you find in this dump (ask any of the Floridians on this board) theres a good 80% of egotistic arrogant art ignorant jealous phucks that live down here. I've had my work ripped apart in front of my face, spat on, and cursed out left and right. Word of advice, don't sketch in Aventura mall, even security gets iffy if they see you walk in with a sketchbook and pencils. Don't get me wrong though, miami has its share of fine artists, but most people are just too busy being complete assholes to care (24/7 road rage anyone?).


The last experience I had was about 5 months ago at a local IHOP, sketching an old naked woman with the face of this behemoth sitting 5 tables down who wouldn't stop starring at me. Really I don't know what she was looking at, but it wasnt anything attractive :( and neither was the.... thing I was drawing. People would walk by and laugh, assuming because of the grotesque nature of the wrinkly boobies. She knew I was drawing her, but when she noticed people were laughing she exploded. She came over with two of her girlfriends (who were also behemoths) and tried starting something. We came to the agreement that if I drew them in a 3 way caricature they'd leave me be. So I started, and finished with a 3 headed hydra dildo of a 2,000 ton woman. I threw it at them and ran.

The way I see it, if they want a fight they'll have to catch me first :P

[Duq]

I was just sitting in the train dawing people while traveling home from work and this big woman gave me this huge frown, stood up and came towards me, then started saying some things quite loudly, no idea what since I was listening to my music, so I just nodded along. Then the train switched tracks and she fell on some poor guy who sat next to me.

Most of the people I met dont really have a problem with it, and often it will lead to fun conversations.

[Jens]

I've only had a girl who started laughing uncontrollably and very loud after she noticed I was drawing her. Which is not a bad thing I guess :)


boom, that's awesome :D

[bhanu]

I never had horrible experiences doing people sketching , but some people did ask me to make a portrait of them and even pay me for it. but the annoying part was most of them didnt want to give more than 100 rs(our currency ) for it.I obviously refused to do them.But most people in general were more than impressed.So I think in near future something shity might just happen.

[_andreas_]

BOOM wins the thread!

ive never had bad experience when drawing people.
this may be due to the fact that i tend to draw only sleeping people (while sitting in the train to/from work) or that i look very innocent, hehe

[Sepulverture]

I was out drawing one day, and I was drawing this dude, he noticed me, whipped it out and started masturbating.


Furiously.

[Uziel]

Nothing new. There are some pretty disturbed people out there. Pretend it's just a bad dream and move on.

[F11]

I was out drawing one day, and I was drawing this dude, he noticed me, whipped it out and started masturbating.


Furiously.

what!!!?

[N D Hill]

Yeah. People can either be completely incompetent as to how they should react to someone drawing in public or complete and utter assholes. Whenever my friends and I go to the Portland Museum of Art to draw from the statues, hordes of the elderly, tourists or just uninitiated patrons will stand a foot behind you and obnoxiously lean over you to look at what your doing. Apparently they're used to doing their jobs while strangers are breathing down their necks. What's worse is when they do this in groups make small chit chat about you as if you were deaf. I actually had some dumbass treat me as if I was a guard at the Buckingham palace as he would get in front of whatever it was I was drawing and start to dance around and try to get me to react. Which of course I ended up simply informing the security who promptly escorted him out.

[Uziel]

Sometimes this really can be handy :p

[Justin.]

I hate drawing at school as well, because everyone comes up a foot behind me..

yo homes wutudrawin?
A tree.
oooh i see it now
u could draw me standing next to it?
nope
why?
I dunno


and in groups it's just like N.D. was talking about. I actually had one kid ask me to draw his girlfriend's tits (she was standing right there). This was during school hours btw... he was serious too.

[joelhinxman]

man thats crazy ive never had anyone get mad at me for drawing them. but if someone makes you mad while drawing them its always fun to drawthem in a really bad way.

also one fun trick when dealing with some that petty and immature is to act equaly or even more immature. so to make them soooo mad they storm away. if they tend to get that mad they stay mad all day and you tend to ruin there whole day because they just sit a stew about how mean and immature you where(works best with girls). makes me feel quite satifyed knowing i ruined there day.

[Shantih]

Yeah. People can either be completely incompetent as to how they should react to someone drawing in public or complete and utter assholes. Whenever my friends and I go to the Portland Museum of Art to draw from the statues, hordes of the elderly, tourists or just uninitiated patrons will stand a foot behind you and obnoxiously lean over you to look at what your doing. Apparently they're used to doing their jobs while strangers are breathing down their necks. What's worse is when they do this in groups make small chit chat about you as if you were deaf. I actually had some dumbass treat me as if I was a guard at the Buckingham palace as he would get in front of whatever it was I was drawing and start to dance around and try to get me to react. Which of course I ended up simply informing the security who promptly escorted him out.

Ack! I go to the National Gallery (London) to draw quite often and I never get anything like that, people even ask if they're in my line of vision and try to make sure they're not distracting me.

I have been spoiled with polite art patrons.

[Costau D]

bwuahahaha funny experiences.

Go through them enough and you'll loose the value of caring.
When I draw someone, I make sure they don't notice. And if they do, I usually just continue drawing them if they approach. I live in South Florida, only the nastiest of people will you find in this dump (ask any of the Floridians on this board) theres a good 80% of egotistic arrogant art ignorant jealous phucks that live down here. I've had my work ripped apart in front of my face, spat on, and cursed out left and right. Word of advice, don't sketch in Aventura mall, even security gets iffy if they see you walk in with a sketchbook and pencils. Don't get me wrong though, miami has its share of fine artists, but most people are just too busy being complete assholes to care (24/7 road rage anyone?).


The last experience I had was about 5 months ago at a local IHOP, sketching an old naked woman with the face of this behemoth sitting 5 tables down who wouldn't stop starring at me. Really I don't know what she was looking at, but it wasnt anything attractive :( and neither was the.... thing I was drawing. People would walk by and laugh, assuming because of the grotesque nature of the wrinkly boobies. She knew I was drawing her, but when she noticed people were laughing she exploded. She came over with two of her girlfriends (who were also behemoths) and tried starting something. We came to the agreement that if I drew them in a 3 way caricature they'd leave me be. So I started, and finished with a 3 headed hydra dildo of a 2,000 ton woman. I threw it at them and ran.

The way I see it, if they want a fight they'll have to catch me first :P

Glad I'm not the only one. I thought I was just a bitter person.

[ceberae]

The only relatively bad experience I ever had was on the train once. I used to draw commuters much more often than I do now, so I guess that statistically increases the chance of a moron encounter.

So anyway, I was drawing someone quite a ways from me, I think I chose them because they were asleep. This couple sitting across from me was happily chatting away about something or other. Then I guess the guy noticed that I was drawing somebody, so decided to make that the topic of the conversation. As if I wasn't there, he started telling the girl what he would do if he noticed somebody drawing him. He went on and on about how he'd ask the train personnel to stop the artist and make sure they were either fined or escorted off the train. He never addressed me directly and I never intruded onto their lovely discussion and just continued drawing. Eventually the couple got up and left, presumably to an area of the car safe from the evil artist.

On the other hand, the best drawing experience I had was at Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. My friend and I were drawing one of the gigantic bulls they had on display there, when the one particular bull we were drawing decided to lay down. My friend made a disappointed "oohhh" and the farmer who owned that bull shouted at the handler guys: "Get him up! Can't you see people are drawing him?!" So the guys scrambled to get the poor bull back up so we could finish our drawings. That was just awesome.

[sweetoblivion314]

I've never had a bad experiance. I have been asked to do a portrait of a guys girlfriend and he wouldnt leave me alone about it after I said no. He even pulled the nationality card on me when he noticed i had an Ireland jeff cap on he started saying how his girlfriend was Irish. That was anoying.

The funny thing is if you go to Domai and read their newsletters there are several about people having the exact opposite of a bad reaction to guys drawing them. Some even get married in the end.

[eskanto]

i find there are two types of people when im drawing on the train: people who become uncomfortable at my staring at them and drawing and people who completely love the attention. also, i dont know how the other girls here feel about this but i find that men use my drawings as a starting point to get my phone number. this would be ok except for the fact there are a lot of WEIRDOS on the train in NY so you have to be careful. one guy tried to invite me back to his house to 'draw a portrait'. im not coming to his house alone in the evening to do that shit. my family keeps telling me i need pepper spray.....:\

[Shadowwing]

Will it help if you wore sunglasses and pretend you're not looking at them?8)

[sweetoblivion314]

Will it help if you wore sunglasses and pretend you're not looking at them?8)

My anatomy teacher actualy told us one day how to avoid being detected when drawing other people. And reflective sunglasses was one of her suggestions. She said get the big ones like cops wear. She also recommended hiding the sketchbook and different ways to act if you think they notice you.

[Sapphire]

It's like my nightmare come true!

I've never had anything happen like that... the most I've gotten is uncomfortable looks, or, if I'm drawing in the mall, somebody request that I not draw the merchandise. I could see why some people wouldn't like to be drawn, especially if they're incredibly self-conscious or easily embarassed, but I always find it fun when I notice people are drawing me, even if it by chance ends up unflattering. :) I've really come to appreciate different facial features, and drawing the differences between them, especially recently... but I'm sure other people don't have that same appreciation and just assume you're making fun of them somehow.

I think the thing that burns me most about what you described was the BLAH BLAH BLAH... how immature is that?

I hope you feel better soon, Steph!

[StarBelly]

As I sketch in public I make notes about peoples reactions next to their sketch, so I never forget the entertainment they supplied me with.

[Hunger]

I don't see why you should get mad at someone sketching you. If someone sketched me I'd co-operate and strike a really stupid pose for their (and my) entertainment.

[Nam]

Haha! This is why I've been too chicken to draw another person, now it's reinforced. >_<

[bhanu]

Okay so was waiting for this to happen, and it almost happened, yesterday.
i was sketching this guy I knew, Actualy he works at a shop nearby, so he wasnt a friend or anything.
SO I was sketching him and thn I started somebody else , a kid, then suddenly he came towards and asked for the sketchbook, now I am used to people asking for my sketchbook to take a peek, but the guy took and said"should I rip this page off?"and just when he was trying to do it, I grabbed him by his hand and twisted it, but just them he was "oh come on man I just joking" so I replied that I was joking too. It ended there, but today when I visited his shop , he was sorta extra polite.
People drawing is fun when you are big guy.
Teehee.

Btw heres the pic of the drawing.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i271/aghori/DSC02052.jpg (http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i271/aghori/DSC02052.jpg)

[Darkside]

yo homes wutudrawin?
A tree.
oooh i see it now
u could draw me standing next to it?
nope
why?
I dunno

hahaha, experienced exactly the same situation back in school :D

[Chermilla]

LOL some crazy stories here! I've never has anyone get really agro towards me when drawing but that's probaby because if I'm drawing from reference in public I tend to do it on the sly so that people don't realise I'm drawing them.

If someone started sketching me and made it obvious I'd feel slightly uncomfortable I guess but at the same time I would be very flattered. I read in a local paper the other day in the section where people text in comments that a woman had wrote, 'Some random guy started sketching me in his notepad today, should I be frightened?' and the next day someone responded with, 'If someone thinks you're nice enough to sketch then you should be flattered!!'. :)

I can symphasise more when people don't like getting in random peoples photographs though because I hate photos being taken of me too, however a sketch to me is different in a way. However I would never scream or shout at someone if they did photograph me without permission!

I find it odd that people would get psysically or really verbally abusive about it, slightly over the top if you ask me!!

Cx

[enigma]

I think it depends on the situation.

You should first ask someone to sketch them, being an artist does not automatically entitle to you to forget the common rules of courtesy, people should not have to feel "honoured" simply because you choose to draw them.

The way I gauge whether I should ask someone or not is, if they're close enough that I can make out their face,I should ask! Think of it as if you're taking a photo, it would be rude to snap a picture without asking right :)?

- However, at least with me, it doesn't mean I wouldn't sneak in a few sketches without asking when they're not paying attention :P

[AmishCommy]

I was sketching with the NYC group in Central Park a while back, the girl in the group was sketching a dude on a bench directly across.

The guy takes notice after a bit and ask to confirm, then goes into a tirade about how she was drawing him without permission and it was rude and threatened unpleasant actions if he found the sketch online. He never got loud or rude, just spoke as if he was his own attorney. After about 5 or 6 minutes he took out a camera phone and too a snap of the group, claiming that he is going to use this as collateral to ensure that the sketch of him does not end up on the net.

After that he got up and left, seeming almost disappointed that we didn't get into the argument with him.
That was so bizzare. I think he left because the rest of us turned around and started drawing him too.

[TheDonut]

I've never had any bad reactions so far. I spent a few days drawing in Verona and Venice for college and everyone who noticed (I was quite subtle) was pleasant about it. A few people would come over and watch me draw for a while and that was about it. When a friend forgot her sketchbook and had to borrow paper from me, the cafe owner gave her a little sketchpad to use, which was awfully nice of him :D

I understand how people could be a little annoyed by it though. If someone was drawing me I'd certainly feel self conscious, but I wouldn't ask them to stop.. I'd start drawing them!

[Joshua Fountain]

Around the mediterranean people are generally more supportive ot the arts than they are here in the States. So I can totally understand those reactions.


I've only done life drawing without prior permission a few times. One time a girl who I knew did notice I was drawing her (she had been napping in a little cafe off of the university). She walked up when I wasn't even halfway through to take a look (I was still learning anatomy and foreshortening so it didn't look like much anything aside from a bunch of lines) and commented that I should try another major.

Ouch.