Artist, Washington Blue Line Stop, Chicago
Tuesday night I let the homeless (I assume?) wheelchair-bound artist in the Washington Blue Line platform draw my portrait. I was bundled up, wearing a scarf and had just gotten done at the gym. I think it looks only vaguely like me. In his defense, I was looking down at my camera a lot when he was telling me to look up. Also, he only gets a couple minutes to draw each person because he has to hurry before the train comes.
hey, it’s not bad… though he made you look very angry. as though, perhaps, you’d just been struck by falling ice.
That certainly isn’t his best work. That’s my regular station, so I see him a lot, and he’s done better. Sorry!
James, you are such a stalker! I see you on Division, I swear I’ve seen you on Clark/Lake and now you’re all over Washington too!? hahaha
I think he would have done better had I just been standing there and not fumbling around with my bags trying to get my camera out and then taking photos of him. I’m thinking of letting him do a second sketch.
sas – that made me laugh!
how much did you donate for that?
$2. I’ve been watching him a while. he does 1-3 drawings in between every train. i’ve seen him get no money from people he drew that said they didn’t want to get drawn but he did it anyway. Most people give him spare change up to a couple bucks. i think he makes a lot of money.
the washington station also has the best singers. the 3 guys who sing acappella with the guitar and the shaker thing rule. I’ve been meaning to take a video clip. they make people smile and some people dance and sing along.
That’s pretty darn cool! See, that’s where the big cities really got over us. We don’t have cool stuff like that to look forward to—like falling ice, for instance! *lol*
You know, that looks like a good drawing, like the guy knows how to draw, but I have no idea if it looks like you because after checking out your site for a few months now, I realized every photo of you you’re sporting a broad smile. So, maybe that looks just like you, but the person who doesn’t know you in real life may never know…
I don’t have a point, btw.
I’m curious how you like your new camera though. Small enough? Getting the hang of it? Going manual?
I like the picture but it really looks nothing like you.
I think thats a very sweet drawing although you look mad. His heart was in the right place. He can draw better than I can.
I think that’s a really cool drawing. The eyes are interesting – if a bit mean.
Has anyone seen the lady with the strange oriental violin type thing lately. She was awesome but I don’t ride the red line as much as I used to. One of the few performers who got money out of my stingy pockets.
Rachelle – you mentioned video clips – how does your camera do with little videos? It would be cool if you could post some video clips of street performers in chicago, or even of this guy who draws portraits saying hello.
The pictures you take are awesome – this camera does better than the old one. Of course you’ve got to get some credit, too.
This guy tried to draw me again tonight and I told him he’d already done it. He asked me if I’d hung the drawing up yet. I told him I wanted to mount it so it doesn’t rip. We briefly discussed different ways of doing it and different kinds of boards/cardboard to use. I thanked him again.
He turned to a woman on the other side, near the edge of the platform and gestured that he wanted to draw her. She waved a hand at him and said he’d drawn her 14 years ago on the corner of Chicago and State. He commented how long ago that really was and asked if she still had it. She said it was at her mom’s house.
Then the train pulled up.