Saturday, February 5, 2011

Doing the Reasonable Thing


I sketched this man at Balado Tire in Miami. He was waiting for his car, and I was waiting for mine. This was my first time at Balado Tire, a place that had been recommended to me. I was happy and a little surprised that I was able to communicate with the owner with no difficulty. The service was great, and the manager spoke English well.

I am one of the few people in Miami that speak only English. As of 2008, the percentage of English-only speakers was 27.2% of the Miami population. Now I am sure that it is much less.

So you may wonder how I get by.

My answer? Just fine, thank you very much. Here is an example:

The other day I went to Subway and ordered a breakfast sandwich. The lady behind the counter asked me a question in Spanish that I didn't understand. (She was apparently asking what kind of bread I wanted and listing choices, though I didn't know it at the time). I did the only reasonable thing. I said to her: "English, please."

And she got me an English Muffin.

Which was exactly what I wanted.

See? I get by just fine.

I know that the sketch of the man at the tire place looks like others I've done, but for me it is very different. It is much larger. Here you can see size comparison of this sketch to a sketch from an earlier post. It's funny, but the transition to a larger sketchbook has been more difficult than I'd imagined. I'd done larger works before - no problem. But apparently I've gotten used to sketching in public at a certain scale. So it's been like switching from racquetball to tennis - with a different length handle, I've been missing a lot of lobs.

It hasn't helped that I have been trying to improve my sketching of the figure. My proportions have been way off at times. So I did the only reasonable thing. I took out my ruler and I measured my wife. I recommend this. Measure your spouse or significant other. After that, do whatever feels right.

Proportions have always been a challenge for me. You need to have patience for proportions. And although I like to fancy that I am a zen master with all the ohmmms in place, it ain't always so. It's why I pretty much stay away from sketching architecture. It's why drawing and painting on Yupo, which is kind of like juggling with jello while ice skating, is the appropriate way for this artist to paint a building:



I strongly recommend that you be reasonable in all that you do - like me. But don't let anyone else's definition of reasonableness replace yours. If doing the reasonable thing means doing it like everyone else, then the only reasonable thing is for you to be unreasonable, si? Makes sense to me.

29 comments:

  1. Gran historia y el dibujo, lo hizo muy bien Dan!

    Love it, great story behind the drawing. Its always a huge bonus when you find/get good service : )

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  2. I'd say you aced these two drawings--forget the lobs. And how does measuring your wife help with proportions if you're not drawing her? She must be a keeper; I don't think there's a norm when it comes to proportions. I love Alice Neel's portraits and I think it's because they're slightly off. Give yourself permission to be unreasonable--it's fun. Si?

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  3. Reading your blog is always a treat - like visiting the best ice cream parlor on the planet and ordering a banana split! Many delicious flavors and always keeps me coming back. The drawings are a success and so is your story-telling.

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  4. Enjoyed the post. I can see how drawing to a larger scale would be so different. That's why I avoid it but guess I shouldn't. Drawing BIG is scary though. You did a good job on the man though.

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  5. when I lived in FLA (mid 70's) I worked in claims for a big insurance company..I had to call the Miami office about a policyholder. I'll never forget this--I couldn't get to anyone who spoke English! I remember yelling into the phone "We work for the same company--who there speaks English???!!" Man, it was aggravating. Maybe you should get a Rosetta Stone dvd..well, no. You're the last hold out. I like your sketch on bigger paper. Does it have more detail than it generally would? Was he texting? I never mind going to the tire place for the same reason..I can sketch the fellow wait-ers. I'll have to try that Yupo paper--looks trippy.

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  6. Hi Dan, I also have been curious about Yupo but it seems so slick and I have always preferred more tooth in a paper. Let me know when you decide to try it, too bad they don't make Yupo sketch books.

    Your sketches are so clean, do you paint when you are out and about too, or is that saved for later? I also do no habla espanol!

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  7. I live in Florida, too, but on the West Coast. We have a Cuban neighbor (from Miami) who speaks no English. We communicate with short expressions, like OK and wave hello. I have 2 years of HS Spanish and 2 years of College Spanish but it's NOT CUBAN. Being in Miami is like visiting a foreign country, but with mulitple languages, it's crazy over there.

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  8. I've learnt something about Miami I didn't know, would I get by with Italian? Similar to Spanish in some ways.
    I find people much harder than architecture, buildings keep still! Great sketches as always.

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  9. I lived in Tallahassee for a while, and in St. Petersburg, the Cubans I met there spoke English quite well, some with no discernible accent. I wonder what's going on in Miami? I'm afraid I only know 3 words in Spanish, life's essentials for a Sailor, Beer, Water, and Diesel... I can ask for those 3 in Spanish :-)

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  10. Very interesting story. I could only relate to my experience while living in Germany where majority of the Germans really don't know English, or they're just reluctant to speak to you in English... it's hard to get around, and of course I learned their language to get around. A lot of hard work involved but I survived too ^^
    Great sketches Dan!

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  11. So funny Dan! English muffin-- good stuff. And how like you to say, "It's exactly what I wanted." Really charming and endearing.
    Your sketch is so so good (as always). You handled the larger scale with apparent ease. Your painting is EXCELLENT and so expressive. Your palette in both is beautiful.
    And your wife is terrific to let you measure (and do whatever feels right). GRIN!

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  12. Ola Dan,
    Qué maravillosa historia. Me hizo reír. Lucho con Yupo también, but I intend to keep trying. Always fun to see your posts.

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  13. Great sketch of the guy at the tire shop. I too have found that the size of sketchbook makes a big difference, but you handled the adjustment well. For some reason, smaller is much easier for me. Your suggestion about measuring sounds very "educational"--I am off the find my hubby...

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  14. I do like the background in your sketch - it sets the figure off perfectly.

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  15. Great post, Dan! You made me laugh once again (the English muffin incident as well as your recommendation "then do whatever feels right" *lol*). :D
    The sketch is awesome as well, of course. I know what you mean, getting accustomed to a certain format. I usually draw (almost) as tiny as I write and bigger sketches are a challenge for me, too. Well, I'll try to do whatever feels right or reasonable. Even if it means eventually handing out magnifying glasses to go with my drawings... (Thank you, internet! Zoom FTW!!)

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  16. You do get by just fine, don't you? You eat what you want, you measure what you want, and you draw what you want - on whatever size you want... And then you write so amusingly about it all. Thanks for the grins.

    -Don

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  17. That sounds perfectly reasonable to me too. You have wonderful sketches here as always and I do really like your use of color.

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  18. Juggling jello while ice skating - lovely phrase and great sketches!

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  19. Love your work...and I love your spirit...both convey a wonderful message in a language we can all understand...:)

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  20. Proportions are a challenge to us all. Looks like you've got just the right idea about sketching houses.

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  21. Wonderful, Dan! Tell me, did you use a larger brush for the larger drawing? I have some doubts about you not being good at drawing architecture. I keep wanting to try yupo but keep telling myself to wait until I can do regular paper a little better! I love how you described what the paper is like.
    I took French in high school. It sounded more romantic(one of those high school follies). :D Stupid though, as I live in Texas!

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  22. These are wonderful. I love the color, shading, and use of ink! And thanks for stopping by my blog : )

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  23. Que??? You lost me at the last paragraph.

    Great sketches. As always a giggle to stop on your blog... measuring your wife and painting on Jello, whatever next?

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  24. Finally got to see this. Great picture, and you're right...it is harder larger. I started out doing large pics so smaller was really an adjustment. And I like that building. I bet you'd do well if you gave yourself a chance. And here in Los Angeles County we have our share of non-English speakers...not just Spanish speakers, but lots of others. I find that I am a user of my own sign language, almost always (even with English speakers) motioning with my hands what I want. Looks funny I guess, but it usually works. I knew a lady once who wanted to buy a leg of lamb at a butcher shop in France. She slapped her thigh and baa-ed. Worked just fine.

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  25. Me gusta el dibujo tambien! :)

    I find it hard to scale up and down too when I get accustomed to something. I was so accustomed to my moleskine and using it for day to day sketches and studies of nudes that when I moved to a more normal sized sketchbook the drawing was *horrible*.

    I actually have tried letting the husband stand in so I could finish something up. He's 6'5" though, so all he does is mess up all the proportions.

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  26. Ai! The combination of art and humour! I love your pictures, but I like the way you write about them even more. I don't even draw much and now I want to go and measure someone!

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  27. Very funny blog, and wonderful sketches!
    Although if anyone other than a seamstress measured me, I'd deck 'em. :-)

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  28. Muchas Gracias everyone!

    Elza & Jenna - Que?!

    Raena - Yes, larger pen nib and larger brush. I can't imagine they will ever be as big as yours though!

    Maundering mutterer - From as fine a writer as you, I am greatly flattered.

    Liz - I will definitely keep my distance!

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