People on the Streets

A couple of weeks ago, someone posted a comment on a sketch I had of people on my instagram feed. They complained about how oppressive it felt to even look at my sketches. of people in masks. After my first reaction (an eye roll perfected from having 2 kids), it made me think of what I draw and why I draw.

I should say I strongly support wearing masks because it is good science. It keeps me and you safe. When we wear our masks, we not only protect each other, we also say we care that we all stay as safe as we can.

But there’s more reason than that for why you’re seeing masks in my sketches. I draw the world around me. I record it as I see it. So if I see masks, I draw masks. I don’t draw masks where I don’t see them, and I don’t draw unmasked faces where there are none. I am drawing the times. This is what the people in the streets look like just now. And while I miss drawing unmasked faces, I’m thankful that the person waiting outside the store next to me and the jogger who runs past me are masked.

Oh, a quick and kinda obvious tip for drawing masks on faces? Don’t forget the structure of the face underneath. It helps understand the shape of the mask and the way the light hits it .

Stay safe everyone, that vaccine is close.