Book Store Girl

random girl in the bookstore, 5 min., pen.

I happen to live in the South Broadway artsy-trendy-indie district in Denver. While the scene can certainly be pretentious, I try to take advantage of the good things that it has to offer. Like the many cafe patios, where you can sit for hours and watch the cute indie girls in their skirts and print tees, and the hipster dudes who walk by in hot pink shoes and Big Business and No Age shirts, pretending they are hanging out at the Smell in L.A. (a couple of years ago...when it was cool...when I was there).

One of my favorite spots is the Denver Book Mall. It's not a normal used book store, but rather a co-op of over 20 book sellers all under one roof. They also have decent coffee and a small art gallery. Last night I was sitting in the magazine section flipping through a LIFE magazine from 1972 and decided to do a quick sketch of the girl across the room as she was staring out the window. As usual, I could only stand it for so long before I had nightmare hell ride images of turning into an urban hipster myself, like some kind of god damned latte werewolf.

As for the sketch...this is why you shouldn't let your drawing muscles atrophy for a year and a half. I remember a time when a life drawing of such low quality from my own hand would have triggered cascades of vomit. Oh well, that's the point of this whole "sketch a day" thing, PRACTICE!!! I have a feeling that, after drawing every day for a month, my skillz will be back up there somewhat. We shall see.