Monday, November 16, 2009

Beginning

My first day selling drawings at Venice Beach. Most of what I know about busking comes from the Tenacious D movie. ("In Venice Beach there was a guy named Kage/When he was busking he was all the rage!!") This is where I learned that you have to get off the street before dark or the droogs will get you.
I'd staked out a spot, put down a pillowcase to sit on and written something suitably pathetic on my dry erase board. I brought my Mickey Mouse cap with 'Moro' embroidered on it, but I couldn't bring myself to put it on. I'm just not ready for that yet. A stylishly dressed young woman went by on a bike and asked me if I had seen two small horses. I hadn't.
I sat there for several hours. A few people came by to share their socio-economic theories, but nobody wanted a drawing. A guy wanted me to draw him a monkey pro bono. I wouldn't. Another guy came by and handed me a small orange.
I tried to maintain my cheerful facade but I was starting to get discouraged. I reminded myself that I had nothing to lose, but that I was gaining Life Experience, something I still lacked as I was going on 30. If nothing else, I had seen more different kinds of dogs in the space of a few hours than I had in my whole life. Standouts included a monstrous neapolitan mastiff with jowls like mudflaps on a tractor trailer and an otherwise attractive mutt with only one ear. Also a thing with a bulldog's body and chihuahua head, resembling some godawful Soviet experiment. I suspect I'll be seeing the same dogs day after day, but I'm not sure I'll get used to the sight of some of 'em.
I was feeling rather shitty when an English dude commissioned four drawings from me, including one of a sparkly pink unicorn.

Weirdest request of the day- a hippopotamus peeking out of a tent.

3 comments:

  1. You should do sketches of those dogs and sell them back to their owners!

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  2. You rock! You have a bright future. Don't get discouraged.

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  3. Hey, I was the English dude! Spoke to the dad of two of the kids you did pictures for and he was thrilled to bits with them. Hope all goes well. :)

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