Ink & Watercolor in Moleskine sketchbook
Composed from memory, a quick scribble on a sticky note and a small photo (see below)
(To enlarge, click images, select All Sizes)
When I was taking a lunchtime walk on Wednesday, I saw this guy playing his sax on the corner. A mom and little boy stopped in front of him and the mom pulled a little toy plastic horn out of her bag. She handed it to her son and encouraged him to play too. The boy was fascinated by the sax player, who sadly showed no interest in the boy and just kept on playing. I didn’t have time to take a photo or sketch so tried to take a mental snapshot. As soon as I got back to the office I grabbed the first pen and paper I could find and tried to draw what I’d seen on this purple sticky note.
The next day I was out walking again and the horn player was back on the corner so I took this quick photo from across the street.
Tonight I finally had a chance to draw the scene in my sketchbook, using my mental snapshot of the scene, my sticky note scribble and the photo (which was really helpful since I didn’t really know what saxophones looked like enough to try to draw it).
Does it bother you that the sax player is more realistic and the mom and boy are more cartoonish since they’re drawn from memory?
Jana Bouc, Artist 
9 replies on “The Horn Players”
This is amazing! I admire you, there is no way I can do something like this from memory. Nice, rich colors…well done Jana.
Ronell
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FABULOUS, JANA!!! I JUST LOVE THE RICH COLORS TOO!!!! BRAVA!
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Just great!! I think the realistic sax player fit just fine with the Mom and boy-in fact, it adds to the fun feeling.
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Love the drawing… but it’s very sad that the sax player didn’t take the time to encourage the little boy. :o(
Thanks for stopping by my blog, my fellow Jana B!!!!
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I think this is perfect as it is — what a GREAT piece!
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I LOVE the little boy! He’s so cute. I think they all fit perfectly into the picture -it doesn’t bother me at all! AND I would never have noticed it. I love it and the little purple sketch too!
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I love it all. And, no, I didn’t notice that the little boy was drawn any differently than the horn player. But how sad that the man didn’t notice the little boy. He had a real Happening going on and let it slip past him. What fun if he had looked at the boy and blown some notes his way.
Your sticky sketch and photo is a great way to share your journey toward the final picture. So helpful, especially to us beginners.
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not bothered at all because it is your terrific composition (all those wonderful angles playing back and forth in direction that move my eye through the picture and make it dance!) and colors that are so attractive, really wonderful Jana!
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I enjoy your carefree ‘joi de vive’ style of recording your experiences Jana. Always interesting to check in and see what you are doing.
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