Sunday Afternoon in Town

My grandson Jacob will soon turn 14, so today we turned our usual Sunday afternoon outing to the gym and then to eat into a birthday shoe-shopping expedition.  The drawing on the left shows Jacob, but doesn't look that much like him!.  After we got his shoes plus a pair of sunglasses, we parked near downtown and walked to our favorite place to get a snack, Dobra Tea Room.  Dobra not only has the best food and tea in the world but it features three different kinds of seating.  Our favorite is to sit in the far back behind beaded curtains where the lights are dim and we can lounge on floor pillows and eat from a little low octagonal table.  On the right is a sketch of two people having an intense conversation across the room from us in a different little alcove.

After Dobra we walked back through town, passing a tiny shop that had a clothes rack out front clothed in a dress and hat, looking like a mannequin.  I didn't want to make Jacob wait while I sketched it, so I went back after I dropped him off at home;  I parked in a small parking lot right across from the store and drew the scene on the left.  Then I went to the Y (Jacob had had 6 hours of marching band practice yesterday and was sunburned and really tired so he opted out of the Y today), and when I came out after working out, there was another Smart car parked in front of mine in the parking lot.  It had a sign on the back that said "actual size," which I thought was pretty funny.  I decided to draw the sign first, then the car.  I should have pushed the sign over to the left!  I realize I'm not very good at drawing cars, and I'm going to make myself practice drawing them.

So my final drawing this afternoon was of Jesse sitting on the trunk lid of my husband's car.  Jesse's favorite perch is up on the roof of the car, and he was sleeping there when I got home.  So I went to a window from which I could see the car and Jesse, and of course he knew I was getting ready to draw him.  He stretched, looked around, then stepped carefully down and sat on the trunk lid for just long enough for me to sketch him.  Then I filled in the car around him.