People at the Gates

I found myself with plenty of time to sketch at four different airports on a recent trip to Boston. Here are some of my favorite people at the gates.

This is Paul. I'm putting him first because I liked him so much and I loved his story. And I want to make it easy for his wife back in Tacoma to find this sketch if she checks the blog. Paul was sitting directly across from me at the gate - in conversation with another passenger. When I finished my sketch, I showed it to him and his reaction was priceless. He was flustered, embarrassed and flattered to be the subject of a sketch. I found out he was in Atlanta in order to clean up the cemetery where his parents were buried. He had just spent days mowing and clearing brush. What a sweetheart.

He thought he "looked like a white man" in the sketch and asked me to give him some pigment - so I did! I gave him the blog address so he could see the sketch online. He said his wife would have to do that - not an internet kind of guy, I guess. He was still smiling and shaking his head as he boarded the plane.

A guy reading a book at the gate at SeaTac . . . or was it Detroit?

Tall Girl and Cool Guy. These two were a couple of favorites at the Boston Logan gate. She had great curly hair that I was anxious to sketch. And then Mr. Cool came along and introduced himself and started chatting her up. He did me a big favor - they stood there for a long time - long enough to get these two sketches. The only snippet of conversation I overheard was about her height - she was tall. 5' 11.

Belt Guy. This older gentlemen took a few moments when he arrived at the gate to put his belt back on. I assume he had removed it for the security screening. And on the right, the same guy sitting down, properly belted.

Lady in Red at Boston Logan. This was a tough one. I was on the phone with Dan when I saw this adorable lady in a red hat and full length red dress coming my way. I was SO excited, hoping she would sit down near me. But she sat down next to me - too close - just a couple seats away on my right. So I had a hard time sketching her without turning to face her and being too obvious about staring at her. I tried to be sneaky and worked on something else every time she looked my way. Not a great drawing, but a great character.