Before They Were Night Vale: sketch (Patreon)

Back in 2008, I was riding the 1-train from Times Sq to Houston St, on my way to work. An older man sat next to me and immediately started sketching on a large pad. I glance down and saw that he was sketching me. It didn’t look immediately like me, but I knew what he was doing. As the figure took shape, I could see that he was drawing a human in profile. He was also glancing up a lot to look at me.

I was supremely uncomfortable, but I didn’t say anything. I saw him draw headphones on his figure, like the ones I was wearing. I saw him drawing glasses and short dark hair and a collared shirt. I didn’t stop him or even confront him. I just wanted out of there. It wasn’t a crowded train car, so it would have felt rude to walk away.

But as the train pulled into Houston St, I gathered my things and stood up. And as I moved away he tore the picture out of his pad and handed the sketch to me. I was so unnerved that I just let the paper drop to the empty seat below me and I quickly moved out of the 1-train and on to work.

I regret this now, of course. First because that was rude of me. Second because I now appreciate, as an artist, how important it is to see yourself. Not just how you think you look, but how others think you look. And a few months later I saw an article in Metro or one of those free transit papers about this guy who was trying to sketch every single person in New York City. It wasn’t the same guy who sketched me, but by this point I was firmly in Regret-Mode. And so I wrote a play about what a gift and a bother candid art can be.

In this play, everyone in the Neo-Futurist cast had to deliver the monologue to an individual member of the audience, while sketching them. Obviously we couldn’t do it as well as Jason Polan, nor the older fellow on the 1-train. But it was a fun exercise, and I hope there are people who were there the nights this play was performed that still have their sketches 13 years later. Although, given the quality of our 1-minute drawings, I’m pretty sure they did not.

sketch
© Jeffrey Cranor, 2008

At "Go," all Neos enter the audience with pencils and sketch pads. They find one person and start sketching them quickly. After each sketch, the paper is torn off and given to the audience member. The Neo then moves to another person. The goal is to attempt to sketch everyone in the audience. Neos recite the following text in unison. Text is delivered to whoever is being sketched at that time.

Perhaps you've heard of Jason Polan. He is trying to draw everyone in New York. All 8 million of us. I can't wait until he makes a sketch of me (or "I hope he never makes a sketch of me"). Maybe he already has and I didn't realize it. Maybe I wouldn't know what I look like if I saw myself.

5-second pause; drawing continues

Like Jason, I'm making sketches of people. Unlike Jason, I'm not keeping them. I'm sharing them for community and experience. And because the stage directions tell me to do so.

5-second pause; drawing continues

Another difference: I'm not drawing all 8 million people. But I'm certainly focusing on some of the most important people I know. Meaning you. The audience.

beat

[quietly to one person] I hope you like it. Your two-dimensional self.

5-second pause; drawing continues

[normal volume again] Oh yeah. And another thing… Jason Polan isn't being timed. Curtain!

NOTE: What you decide to sketch is up to you. Just make a sketch, whether you draw a true portrait, an abstract, a picture of their shoes, a metaphorical representation, whatever.