I’m pretty inspired by the ingenuity and dedication of the people that live in my neighborhood and the neighborhoods surrounding ours: Noe Valley, the Mission and the Castro. I especially enjoy watching and interacting with the self-employed and the practitioners of off-the-beaten-path professions that I come across here. I go for long walks with my sketchbook and camera and try to record the characters that I fixate on. I like to let them know without actually saying it to their faces (I’m shy!) that I appreciate what they do. Sometimes I also like to provide unsolicited advice. It’s probably best if I only provide this advice in my sketchbook. These illustrations represent my attempts to be an outgoing, good and observant neighbor.
Tags: artwork, cotton candy, nuns, rachael schafer, san francisco
Oh, these are so beautiful! I love the soft color palette and the tapey bits on the Sisters. What media do you use?
Our local characters include:
a guy that plays congo drums in the park and always alters his rhythm when he sees my triplet toddlers, the Bergy Bits, in their wagon.
a religious nutter that caries a sign saying something about Jesus, he’s an older white guy and always wears a straw boater.
a lovely huge man that used to make roses out of palm leaves in one of the squares and always delightedly greeted the BBs; we haven’t seen him in a while, I hope he just moved squares or something!
an older gentleman who struggles through a very short list of basic songs on the saxophone; sort of the musical equivalent of Homer dialing Tokyo one key at a time, with frequent pauses. We call him Grandpa Saxophone.
This is great. <3
I think those are ukeleles?
I think those are ukeleles?
I live in the Mission and love that cotton candy guy. His stick reminds me of Dr. Seuss.
thanks icebergmama–on these, i’ve used ink and fountain pens & brushes, then a little ink on vellum overlay. megano! : the tiny guitars aren’t ukuleles, really…but i’m not 100% sure. maybe every tiny guitar is an automatic uke?
thanks icebergmama–on these, i've used ink and fountain pens & brushes, then a little ink on vellum overlay. megano! : the tiny guitars aren't ukuleles, really…but i'm not 100% sure. maybe every tiny guitar is an automatic uke?
These are great – such lovely pictures and descriptions. I’m mildly jealous of your characters; mine are all slightly menacing.
There’s the guy who wears a scarecrow-from-batman mask, long robe, and socks with sandals while playing the recorder badly. He is legitimately scary, and my badass friend yelled at him one time for scaring her son. He still shows up everyday though.
And then there’s the running-commentary-in-English guy. I live in a Spanish speaking country and once a week or so, I run into this guy, who gives a running commentary – in perfect, accent-less English – of what I’m doing (my appearance gives me away as not a local): “hey girl, i know you speak english, you like that candy bar, i know you can hear me, walking down the street, eat that candy bar, yeah.” He simultaneously irritates and complexes me: how does he speak English so well? Is he also North American and moved here to bring his particular brand of crazy to South America? I’d like to ask some day but I don’t want to engage him.
Ahhh, you must live right around the corner from me! I’ll keep an eye out for those on this list I haven’t encountered yet. This is also a good reminder to, as you say, “be an outgoing, good and observant neighbor.” This morning as I rode the J to work two of the sisters hopped on and sat next to me. They weren’t intimidating at all, they were laughing and giggling to themselves as we rode our sleep way through a rainy morning.
i love when sisters get on the j…they radiate calm happy [i hate to say the v word but it’s just true] VIBES.
you all, i think i want to draw all of these locals you’re speaking of…thanks for bringing them to me!
Grandpa saxophone wears a black pork pie hat, glasses and loud colorful shirts 🙂 haven’t seen him in a while but I think he has a beard and no mustache. sort of like a cross between Bill Cosby and a portly Amish man, if I recall correctly.
ETA and the palm rose man was like a fatter Michael Clark Duncan, really smiley and boomy voiced
oh my GOD. he has a new fan right here.
OMG I forgot the sweet gay couple that runs a lil sandwich shop – the bawdy-joke-telling Mexican and the fussy ginger-haired white guy. They have a fat, old chihuahua that loooooves the BBs and “smiles” at them (it is a fang-baring rictus, but she is clearly ecstatic)
you all, i think i want to draw all of these locals you're speaking of…thanks for bringing them to me!
i love when sisters get on the j…they radiate calm happy [i hate to say the v word but it's just true] VIBES.
oh my GOD. he has a new fan right here.