Why do all the artists who draw you in parks in NY have the same style?
October 22, 2015 6:57 AM Subscribe
There are artists set up in larger parks in NYC--like Central Park--who will draw you if you pay them. They have on display drawings they've done of celebrities. They are all in precisely, eerily, the same style. Why? How?
Is there a school that all these people attend and learn a method to draw in this very specific style, with the end goal being a career as a sidewalk portraitist? I can't think of any other way all of these artists draw people exactly the same. I've noticed this for about 15 years. Can someone elucidate?
Is there a school that all these people attend and learn a method to draw in this very specific style, with the end goal being a career as a sidewalk portraitist? I can't think of any other way all of these artists draw people exactly the same. I've noticed this for about 15 years. Can someone elucidate?
Response by poster: I am not talking about caricatures. I am talking about this: link
posted by millipede at 8:13 AM on October 22, 2015
posted by millipede at 8:13 AM on October 22, 2015
Choice of media is important to what you think of as "style". People choosing to use the same mark-making tools on the same surface are going to tend to produce similar work; I myself use a radically different medium from most artists, which creates unique work, but when I pick up a brush and ink traditionally, people say my stuff looks like a completely different artist!
I can't speak to the particular situation of NYC parks, but a lot of the time what looks to be a single artist may be part of a larger company that has multiple people trained in a particular approach. For the most part though, the image you posted just looks like a fairly ordinary quick charcoal study, based in techniques you'd learn in life drawing class.
posted by egypturnash at 9:47 AM on October 22, 2015
I can't speak to the particular situation of NYC parks, but a lot of the time what looks to be a single artist may be part of a larger company that has multiple people trained in a particular approach. For the most part though, the image you posted just looks like a fairly ordinary quick charcoal study, based in techniques you'd learn in life drawing class.
posted by egypturnash at 9:47 AM on October 22, 2015
It's just a standard "classical" drawing style, done with some flair with a graphite stick. They all look like that because they all look "right", and Bruce H. is correct, too—because it's fast.
posted by interrobang at 9:49 AM on October 22, 2015
posted by interrobang at 9:49 AM on October 22, 2015
Nthing fast. Also, the sort of people who do this want a drawing that is a good likeness. They aren't looking for a portrait in the style of the Cubists, or Anime, or whatever. Photorealistic is a huge compliment coming from these artists' audience.
I'd be more likely to sit for a street portraitist who did something far out and crazy, but I'm not most tourists prowling Times Square trying to find a way to throw away my money.
posted by Sara C. at 10:36 AM on October 22, 2015
I'd be more likely to sit for a street portraitist who did something far out and crazy, but I'm not most tourists prowling Times Square trying to find a way to throw away my money.
posted by Sara C. at 10:36 AM on October 22, 2015
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