Papers in the Rain

City of Trenton New Jersey is foggy, rainy and cold today. Yet life in the State Capitol goes on.

Today's sketch is a vendor standing in the street selling newspapers to passing cars and trucks. A clear plastic bag keeps the papers dry. This painting has a lot of challenges like fog, rain slick streets and constantly moving vendor and traffic. Repeating motions were my friend. My paper curled after a while and I had to move to nearby fast food shop.

I was approached for some money. He offered to do a drawing of Popeye and did 3 characters from memory in a few minutes.  I've included one of Kevin Horne, Jr's characters as part of today's post. As an interesting slice of what happens when Urban Sketching.

I also recommended if he liked doing art he could get supplies and exhibition of work towards sales at a local charity Trenton Area Soup Kitchen. The program is so successful the City is arranging for the art program to get its own building later this year. He was very happy he could get paid for doing something he liked to do. He knew the food program and both of us knew several of the volunteers and staff there. He finished off with "Maybe he'd see me there".