Cafe Sketching

I used to hate coffee. I didn't even like coffee ice cream. It's been a long road to get here, but I really enjoy sitting in cafes and sketching with a nice espresso drink (meaning one with sugar and crap added in it). I recently got a recycled paper sketchbook and new prismacolor pencils and try to go out at least once a week to draw. 

I definitely need to work on including more full figures and poses, but I do love a good face. It is especially fun pushing the shapes of profiles - so much negative space to play with in the silhouette.

I find it helpful to look at someone, get an impression of their personality/pose/shape- and then immediately look away. From there I gather what about them I want to share; what is their story, how can I make the shapes more interesting, do they remind me of an animal? I try not to spend too much more time staring at them after that initial impression, partly because I can fall into an old habit of copying exactly what I see, and partly because I do not want to get caught :)

It is also fun to see what you can come up with if you restrict yourself to simple shapes. So many characters are waiting to say hi :)