Today Jack and I went to our local barbershop. The only problem is that this is an old fashioned place, and my barber is well into his 80s, and Jack was not prepared for the amount of hair the kind gentleman would remove (despite my asking for a “trim”, etc). I like getting all that stuff out of my eyes, but to a 12-year-old it’s an entirely different deal. Oh well. Live and learn.
I have been inspired by Laura of Laurelines to do more color sketching, so I bought one of those little 3″ x 4″ moleskine cold-press watercolor sketchbooks. For years I’ve avoided cold-press paper, not liking the “bumpy” texture; but I think my drawing style is evolving to a place less controlled and more into accidents. I like cold-press now.
I love my local barber shop. It’s like something out of the 1940s. There is a plethora of visual stimuli to keep a pencil busy until one is called to sit in the big chair.
This fellow was nodding off as he was being worked upon.
I got a haircut over the weekend. It’s amazing the wealth of detail in a barbershop. I barely got started on it when I was called up to sit in the big chair.
Yesterday my son Jack and I went to get a haircut at the local barber’s in a small shopping center tucked away at the foot of the hills behind our house. It looks like downtown Mayberry – small, quaint, nothing typical “LA” about it. The barber is in his late seventies or early eighties. I love it. It’s the only place I’ll go to get a haircut. Being eleven, Jack was not excited about being there, and told me as much, and how he hoped there wouldn’t be a long line. Well, not only was there no line, there was no barber. The place was empty, the lights and radio were on but no one minding the store. I called out, “hello”, but no answer. Then I noticed the cash drawer open – gulp! Having lived in the tough neighborhood of Hollywood for a few years, I suspected the worst, but this isn’t Hollywood and there was money dozing quietly in the drawer. Whew! Jack asked, “What do we do?” hoping, I suspect, I’d say let’s go home, because he looked rather disappointed when I told him to sit down and wait for a minute or two. Sure enough the old barber came in with a new cup of coffee he’d just purchased next door. That explained the cash drawer. He seemed a little surprised to see us there and asked Jack to hop up in the chair for a trim. I spent a few minutes sketching him while he got his haircut. Jack made some great funny faces at me while I drew, and I wished I drew faster to capture it. When it was my turn, Jack drew in my sketchbook too, but was a bit upset to find that my pencil didn’t have an eraser, and so decided he didn’t like his drawing any more. Oh well.
Anthony Zierhut 