I always enjoy drawing textures. They are fairly time-consuming to render, but there’s something truly relaxing about the focus and rhythm of creating intricate patterns. Sweaters are prefect these types of drawings, and I hope to include a few more sweater-clad subjects in this series before summer weather comes in.
Ajuan Mance
A babyface and thick bushy sideburns attracted me to the subject of this post. He was, in fact, wearing a tie and sweater, just as I have depicted him in this drawing. He was shopping at the Bayfair Mall with family, and I surmised that he had just arrived from church.
Ajuan Mance
Ever been to the Crate & Barrel in San Francisco’s Union Sqaure? How about the CB2 around the corner? If you’ve shopped at either one of these stores, you’re probably wondering the same thing that I am: Do straight couples no longer buy furniture in San Francisco? Seriously! Whenever I’m shopping at one of those two stores, I see pair after pair of gentlemen friends with perfectly trimmed hair and meticulously fitted jackets, jeans, and tops. Oh! And great posture, too. I see them gathered in twos around the staged living room sets, murmuring between themselves about color and custom fabrics. I want to ask them for help–for their expert opinions about whether or not they think the Oslo dining table would go well in a dining room with dark blond wood floors, Benjamin Moore iceberg color walls and mahogany wood trim around the doors. To them I wish to say:
Oh, well-dressed men with great haircuts and Oliver Peoples eyeglasses, if you bestow on me your wisdom, then my dining room might exhibit such classic-yet-contemporary, smart-but-understated style that you might well mistake it for your own.
Ajuan Mance
Every now and then, I see someone with such beautiful braids that I just can’t stop myself from staring…which, I suppose, is why I was able to draw this brother’s hairstyle in such detail. His braids were thick and densely arranged on his head. I think he might be been using his braids as the starter for dreadlocks, but I’m not really sure. In any event, his hair was absolutely lovely. I wish I’d had the gumption to ask him his name, so that I could properly identify him in this blogpost. All I can really say is that he was standing on the street outside the Fruitvale branch of the Oakland public library last Friday afternoon. If you know him, please tell him Ajuan over at 8-Rock.com thought his hair was fantastic!
Ajuan Mance
For this drawing, I took a man I saw at Zocalo Cafe and I replaced the wooden tabletop with a formica tabletop. This man was interesting to me because he was wearing what I like to call an Ajuan outfit. Mix 1980s preppy with 1990s geeky chic, with the costumes from the activities fair scene in Chariots of Fire, and you’ve got an Ajuan outfit. I always like it when I see people dressed like this because it reminds me of my childhood on the East Coast.
On a slightly different note, I used a formica tabletop in this drawin, because I’m still feeling a little sad about having recently replaced my vintage formica and stainless steel dining room table with a brand new Scandinavian style wooden table. The new table is nice, for sure, and I’m glad we got it; but there was something I really liked about that old formica table. It had history and a unique style all its own. I’ll be trying to sell it soon. I hope it goes to a good home.
Ajuan Mance
I always enjoy my trips to San Francisco’s Union Square shopping district. There are so many of my favorite stores, and the people watching is great. This is especially true of the John Fluevog store on Grant Ave. The store is somewhat smaller than the Haight Street branch, but there is plenty of comfortable seating and lots of big windows that enable you to watch passers by. It’s a great way to kill time while your shopping companion tries on 20 or so pairs of shoes.
The man in this drawing actually came into the store and, of course, he caught my attention because of his carefully applied eyeliner and his ultra tight t-shirt. He looked like a Black goth muscle man…and maybe he was.
Ajuan Mance
I want to send a shout out to the lunch buffet at Khana Peena restuarant on College Ave, in Oakland. The man in this picture was sitting across the restaurant from me, and I noticed him immediately because of his crisp, white shirt. Have I mentioned that I love a crisp white shirt? I actually have a collection of white shirts and I always feel happy and comfortable when I am wearing one. So, when I saw this kindred shirt spirit sitting across from me, and when I noticed that he also happened to be wearing one of my favorite styles of pants–the khaki trouser–I made a mental picture of him–red eyeglass frames and all–and I stowed it away for later presentation right here.
Ajuan Mance
I think I’ve made this admission before, but I’ll do it again, just in case my memory is deceiving me: I do, at times, shop at chain bookstores. As a bibliophile, I understand that this is problematic, as small independent stores (and big independent stores) do tend to over a level of service and expertise (as well as a diversity of selections) that the chains seem unable to match. Still, when I want the new Sara Paretsky mystery novel, it’s easier to go to Barnes and Noble than it is to visit three separate independents before I can find one that actually stocked this very popular book. I should say, though, that all of the driving from store to store ended up being more than worth it. When I finally found the book, at Diesel Bookstore on College Ave, it was only $8.00, considerably cheaper even than on Amazon.com, and all because of a barely detectable cut in the dust jacket. I guess I just disproved my own point…
In any event, I saw this shopper in this drawing at one of my favorite independents, Books Inc. The Market St. Books Inc., near Castro (in San Francisco) is the one I like the best, but I end up at the Alameda store a lot more often. That is where I ran into the man in this post. I noticed him because of his thick, full beard, and because he was both tall and big–in a way that suggested he might have wrestled or rowed in college; and yet, at the same time, he seemed to emanate a desire not to call attention to himself, a challenge for someone who was easily the tallest man not only in the store, but (probably) on the block.
Ajuan Mance
…spotted in Oakland, on one of those warm February days when so many guys took advantage of the summery weather to have a shirtless afternoon.
Ajuan Mance
For drawing #300, I’ve created this tribute to Black men and Black community everywhere!
I spend this weekend as one of 11 participants in The Art of Living Black Open Studios Exhibition at Mills College. My time there reminded me how much art and creativity relies on having other folks with whom to share work and inspiration.
A big thank you to all of the artists who participated in this weekend’s show, and thanks as well to all who supported this event with their presence and their purchases.
There’s no better time to post this milestone drawing than on Sunday evening, after a weekend filled with good fun, good friends, and great art.
Ajuan Mance