I could draw 100 people in a day. In an afternoon. Maybe in 2 hours. I could draw 100 people in 120 minutes with time to spare for coffee and croissant and also looking idly out of the cafe windows. But that’s not what #OneWeek100People is about.

While it might sound like it is a speed challenge, I happen to disagree. There is more nuance to it, and more value.

I contend that it helps to really take the full week, because it matters when you take time to do something. Speed-drawing has its uses, especially if you're trying to learn to do something on auto-pilot. If there is a task that is mentally exhausting, or if you find yourself overthinking something, speed is a big help. Don't allow yourself to think. Just run through the motions. Your body - and mind - will push the job to your subconscious just so it can be done.

But time matters. Sometimes you want to think between actions. You want to let ideas percolate. You want to let the thoughts ferment. Aristotle defined the passage of time as only evidenced by the change of things - ageing, day to night, the blooming and wilting of flora, the seasons. If there is no observable change, effectively no time has passed.

With that in mind, we must acknowledge the passage of time in a #OneWeek100People challenge by allowing for things to change. It can be simple things. It could be a change in figure size. Or a change in drawing location. It could be a different time of day. It could be a different pen or a different sketchbook of a different size. It could be just a change in mood. Change one thing, and everything changes. Change things around, and you can nice and interesting results. There is more value in such a challenge.

When it is time for the annual #OneWeek100People challenge, I take my time - literally and metaphorically. Aristotle would be proud. Newton would agree to disagree. Einstein would chuckle.

On the first day of the challenge, I watched people walking by the sea-wall, sitting at benches, and waiting at the traffic light. Cold weather is good for SneakyArt. Layers add variety to people's shapes and outfits. A long jacket can conceal body shapes, helping those who are bad at drawing human figures. But what is a jacketed figure but another human form to draw? If nothing else, it is good practice. My favorite drawing of this session was #19. He was sitting on a concrete block by the water, on a video-call with someone. #13 was also fun to draw, reading a book in the dying light of the setting sun.

Morning time for Day 2 on Davie/Bute, at a Blenz coffee

The second day of the challenge was a morning at Blenz Coffee on Davie/Bute. People were grabbing coffee while heading to work. Across the street, a couple of homeless people were waking up (#22 and #23). #24 asked me the time as I entered the cafe. He grabbed his coffee and took a seat at the patio, smoking cigarette after cigarette. I guess he was waiting for someone, because I saw him still there when I was leaving. I overheard him asking another passerby the time. Funny, I thought, you don't see anyone without a phone these days.

The lesson here is quick drawing, yes, but the bigger lesson is quick seeing.

Some of the people I drew were waiting at the light. They only stand still for maybe 10 seconds. The lesson here is quick drawing, yes, but the bigger lesson is quick seeing. In a glance, you have to absorb as much information as you can about the person. Inevitably, this information is incomplete. So the secondary lesson is how to fill in the blanks. Sometimes I give them the legs from my imagination, sometimes a hair-style, or a style of coat. Over time these added details become fewer. You simply learn to see as much as you need.

This becomes the third and final lesson. Every artist must understand what it is they want to see and retain. Nobody else can help you in this. It is your artistic vision and sensibility that decides what is important and what is frivolous. Your job is to hone it. I have drawn enough and seen enough drawings work their magic upon a crowd to understand what kind of things my instincts are good for. I trust them, and let them lead when I sit down to draw quickly.

Day 3, in the afternoon at Waves on Howe St.

On the third day, I was at a Waves Coffee on Howe St. I had just started upon my page when there was a deafening sound of sirens. We turned to see that smoke was billowing out of an underground parking lot right across the street. Fire-trucks swarmed the street, policemen running up and down to cordon the area off. Passersby stood to watch and take pictures. The office building was evacuated and the curious office-goers watched the smoke and chatted amicably amongst themselves. Everyone was captivated and everything stood still. It was a good opportunity to draw people.

#43 a homeless man does what he has to do

Before the action started, #43 was a homeless person picking discarded cans out of the trash. I felt bad for him, his head bowed deep into the public bins. What a way to live a life, I thought.

#55 was a person watching the fire-fighters put on their gear. He stood mesmerized, unaware that his cigarette was burning out. Inside the cafe, things soon resumed to normal. A couple of guys came into work on their college assignments (#60 and #63). Some people worked on a presentation together (#61 and #62). #59 knew the barista and greeted him warmly, then stood waiting for their coffee. From what I overheard, the barista was new to his job and this was the first time his friends were visiting him at work.

On the final day of the challenge, I began at Cooper's Park in Yaletown. I sat at a bench, selected not for its view as much as because the sun wouldn't hit me right in the eyes. Silly me, I forgot my sunglasses at home. It was a warm afternoon, and many people were walking along the water's edge. #75 and #76 sat on the bench across from me. I wondered if I should draw them, because I didn't want to be conspicuous. But between their phones and conversation, they had no attention to spare in my direction. #78 was walking her dog, appearing tired at the dog's energy levels and curiosity to explore every single tree. #86 walked with a spring in her step, listening to something or other that was making her very happy. #72 and #73 were an Indian couple, walking hand in hand. Maybe my favorite drawing of the session was #94, a trio of middle-aged men sitting far from me on the grass. They were having a little picnic, and this drawing is actually as close as I could get to the details of their posture and face.

Artists sometimes get rattled trying to draw subjects far away, or at a small size. The irritation stems from the divide between what you see and what you know is there for you to see. The trick is to draw things only in the way they appear before you. In Ep 15 of the Podcast (not yet released at the time of this writing), Roisin Cure tells me that people have difficulty drawing the human body because they are so intimately aware of it. They know the shapes and curves so well they can never be happy with their less-than-perfect rendering. Drawing, we discuss, is about disambiguating from the figure as you recognize it. You have to see just the lines, just the shapes, in just the way they present themselves before us. Once you can do that, things like perspective and foreshortening cease to be a problem. Now the only task is to faithfully note down what you see, in the best way that you can.

And do not worry if you don’t get it ‘right’. Embrace your mistakes, for they will become your style.

I think it is fun to keep a count of the people I draw. Last month, I drew 73 people at one sitting at a Blenz Coffee. I didn't do the count, but someone on Reddit pointed it out when I posted on r/vancouver. Numbering makes it more fun for people watching, I guess? I'll try it next time. I could do 100 people at one sitting, I think. Maybe I can have a rough count over time of just how many Vancouverites I have drawn!

One Week 100 People