Art and Food

One of my favorite cartoonists, Robert Crumb, has become a superstar because of his famous underground cartoons. But his graphic work--primarily pen and ink--has also been quirky. And Mr. Crumb has published some engaging work. His book Waiting for Food is an example--he drew on restaurant placemats while waiting for his order then turned them into a book.

Hoff, "East Lake Bar & Grill," watercolor and ink

No doubt I was thinking of Mr. Crumb a few years ago when I did "East Lake Bar & Grill" (right). We had gone for lunch in Seattle, near Lake Washington and with time to spare I pulled out a small sketchbook that I had toned with an ochre wash. I drew in the salt and pepper shakers and table menu lightly with pencil, washed color onto the drawing, and stippled in dark pepper grains. Start to finish, probably ten minutes.

Hoff, "Breakfast Prophet," watercolor and ink

A few years later and again in Seattle, I sketched a man who resembled an Old Testament prophet while waiting for our breakfast order. This is about 5x9 in a pocket sketchbook. I drew straight on the paper with a technical pen then laid in washes of color. He was seated next to a window with gold light flowing over his forehead, and that was the most important passage in the whole work. I gave his cheek, nose and hand a wash of red, flowed a dark wash over the table top and called it finished.

Another restaurant lunch found us in a deli with the improbable name "The Shambles," for artisanal cheese and sausage charcuterie and local beer. The large room was pleasant, bright and not too crowded. This time the sketch took place between bites of wonderful musky cheeses and a round, delicious stout. My technique was the same, but without any toning of the paper. The column between our booth and the bar made an interesting compositional problem, separating the women at the window from the barman and customer on the left. It was fun to contrast cool and warm colors in a light-washed scene.

The times for sketching can be short or long, but the thing is to keep doing it. The secret, as it has ever been, is to keep going.