Log0050 | Hotel Bar

If I am out of the house drawing people from life it is usually at coffee shops. But late in the evening on my first night back in San Francisco I decided to head down to the hotel bar to sketch. I hadn't any intentions of drawing from life. Instead I’d brought down an anatomy book to study from. But sitting down and taking my first few sips of Guinness I realized the room held a lot of promise.

No laptops, few cellphones, conversation, people engaging, atmosphere, character, character, character everywhere. I have many complaints about the habits of people these days. That is, them as reference. Most of these complaints lie in the pure addiction to screens. Everyone’s posture and pose is similarly bent over their device of choice. Not here. Not tonight. I overheard a number of conversations amongst strangers; person to person.
There was a conference of geographers going on this week. A graduate student and a professor sat near me discussing research. An old facility member read at one end of the long bar - trying to engage anyone and everyone in debate. Further along a few idle loners sat chatting to the bartender. Then finally, at the far end of the bar two young academics flirted with possibilities. One clearly working harder than the other. He leaned in, she leaned back. He faced her, she faced the bar. He asked, She answered. As I rotated around the room making quick scribbles they rotated through beers and cocktails, seemingly both enjoying their time; him the opportunity, her the attention.

Here being a hotel, the lighting was bright, and what might be considered antisocial behaviour for an ordinary bar went totally unnoticed (save for a waitress’s compliment). If it wasn't for the usually dark rooms and typical social codes I would quite like to sketch from bars more often.