Plein-Air Oil Sketch: Yakov (12 x 9)

I had a strong craving for painting people this morning, so I planned to go to small street parks nearby to look for models. First I went to Forest Gardens. I saw an old man reading there. When I asked if I could used him as a subject in my painting, he smiled and said he was leaving soon. So I continued to walk to Queens Blvd. and then along it toward Manhattan. I tried to recall where I could find street parks on the thoroughfare. I remembered I used to see elderly people sitting at 67th Ave. corner, on benches which formed a big triangle at the intersection. It was quite a walk.

When I got there, I was a little disappointed to see only a middle-aged woman sitting there reading. Luckily, I saw an old man coming slowly toward the area with a limp. He had a stick in his hand. Eventually he found a bench and sat down. It was around 9 AM. I went over and offered to paint him. His name was Yakov, very friendly. Obviously like many old people there, he was a recently immigrated Jew from Russia. He told me that he had a doctor's appointment across the street at 11 AM. I immediately set up to paint him. I didn't take it for granted that I could have exactly two hours. With my past experiences, I knew anything could happen to disrupt my painting anytime with those casual models. As usual, I rushed through the painting. In an hour, he asked about my painting. I showed him what I had accomplished. Then he said he wanted to go to bathroom at the clinic and after that he would not come out back to the park again. I patted myself on the back and was glad I had grabbed his image on my canvas paper, at least for the major part. I missed painting his pants' suspenders but think that is OK.