Mel Barranco: Champion of “Sketchwaiting”

WHY HURRY OR GET BORED ON YOUR COMMUTE WHEN YOU CAN “SKETCHWAIT”?

BY CATHY GUTTERMAN

NYC Urban Sketcher Mel Barranco lives in Harrison, NY, and works as a data exchange specialist for a fashion jewelry company in midtown Manhattan. While he doesn’t have a background in art – he has a degree in Food Technology – Mel enjoys creating. His daily visual diary documents his 45-minute train ride and the wide range of people he encounters on his commute to and from work each day.

Mel’s constant companion is his sketchbook, which he uses at every opportunity, from train stations, subways, coffee shops, restaurants, concerts, theaters, garages, and doctors’ offices. For Mel, “sketchwaiting” (as his friend Tina Koyama calls it) is a great way to pass an otherwise unproductive time, as well as hone sketching skills. Sketching as discreetly as he can, he uses simple materials that he can grab from his pocket at a moment’s notice. While his toolkit has many pens, markers, and colored pencils, Mel’s first preference is his trusty Zebra F-301 ballpoint pen and a small A6-sized sketchbook.

He regards his sketchbook as a tool to help him discover and appreciate the beauty in ordinary daily life. Sketching strangers can be intimidating, frustrating, and rewarding at the same time. When sketching a stranger, you can feel anxious about being noticed but Mel says this lessens with time. In fact, Mel finds sketching to be a form of meditation and relaxation that helps him focus and to be present in the moment. He feels that an ordinary subject, when carefully observed and drawn, can also yield interesting and satisfying aesthetic results.

He begins a sketch with whatever first grabs his attention and builds outward from there. His starting point could be a face, posture, color or location. Mel’s productivity is due as much to his natural interest in the world around him as his joy in mark-making.

When sketching on the train, he usually begins by writing down the train car number, plus the day, date and time in a corner of the page. The simple act of doing this signals that he’s ready to sketch. Once locked in on a subject, Mel studies it, looking for certain shapes that can be utilized for scale measurement. Sketching laterally from adjacent lines helps build the entire sketch.

To keep his work fresh, Mel constantly experiments with composition. Sometimes he focuses on a lone commuter. Sometimes, when the train is full, he creates a two-page spread layered with figures. He has discovered that seats along the strategic center aisle offer a better view and good depth perspective.

NOSTALGIC HOLIDAY TRAIN RIDE FROM 125TH TO CHAMBERS ST

MEL’S TIPS FOR SKETCHING ON A MOVING TRAIN

This can be challenging, so find a way to steady your drawing hand.

• Tuck your elbow close to your body for anchor and support.

• Rest your dominant hand on the drawing surface and hold the pen loosely at the mid-point for greater flexibility and reach. Holding the pen very close to the tip restricts freedom of movement.

• Flex and utilize your wrist so you can make loose marks, but be ready to also use firm decisive marks to provide contrast and articulate form.

• Look at the window reflection of the subject. This offers greater time for observing without direct eye contact.

• Regular practice helps train hand / eye coordination and you’ll find that each day it gets better.

A NIGHT OUT…AND A NEW FRIEND

One evening, Mel and his companion walked to a Mediterranean wine bar in Lower Manhattan for an early dinner. Their young hostess led them to a table next to the bar. Mel was keen to observe the gestures of two young men who were taking turns at the bar. Soon, Mel was working in his pocket-size Moleskine sketchbook.

At times, the waitress tried to peek at what he was doing. When it was time to settle the bill, the waitress was eager to see his sketch.

When Mel showed it to her, she asked permission to show it to the bartender, who had been nervously glancing at Mel and mistaking him for a health inspector. Now they are friends – one more example of art bringing people together, one sketch at a time.

MISSED TRAIN, SILVER LINING

One day, Mel missed his train but there was an upside to taking a later one: being able to sketch the same mother and daughter he had sketched just two weeks earlier! She was reading a book to her toddler daughter and had not noticed that Mel was sketching them. Before reaching the final stop, Mel greeted the mother, removed the page from his sketchbook, and handed it to her. The surprise on her face was priceless and Mel felt good all day.

WAITING AT 125TH STREET PLATFORM ON THE WAY HOME