Meeting People by Sketching

Some of the best moments on this trip to Peru were meeting local people as a result of sketching in public.  I've heard this form other sketchers - taking photos of people is something that is often resented and people can even get upset about it.  However, people seem to be interested and even complimented if you draw them.

Here at home, I rarely seem to be noticed drawing on location, much less strike up a conversation, however in Peru, people often came up to look over my shoulder and called others over.  In Cusco's San Pedro Market, a pair of small boys were quite uninhibited in learning over my sketchbook as I worked and the ladies in the smoothie aisle were all curious to see the finished product.

It somehow broke through the tourist barrier so that rather than being a foreign voyeur I was treated as a curious visitor.