Comments on: Comments on 16288

Post number 16288

MiguelCardoso — Thu, 11 Apr 2002 15:23:58 -0800

Subway Passengers: Underground Portraits From Ten Cities António Jorge Gonçalves rides the subway and sketches whoever happens to sit in front of him, from New York to Lisbon to Tokyo. I find his drawings interesting because there's nothing studied or selective about them. You feel you've already seen these people. Mathowie recently linked to another Portuguese artist's drawings - Jorge Colombo, who designed O Independente with me, the newspaper I founded and edited in 1987. It's a small consolation for a small country like mine that urban sketches by fellow citizens are, as of now, practically a staple here on MetaFilter...[Flash required; download may be slow for dial-ups at busy times and, whatever you do, don't hit your browser's Back button - use only the one provided.]

By: tomorama

tomorama — Thu, 11 Apr 2002 15:53:52 -0800

Everybody looks so miserable. Actually, come to think of it I don't ever remember seeing anyone terribly jubilant riding the nyc subway.

By: sharksandwich

sharksandwich — Thu, 11 Apr 2002 16:37:12 -0800

While the drawings are nice, I do have one minor gripe: no one is eating a sub! I looked at all the images (I mean ALL of them), and not a 6" Turkey or a 6" Meatball (extra mayo, please) in sight. Coudn't he at least done a sketch of Jared proudly displaying his gigantic pantaloons? A before-and-after sketch would have done nicely. Oh well, those ZANY artists and their "interpretations"!

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Thu, 11 Apr 2002 16:44:50 -0800

We may have armadilloes in our pantaloons, for all they know.

By: insomnyuk

insomnyuk — Thu, 11 Apr 2002 18:36:37 -0800

I really liked the drawings, and the clever flash* interface. The sketches have a sort of intangible lifelike quality to them. Thanks for the link Miguel. *it's so rare that there is a clever and not annoying flash interface that works well with art

By: scarabic

scarabic — Thu, 11 Apr 2002 20:06:26 -0800

Felt like a long Shel Silverstein poem. About how UNIFORMLY UGLY people on the subway are.

By: Windigo

Windigo — Thu, 11 Apr 2002 20:42:53 -0800

I think I would have enjoyed the drawings if they were not so sunday cartoonish. Whoops! Did I say that? ;)

By: MrMoonPie

MrMoonPie — Fri, 12 Apr 2002 07:24:24 -0800

I looked to see if he'd done DC, but apparently not. A guy recently sketched me on the Metro here. I figured he'd chase after me when I got off and try to sell me the portrait, but he didn't--I watched him as the train pulled away, still furiously drawing, I guess before he forgot any details? I felt strangely violated. Odd to think of my portrait somewhere out there, maybe being bought by someone. Odd.

By: camworld

camworld — Fri, 12 Apr 2002 09:12:15 -0800

[Flash required; download may be slow for dial-ups at busy times and, whatever you do, don't hit your browser's Back button - use only the one provided.] Perhaps thisis the wrong choice of technology if you have to add disclaimers like this. I tried several different Flash-enabled browsers with Flash and I couldn't get it to load past the initial animation. Strike three: Flash is great sometimes but often used when it shouldn't be.

By: MJoachim

MJoachim — Fri, 12 Apr 2002 09:27:48 -0800

I like the technique of this artist. Most sketches drawn in just a few minutes. I also like how he can keep so many flexible tools in a compact, descrete manner.