Even the map was clever. |
We were working digitally for Delta Airlines, and the theme was "Dream Drag" . . . so unlike the quicker 5-7 minute color digital pictures of just head and shoulders, we were to make the experience a little more interactive. I like interaction, so I was looking forward to it. We were to ask sitters if they wanted to be a drag queen or a drag king, and what their dream vacation, dream job, or even dream cocktail might be. So I had a 4-hour drive to psych myself up to produce full-body drawings with outlandish costume and unlimited setting possibilities, for a couple of 11-hour stints.
Saturday came and I rolled in with my gear, found everyone, and set up. I've done a ton of digital gigs, but it still feels like a relief once everything is connected and working, in a way I never worry about when I'm just toting an easel. Then the people started sitting for us. To say the crowd was "into it" would be a huge understatement. My first subject said his dream job was to be an opera singer--and he proved it once I finished his drawing:
Some couples were celebrating recent (legal) marriages, others were planning their future nuptials or imagining a Hawaiian getaway. And one couple of Star Wars fans wanted me to draw them with their future adopted baby--"Any imaginary baby will do! An ewok even!" they said. I could not abide an ewok, so they got a baby Chewie.
Elizabethan slash? Yes please. |
I told Al that he was way overdressed. He smirked at me.
There were folks who left it "up to me" to a degree (and really, if the crowd is relaxed and having a great time--as everyone here was--it gives the artist a sense of freedom to improvise and stretch a bit, which is a great feeling!). With the conversation and details they gave me, I tried to cobble together something halfway witty. And some people just plain like to challenge me! One pair sat down and said "We'd like to be in a Shakespearean play, but with a homoerotic twist!"
He said "I spend my time being fabulous, and he spends his time bringing me back down to earth." They both laughed a lot at my interpretation. |
The first day was such a blast, and I was feeling really comfortable with what seemed like a potentially challenging gig. We called it a night at 1 a.m., grabbed some food at a Denny's down the road, and Al-Rod dropped me off at my air b&b.
Waking up the next day, I was confused as I scrolled through Facebook and saw that a couple of Orlando friends had "checked in as safe." What? Possibilities scrolled through my head: earthquake? flooding? terror strike?
Yes, terror strike. Oh man. I read through the news snippets and my heart sank. So many people, and they were people in the LGBTQ community, out to dance and have a good time and love one another--just like the people I'd been drawing all that previous day. I wondered how this would affect the mood and events today. Then, as I arrived and set up, Al told me about the suspect that police had detained the previous night on his way to LA Pride. Our handlers talked with us briefly about it too, and we found out that organizers had considered canceling Sunday but had decided to continue the festivities but with heightened security.
I'm glad they did not cancel. The show must go on.
I got a few texts from friends and family who knew I was there, asking me to keep alert and be careful. I was, on both counts.
I drew quite a few more nice people, and yes, some of them wanted to go with the theme of "dream drag" and reveled in letting me drape them in a different persona, sometimes replete with giant ta-tas.
Speaking of Martians, the best kind of drag queen is a KILLER DRAG QUEEN FROM OUTER SPACE! |
And you know, that little blip about the freckles was the ONLY time the whole weekend that someone was self-conscious or told me to edit them. There was no vanity or wish to be falsely improved going on here--which, in this business, you tend to see multiple times a day. Which, again, tends to free up my mindset and allows the cartoons to flow better. I don't ascribe that to be a defining factor in the LGBTQ community: lord knows I've drawn plenty of gay people who were also vain and self-conscious. Just, here, with the festive, inclusive, welcoming feeling going on around us, it was like no one needed to put on any fake notions of trying to appear anything but themselves. It was just good fun.
My day stretched into night, and I drew folks surfing, sunbathing, and enjoying the California sun. I drew folks shooting ray guns, playing ukeleles, and climbing the Eifel Tower. It was certainly not a boring event in any way!
The Vice Mayor sat for a drawing and said he liked airplanes and air travel (a rare thing to like these days--but like a good politician he may have been inspired to choose that based on our sponsor).
Speaking of our sponsor: our crowd-handlers were all Delta airline attendants. Not temps or model types dressed as attendants, but actual trained flight attendants. And if you ever have a crowd to handle, flight attendants are the people you want on your side. These folks were friendly yet firm, and expert at guiding people through the process and lining up who was next. And at the minute of the last hour of the final day, a please-just-one-more was buzzing around, in the form of a very drunk and incredibly persistent young lady. One of the handlers leaned down to whisper in my ear, and I wearily cringed: many clients and crowd-handlers will, in this situation, simply ask the artist to please make an exception and just draw the insistent person. I was expecting this was about to be requested. But NOPE: the flight attendant whispered "Ummmm, this woman has been told NO several times by me and others and is still insisting on a drawing although the line has been cut off. Please DO NOT draw her, we cannot reward this type of behavior." WOOOO!! YESSSS! Go flight attendant! Way to have my back and assert that the (drunken, unreasonable) customer isn't always right! They ended up having to walk her off the premises and mention that security would be called if she did not comply. And one of the male flight attendants, in a vocal twang that clearly communicated he was part of the LGBTQ community, said "She was even trying to ply me with sexual favors, saying she'd 'do anything I wanted' if I let her cut in line--I was like, girl, do you know where you are?" Yeah, that poor thing was definitely barking up the wrong tree.
All in all, a peaceful end to the night. My gratitude to the Santa Monica police department for keeping away a potential monster that could have made things end very differently at LA Pride.
The West Hollywood Cheerleaders and I wish you a fond farewell--thanks for reading all my words, y'all! |