original painting by Brooke Harker.
Artist’s Description: The inspiration for this painting came from a live sketch downtown LA. It was my second sketch of the day. During the first sketch, I met a man in a bike helmet who looked like a security guard. He was actually a retired security guard who spent his days biking around downtown looking for people to help. He appointed himself to speak with anyone who approached me and proved to be quite helpful with the drunk homeless men who got too close while I sketched. I had my own surprise body guard. He accompanied me to the next corner where I sketched the inspiration for this painting. He fielded questions from people who passed by, all the while he told me his life story. It seemed good for him to have someone to talk to and it was helpful for me to be watched out for so that I could focus on the drawing. The mailman in the truck which appears in the painting stopped and talked to me too.
You can see the companion to this piece being made from start to finish in this 3 minute video.
Brooke Harker
