After work at Full Sail, I planned to sketch a Batman vs. Superman themed event at The Comic Shop. I got off work at 5pm and therefor was in the neighborhood early. The China Garden (118 S Semoran Blvd, Winter Park, FL) is in the same strip mall as The Comic Shop, so I decided to stop in for dinner.
I ordered a simple fried rice dish and sketched as I ate. Across from me another man ate alone while reading a book, so I sketched him. The colorful lanterns on the ceiling also caught my eye. While living in NYC, I once had to purchase such lanterns for set designer, Jim Yeomans as a set prop for “A Streetcar Named Desire“. The lantern’s I purchased however were too large so I was stuck with them. It took me years to sell them all off. In the booth in front of me a family settled in and they all spoke French. This seemed surprising since Orlando always impressed me as being rather homogeneous rather than a cultural melting pot.
The fried rice was decent and once the sketch was done, I walked over to The Comic Shop. In the back room of the Comic Shop is a bar known as “The Geek Easy” which is where I assumed the Batman event would be. The entrance to the Geek Easy however was now the entrance to a bathroom and two workers were busy installing the plumbing. Because of this construction the Event was delayed several hours. I already had a sketch for the day so I got ready to leave. I was offered a black cape and cheap cardboard Batman mask as consolation, but I didn’t take the swag. I couldn’t imagine any instance where I might need to wear a Batman cape. I’m no super hero, just a mild mannered artist.