Digital Captives at The Drunken Monkey

Posted on by Thor

I often go to The Drunken Monkey (444 N Bumby Ave, Orlando, FL) after work if I need to kill some time before heading out to an evening event. I enjoy the coffee, hot paninis and the local art on the walls. Patrons are almost always sitting alone staring at their laptops. While they are captives to their computers, I am captive to my sketch pad. My sketching must be more socially acceptable today because people are often busy working while in a crowd. Since everyone around me is so involved looking at computer screens, they never suspect that they are being sketched. I used to use a baseball cap to hide my gaze from suspicious models but now I can stare with immunity. At times I feel I should have been born at the turn of the century but it is easy to blend in while sketching today. Perhaps I have been born at the right time.

I no longer go to Drunken Monkey since they used one of my
sketches without consulting me on their Internet welcome page. I usually
support local businesses but I can’t support theft.

Beefy King

Posted on by Thor

When working at Full Sail from 5pm to 1am, I needed to find daytime landmarks to sketch rather than sketching events which invariable happen in the evening. For some reason, I consider the Beefy King (424 N Bumby Ave, Orlando, FL) to be an Orlando landmark. They have been serving a variety of mouthwatering Roast Beef, Ham, Turkey, Pastrami,
Corned Beef, Bar BQ Beef and Bar BQ Pork sandwichesall served hot, fresh and made
to order since 1968.

I found it odd that only the drive through line was available while I was sketching. Ironically, I have never tasted the Beefy King sandwiches, I just like the sign.

Ethos Vegan Kitchen

Posted on by Thor

On October 22nd, I planned to go to Rollins College to sketch a concert. I got to Winter Park several hours early and decided to get dinner at Ethos Vegan Kitchen (601 S New York Ave, Winter Park, FL). I hadn’t eaten at Ethos since it moved from it’s previous location in Ivanhoe Village. The new restaurant location is cavernous with a long bar set up against one wall. The interior easily had to be more than twice as large.

I sat at a table for one and asked advice on ordering a drink with caffeine.  The waitress suggested a sweet, organic iced tea which was quite good. I ordered a lasagna which was just as good as any meat filled lasagna I’ve ever had. If vegan food is this good, then I can seriously consider changing my diet.

I really didn’t have time to sketch if I was going to get to the concert on time, but I couldn’t resist drawing the bar which vaguely reminded me of Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks” painting. The people at the bar were Ethos employees who were eating dinner before starting their shift for the night. My waitress checked up on me periodically. I don’t think she was used to having someone linger as long as I did. Pumpkin pie was written on the chalk board and I couldn’t resist kicking off the fall season with a slice. I deserve a small treat.

Sure enough, as I finished up the sketch, I realized that I was late to the concert. I decided to bag the concert and I walked back to my car instead. Sometimes my sketch plans change on a whim. I need to pay attention to that inner voice, especially when it whispers “pumpkin pie…”