Escher2Hands

Startseite
Deutschland
Munich
Escher2Hands

Drawing the many strangers living around me, on trains and buses and planes around the world.

20/10/2024

"Hey, do you draw portraits from photos?" I see the message on my Instagram, as I'm packing for an upcoming Japanese arts convention. Does everything fit? Are my paintings properly wrapped? Do my brushes have enough ink? But the message on my Instagram needs a reply. "Sure I draw from photos," I write back, before adding that I normally draw live, like at the upcoming event. It’s in just a few days, so of course I'm excited to share with anyone who might possibly drop by. The woman on Insta asks for the price, and I tell what I'll be charging at the event, and the ways she can pay online. "Oh, but I'll be at the Japanese event too," she writes. "I'll just pay cash when I see you there."

She sends over a photo: a couple dangling a pair of keys. "It's when they got the keys for the first house they ever bought," she writes. "My boyfriend and I were looking for a birthday present for his sister, and think this will be a good idea." What a cool way to remember the moment. "Do you need my name? How will you recognize me?" she asks. "A name would be good," I write. "Though you can probably just say 'keys' and I'll remember it's you."

The day of the event comes. I unpack everything from my various bags and luggage, and set up my table. As I put paper, pens, plastic covers into place for the most efficient portrait drawing stand, I tuck one finished portrait away.

The event opens: I draw ten, twenty, thirty people. Then a mystery couple approach. "I think you have my picture already?" the woman asks. I detach from the usual focus that goes into drawing so many dozens in quick succession. "Keys?" I ask her.

She loves how it came out. So she wants one with her boyfriend too. They stand, for a few minutes, before I hand over their picture.

Portraits 16336 and 16358.

13/12/2023

Four years and six thousand portraits.
It literally couldn't be.

It's cold, so after an outdoor vigil this November a group of us head to a social space to keep warm. My friends headed back to evening work or for errands, so I'm mostly meeting strangers here. Strange, in that I don't know them yet, and strange, in that a group of us begins doing back bridges and putting feet behind our heads after one of us mentions they're double jointed. The looks of passerbys are less annoyed, and more amused at our strange game.

But though the people themselves are interesting in the quirks that set us apart, one of them I draw asks a simple question that blows my mind. "Oh let me follow you on Instagram. Wait, how does one of my high school friends follow you?" Probably, I think, the friend is a local, someone I've drawn on the S-Bahn or U-Bahn line this year since I've returned to Germany. "No," the person I've drawn says, "she doesn't live in Germany." They click the Instagram link, revealing the name of the friend who also follows me: Deniz.

I see the name, and my jaw drop. It hangs, open, for a full five seconds. I'm speechless. "No," I say. "It literally couldn't be."

But it is. Deniz was someone I drew in Taipei's Sleepy Dragon Hostel, way back in 2019. I actually remember her. We shared a nice conversation, talking about 'near misses' or coincidences that nearly connected our social circles, though we only crossed paths a few hours that one night. I look through my Google Drive, "I know her," I tell the person I just drew. "I can find her picture."

I do. On that tour of Asia four years ago, after portraits of seniors in tiny Japanese islands, after portraits of American cartoonists on the streets of Itaewon, was portrait number 9044: Deniz. OMG. It literally couldn't be.

This hobby of drawing people, of gifting portraits, has crisscrossed and traversed the world in ways I never imagined.

Portraits 15100-15104, and 9044.

20/09/2023

Ausstellung.
I draw thousands of people--fourteen thousand six hundred and seventy, until today. But few realize I draw other things too. At this Saturday's coming AnderArt Festival in Odeonsplatz, I'll of course be drawing people. Hopefully, a lot. But I'll also be sharing some of my other works of art.

I'll be bringing these ones for sale: the first two are 50X80cm, the wooden one is 30X50cm, and you'll see even a few more pieces at my booth this Saturday.

I'd love to see you there! I'd love to draw you, and maybe you'd love to take home a large piece for your home too.

If you can't make it, but are curious about what else I draw, check out my alt account

20/09/2023

Astronomers.
"Hey let's meet at Tap House tonight," my friend texts me. "I've got some friends joining too."

So I get on the train. I draw seven portraits, and arrive to Munich's East station. I grab an arepa at a local shop, wolfing it down on my way to the bar. I get inside.

I hold out my hand. "Morgan," I tell my name. They give theirs, one after another. My friend, incidentally, has a lot of friends at this place tonight. I pop out my pens.

"What do you do?" I ask one of them as I draw his picture. "Oh," he replies. "I'm an astronomer." What a coincidence! My friend who invited is also an astronomer! What are the odds you meet two at the same place?

As I make my way around the long table, meeting, greeting, and drawing the others, I find the coincidence is getting increasingly more absurd: *everyone* at the table is studying astronomy. But of course--they're all in the same program at Munich's Technical University. They've got something else in common with my friend: half of them speak Spanish.

One of them poses with his portrait, expecting me to upload it here to Instagram. Well, I'm a few months late, but he might be happy to scroll through his feed and find this old photo here.

Portraits 14105-14119.

19/09/2023

A few portraits on the way to Munich.
I used to take care to map out the best sequence to draw portraits on a train--because now and then someone rejects a portrait. It's usually a misunderstanding; that I'm asking for money or something. The most suspicious of my work were always seniors...but after the pandemic, it seems we're all just happy to get some human attention. These older ladies on my commute home enjoyed talking with me, even trying to practice their English as I drew each passenger.

Portraits 14580-14583.

14/09/2023

I'm honored to be invited to this year's AnderArt festival. It's an all day event in Odeonsplatz, Saturday, September 23rd. There will be live music acts, food trucks, artists and workshops. I'd love to see some of y'all there!

Adresse

Munich

Telefon

+4917677526216

Webseite

http://escher2hands.com/

Benachrichtigungen

Lassen Sie sich von uns eine E-Mail senden und seien Sie der erste der Neuigkeiten und Aktionen von Escher2Hands erfährt. Ihre E-Mail-Adresse wird nicht für andere Zwecke verwendet und Sie können sich jederzeit abmelden.