When There Is Nothing Else To Do…
What do you do when you are bored?
Let’s see… When you are bored, what do you do? Do you make sure to have enough snacks with you? Do you read a book? Take a nap? Play on your phone? This can be an unexpectedly long list! So many options when you thought there is absolutely nothing to do…
What can be more boring than a long airplane ride? You are stuck in this metal tube and buckled to your seat most of the time. Can it get more monotonous than this? Getting to the point here: an artist has an unfair advantage, for instance, they can sketch.
One may wonder: what is there to sketch?? The passengers just mostly sit there, right? Within the limits of the metal tube (mentioned above), you see the rows of seats holding fatigued human beings.
But look at the variety!! This lovely lady across the aisle is (predictably) taking a nap. The uniqueness of her face, the shape of her closed eyelids, the way her hair falls back behind her ear makes a wonderful opportunity to observe.
Alright, we addressed napping… Now what?
Oh, you should know and remember, there is always the call of nature. And hence there always will be a lively, active line to the bathroom. This may distract you for a bit. You can bet every passenger on the plane will visit this blessed place at least one time per flight that lasts at least two hours.
You are likely only to see the backs of the people in line, but still, this can be quite entertaining. In some cases we are lucky to see a mother trying to contain a squirming toddler — this would be a story of its own.
Aha, here is one very good sketch. This gentleman was generously standing in the aisle for a long, long, long, long time. Possibly he just could not sit any more, so he was standing, looking at his phone.
Most likely, he was reading something or watching a movie. One hand in his pocket, the thumb on his other hand is not moving frantically, therefore he was definitely not playing games. The screen was turned in the portrait view, which is better for reading than video. Reading it is then…
Below are more passenger variations — a lady with funny hair and earphones was sitting just in front. It looked like she was wearing two sets of earmuffs, very fluffy young woman. Then there was a man across the aisle, reading a book. (The profiles are hard to draw, that’s why I sketched a few of them. I think I captured those pretty well.)
Also, on a plane ride, never forget the food! They start rolling carts in the aisles and every decent admirer of comfort food starts stretching the neck, trying to estimate the approximate time of arrival of the snacks and drinks to their row of seats. Surprisingly, there may be some decent snack options. If everything else fails, there is always coffee… Some of us would never say no to a cup of coffee… (Below, the sketch on the left side features a flight attendant serving the food and conversing with her customer).
On the right side, below: upon the arrival, take a look out of the window! There is a lot of life out there! I sketched an airport worker giving signals to a truck (baggage truck, probably?).
Finally, I got inspired to imagine a still life. Hmm… maybe the coffee they served in the air left room to wish for more?
Until the next flight, dear passengers!
