When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, Morelia.

It was my intention to sketch the Cathedral. I even previously had spotted a bench from where to sketch it. To my surprise there was a protest from some state workers and the alley where the bench I had selected  was closed by the police, U.R.O.P. Unidad de Restablecimiento del Orden Publico (Unity of Reestablishment for Public Order). I asked permission to sit there, right behind the police line. The denied the permission. The view of Cathedral was in the direction in which the police was facing. There was two choices, to sketch the protesters or the police. It was clear to me that sketching police was a better opportunity. So started to sketch them. It was a peaceful protest. Police where there for the "just in case". When they spotted me doing something, the nearest to me were curios. I started to have a conversation, an animated conversation with them about their job and uniform and me about sketching. There were endless interruptions from annoying people who wanted to cross the police barrier, doing exactly what I had just done minutes ago. This was rare opportunity to put myself in the police shoes and understand what they had to deal with as part of their job: annoying and sometimes disrespectful people. At the end of my ink line work they asked me to show the whole police line my unfinished sketch, you see, it was the change of shift.  

By this time, most of them were smiling asking questions about how long did it take, selling my work, if I take commissions and so. The second shift came and I started to watercolor it. I  noticed two of them didn't leave, they stayed, did they want to see the final piece? When I finished the piece, everyone wanted to see it and I had to walk along the line to show it. Some took pictures, other asked: where am I?, others tried to identify themselves in the sketch, others recognized others. It was fun. I gave the only woman in the line my moo card, it seems to be the right choice. At the end they wanted a photo of the whole line with finished sketch and the artist....well here it is.

I really liked this experience, this gentleman were tough, they are doing what they are suppose to do, but also they were friendly, polite, fun and gracious, like one of them mentioned to me, with families just like any of us. Thanks to my husband for her endless patience, he joked about me flirting with them! LOL. Precious opportunity for an sketcher, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.