As imperfect as we are, San Miguel de Allende

Pen, ink and watercolor on arches paper 8 x 16 in

The moment these women caught me sketching them, all of them put a straight face. One of them, the one on the right came to confront me so close that her face was in my face. She told me I should have asked for their permission. I calmly agreed. Then there was an awkward silence in which she realized I didn't reach for my wallet so she behaved even more aggressively. She asked me what I was going to do with my sketch, I told her it was for me. She ordered me to give it to her! I firmly refused to give up to such command, then she demanded money. At this point I lost my patience and went one to one. I do remember I said to them they had such a poor attitude towards people. I picked up my stuff, left and wished them a good day. Walking away I overheard one asked the other one, did she give you money? The other replied, no. Then another shouted at a distance, shameless! (!)

I get this people think that artists take advantage of them because they profit from their image. I understand I probably should have asked permission to sketch, but on other hand, we were all in a public space, I can sketch what I want, it wasn't a portrait. It was due to her attitude that I lost it. It was then when I realized they weren't upset because of religious or spiritual beliefs, it was because they wanted their share. It was a confrontation where we both lost.

It took me more than a week to go back to finish this sketch because it had a bad flavor, I didn't want to, I wasn't motivated. However, I tried to make the memory up with watercolor, because as imperfect as we are, imperfection is also beautiful.