Pen and Ink Illustration "Holiday Crowds"

HEY APATHY! Pen and Ink Drawings of People

Stomping feet dressed in red and black casually filled the downtown core on this fine Boxing Day 2010. The bright sun and absent winds helped to combat the brisk winter temperatures and the city came sort of alive with tones of bargain hunting suburbanites. I am not really a shopper, and tend to avoid crowds unless I’m performing, so I had no reason to partake in the bizarre commercial energies flowing through out the city. However the seasonably beautiful weather compelled me to take a stroll and since I’d no personal involvement, I thought it might be interesting to observe the crowds. It’s a lot less stressful when you aren’t worried about you dream product being out of stock or wondering if you have spent enough money in order to save on the deals.

The majority of the city was as quiet as any cold winter Sunday. Kensington was almost closed and Chinatown was barren. Nevertheless when I got down to the main strip there were people in every direction, even some line-ups in front of stores. The crowds consisted mostly of young people all giggling and struggled with hands full of purchases. There was some family activity but mostly teen shopping. Luckily it was cold enough to slow things compared to years gone by, but nice enough to pack the streets to a comfortable capacity.There was a free and friendly stream of pedestrian traffic. Oddly enough I saw  a great deal of festive red colors popping out from all the drab black and dark browns Toronto is accustomed to. It was a joyful and courteous mob, and I was very pleased to see so many happy humans. The sun in our faces and not in front of computer screens, in fact I don’t even recall seeing any cell phones, the peoples were shopping in groups.

The majority of the city was as quiet as any cold winter Sunday. Kensington was almost closed and Chinatown was barren. Nevertheless when I got down to the main strip there were people in every direction, even some line-ups in front of stores. The crowds consisted mostly of young people all giggling and struggled with hands full of purchases. There was some family activity but mostly teen shopping. Luckily it was cold enough to slow things compared to years gone by, but nice enough to pack the streets to a comfortable capacity.There was a free and friendly stream of pedestrian traffic. Oddly enough I saw a great deal of festive red colors popping out from all the drab black and dark browns Toronto is accustomed to. It was a joyful and courteous mob, and I was very pleased to see so many happy humans. The sun in our faces and not in front of computer screens, in fact I don’t even recall seeing any cell phones, the jolly peoples were shopping in groups.

It made me temporarily hopeful to see such kind human spirits. It’s a shame it is only a euphoric reaction to their gluttonous expenditures and pre-programmed inclinations towards fulfilling manufactured desires through the perpetual purchasing of useless, damaging and utterly ridiculous things. The quick sketch above was inspired by my anthropological wanderings and born out of guilt because I didn’t actually do any real work today. Read the Webcomics!