Who knew that sketching in public could be such risky business?

We were out to lunch and I was doing what I usually do: sketching the people around me.  When I sketched this soccer player, her father became very belligerent.  He thought that it was very inappropriate, since she was wearing shorts.

 

I stopped when he asked me to.  But that apparently wasn’t enough, since he continued to make a scene.

Usually when people have noticed me sketching them or their children, they have asked me for a copy of the sketch (which I always give them).  This was a new one.

Legally there is nothing wrong with looking at, sketching, or even photographing someone when they are somewhere that they have no expectation of privacy (i.e., when they are at a fast food restaurant).  I learned this when I used to carry a camera everywhere that I went, trying to emulate the work of street photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson.  But I never thought that a sketchbook could be viewed as threatening.

As you can see from the sketch, you can’t even tell that she is wearing shorts.  Let alone who she is, since I was drawing her from the back.

Never the less, the incident left me shaken.  What do you think?