Disneyland through the eyes of a sketcher

When you’re not particularly fond of rides and amusement parks, but end up at Disneyland, then you are really thankful that you are a sketcher! Because there is never a dearth of stuff to watch and draw.

There were so many big, wildly popular rides, but the stuff that stuck with me was the little stuff, the people, the old-world, nostalgia-filled bits.

With so many lines everywhere, there were lots of (relatively) still people to draw. I was fascinated by their headgear: minnie and mickey ears on grown ups and kids. It amazed me to see people happily stand in line to get into rides. Anywhere else and they would have grumbled!

I spotted this guy blowing bubbles for a whole bunch of happy kids right in front of a hugely popular ride. I loved what he said: “Right behind me is a $10 million ride. And what do these kids want? Bubbles!”

And this Marching Band looked fabulous in their bright magentas and blues ( and yes, more sketches of women in Minnie headgear, I don’t know what it is about them, they capture the essence of Disneyland for me) 

One last sketch: a giant pumpkin Mickey right by the entrance, to celebrate the season. He made a pretty popular photo backdrop.

The rides? I sketched some of those too. They’re on my blog here.