Member-only story
Excuse Me — Can I Draw You?
Imagining Meeting Artist Devon Rodriguez
Instagram is my guilty pleasure and whenever artist Devon Rodriguez comes on my feed, I am captivated. His profile says he is the most followed visual artist in the world. I believe he started on Tiktok, and I know he has millions of followers there, and on Instagram today he is up to 8.9M!
He has basically two kinds of videos, one is when he seems to be sketching or painting people on the subway without them knowing. He can even paint on a soda can! I think this must be staged, which I definitely do not hold against him. The camera work is so steady, filming him working and then his subject. Then there is the moment of reveal, when he tells them he has drawn their portrait, and they are surprised and grateful.
Secondly, he will politely greet a stranger, usually saying “Excuse me, I like your style.” (Note to self: If I ever hope to be stopped by Devon, I need to have a more noticeable style.) He usually does pencil, but he also does portraits in oils. As he is doing their portrait, he is having heartfelt conversations with them. I had this idea that I need to be able to answer those questions if ever I am Devon-ed, but also, it seems like good emotional and mental exercise.
I won’t share my answers, but I will share the questions he usually asks. So if you ever get stopped by…
