Scooter People

I do retail caricatures at the newly titled "Nickelodeon Universe" theme park in the Mall of America, and have been there since it was Knott's Camp Snoopy, before it went through it's clever transitional stage known as "The Park at MOA".

I see thousands of bizarre and memorable characters out there, and try to discreetly draw anyone I can to kill my downtime. A recurring character that heavily populates the mall are the scooter people. Sometimes they don't park in one spot long enough for me to make enough fair observations, and other times I am interrupted by a customer who wants their caricature done. But more often than not, they are parked with ample time for me to jot something down.

I think the scooter is in itself a character/symbol of the mall (AND America!); completely indifferent to care or common courtesy. Many scooters are large and repelling, thoughtlessly and selfishly obstructing mall traffic from all directions. They are capable of carting around entire walk-in (or roll-in) closets, 10 shopping bags, babies, grandchildren, and a gallon of Coke. Never any need to rent a locker. Walking is too much of a chore, anyway!

I already have my Elvis of the Day to worry about, but with a full-time summer season just around the corner, I intend to start a large body of these drawings. Click on any to enlarge!

Not a scooter, but still an interesting shape that was worth drawing.



This one had a seatbelt and was sitting on a pillow.