Tim and Jeremy are both waiters at a restaurant in downtown New York City. During slow times at work, to stave off boredom when it is slow, the two young men draw pictures. These pictures are made using ink and what is called the "Triple Dupe Pad," a book of paper used to place orders in the kitchen. The drawings usually take about a week to make, all the while also being used by fellow employees to take orders; this sometimes leads to other collaborators or in a couple cases, to the loss of the work. The drawings are then scanned and colored in Photoshop where they come to life in stunning technicolor! The subject matter varies from piece to piece, as they are made over a long course of time and under various moods and states of mind. They all retain a playfulness that serves as a coping mechanism after spending a night catering to the endless needs of hungry patrons.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

#19 "No Lifeguard on Duty!" June 16, 2010 in Color!

(Click on the image to see larger view)

I'm not sure how this one came about, but here's my hypothesis. Around this time last year, the sidewalk in front of the Cafe Loup was all ripped up because the building we are attached to was putting in a some new plumbing. Or something. When I first started at the Loup one million years ago, a similar thing was happening and it went on for over four years. It was even reported about in the New York Times! So naturally, when the sidewalk was again ripped up, all the customers who remember the "Big Dig" were always making remarks about the condition. Some funny, but most were pretty annoying. I think it was our friend and co-worker Sue, who is always one for funny remarks, who came up with a brilliant retort to these comments. She started telling everyone that we were putting in a pool! It almost looked that way, too. There was a little moat, and even a plank that customers would have to use in order to enter the restaurant. It almost looked as if we were putting in a koi pond or a pool! I started telling everyone as well, and soon people started to believe it (mostly senile old people and children, but still). It would be great, there would be a pool in the summer, and in the winter we would use it as an ice skating rink. How exciting! So, I'm not exactly sure if this drawing was any way inspired by that story, but somehow that is what I thought of today. It looks as if it could be outside the Loup. The angry guy in the corner could even be a floppy haired Lloyd, angry about all the people in his pool. There is even one employee in there. Can you see him? That's right, it's Wood-Lump! Haha. I think this is his last time showing up in these drawings. Because, you see, he is a little under the weather. He developed the mumps, and is all covered in spots. When I was tagging him on Bookface when I posted this one, I tagged him as "Wood-Mumps." This is a variation on about 1,000 Woodman drawings that Tim has done over the past year or so. I'm sure he'll return some day, but this is the last one for a while (if I remember correctly). If I can find any of the variations, I'll post those as well. One other reason that this may have come about is the insane heat of last year's Loup. We've since gotten a new air conditioner so don't be afraid to come in, but last year that was not the case. We had an air conditioner from who knows when and it was just eking out the air. It was always so incredibly hot in there that all we really wanted was a dip in a nice blue pool with octopuses and sinking ships. Then the toy ship armada started sailing on land, and everything got messed up. The angry guy started thinking about lunch and all he could come up with is the cheeseburger from T&J #1. Luckily, they still serve that at the Cafe Loup, just steps away from the pool! (Spoiler alert: they didn't put a pool on 13th Street. At least not in front of the restaurant.)

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