It was a pleasure to visit beautiful Madrid at spring 2022. I took several pictures there (like a decent tourist do). One of the most amazing shots presented the steps of National Library of Madrid.

The stunning combination of an old and imposing architectural building and people going about their daily business, tempted me to take a closer look at the picture. First it was about the building, its amazing details in sculptures and ornaments. The sky was so blue and all the clouds looked like they had escaped from a movie poster.

But then I found the people. Building became just a background. In my head I created all different kind of stories for them. Some where student hurrying for reading groups, library workers returning from lunch brake and tourists taking the same pictures I just did.

Stories continued in my head and some of the picture taking tourists brought their normal lives to the fore. They were on a a first date, some were in love and had children (like the couple in the Instagram post below). Some of them were taking funny selfies to their families and some were caught up in their own thoughts and worries.

Let’s see how this drawing ends up.

PS. I use my tablet quite a lot when sketching or drawing. The possibility to zoom in and out is super, because it helps to focus either on details or the big picture.

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