Basically this is a stealth operation.  I really don't want people to know what I am doing, partly because the drawings are so much better that way.  So, I need to find a place (usually where people eat but sometimes places like the bus) where I can draw what I want without being discovered, at least by those I am sketching. 

Having said that, if I walk into a new place I always ask someone who looks like they might have some authority, or at least have a friendly face, if it's ok if I draw there.  I've had all kinds of answers, from a very nervous "I have to ask the owner", "No, this is very special architecture and the owner doesn't want anyone photographing or..." to "Sure, that would be great, come anytime... that's so cool, we would love it".  One of the places where they had to ask the owner, the host called upstairs to that very busy person and finally through the chain of command I was told it was ok.  Not exactly the most welcoming, but it turned out ok.  The bartenders were especially nice. (I made these back in the fall of '09).

I don't mind going through these shenanigans because I really do like drawing people when they don't know they are being watched.  And, as I said about the women next to me on the plane, they almost never notice, no matter how close I am to them.  It's kind of uncanny, especially since I do stare at them for many minutes.

So, moving closer to the present, the above drawing is two ladies on the bus, winter '10-'11.  I like taking buses and it's an interesting place to draw just harder to both get what I want and be unobtrusive; I find myself wanting to turn around to the people behind me which would surely make them wonder.  But these ladies were sitting in that first side seat reserved for those with handicaps.  It looks like they weren't talking to each other, but they were.