CALIBER

You can read more about my $2 Portrait Project here.

Last October, I was having drinks with some friends at Swig Bar, near Union Square. As I was heading back home, I ran into Mike. Mike asked me if he could draw my portrait for $5, so I told him about the $2 portrait project. He agreed to pose for a few shots as he drew my picture.

96 (?) year old Mike moved to San Francisco from Michigan 8 years ago. I told Mike he looked good for his age, and he smiled at me. Mike came to The City with an advertising degree from Michigan State University in East Lansing and a desire to live near the beach.

Shortly after Mike moved here, he started going to Ocean Beach to learn how to surf. He told me he also enjoyed drawing pictures of the other surfers.

Mike didn’t want to talk about how he came to living on the streets, but did insist he had been sober for 3 of the past 8 years. I asked Mike where he slept at night and he told me “some trees and bushes in Russian Hill.

Mike often trailed off into nonsense, and it was very hard to understand what he was talking about and have a conversation. He was very focused on his illustration of me, and didn’t want to be distracted.

Once Mike finished my drawing, I thanked him and smiled. I told him to have a good night and he told me “you, too.” And with that, I headed towards the Powell Street station to catch my train back to Potrero Hill.

You can see the collective whole of $2 Portraits from around the world here.