First Date
(watercolor illustration on paper, 2006)
"Let's face it: a date is a job-interview, that lasts all night. The only difference between a date and a job interview is: not many job-interviews is there a chance you'll end up naked at the end of it."
Jerry Seinfeld
"Attraction is not a choice."
David DeAngelo
"It is the woman who chooses the man who will choose her."
Anonymous
"A man on a date wonders if he'll get lucky. The woman already knows."
Monica Piper
There is nothing more entertaining than observing a first date, as long as you're not the one on it. It doesn't cease to amaze me how two perfectly normal individuals can behave like total imbeciles trying to impress each other. The most bizarre animal mating rituals pale in comparison to us humans.
I imagined the couple in the illustration right in the middle of their first date. He is a graphic designer named Tom who finally got enough nerve to ask his coworker's sister Marie on a date. He wanted to come across as a young and hip intellectual, so he chose his wardrobe accordingly. Marie on the other hand didn't think long and hard as to what to wear. She put on a beautiful red dress that she wanted to wear for a long time, but didn't have an occasion to premier. Seeing Marie looking like a femme fatale made Tom speechless and he's just starting to regain his composure, which means that he's forgetting the names of the drinks he wants to order and is trying to substitute his lack of words with awkward gestures. Marie decides to move her martini as far from Tom's hands as possible, so he won't knock it over. She also moves her knees away from his, because she doesn't want Tom to see her blush every time their knees touch under the table.
