The Book Seller

The Book Seller
3B Pencil on white cartridge paper

I did this drawing from a photo in National Geographic. It's the story of a man haunted by the past. He lost a leg in the war, after being wounded and taken to a Soviet Camp. There he drank a bottle of vodka and allowed his cell mates to amputate the limb with a knife. Now he wears and artificial leg. He is also a man who loves books. They are his passion. He sells them on the streets of Legnica from a baby carriage. Because he is old and crippled, boys often steal from him. And because he is a man who loves books, he buys them back an hour later. His spare time he spends in bed, playing chess against himself.