“Night street” painters

17:33' 23/04/2007 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – Many students from the University of Industrial Art, Hanoi Art University, the University of Architecture and the University of Construction are making money and practicing painting on Hanoi’s night streets. Drawing at night
Pham Thi Toan, a junior student from Hanoi Art University, the street painterThe night streets in Hanoi are the busy streets in the Ancient Quarter like Hang Ngang, Hang Dao, and Dong Xuan. Every weekend, these streets are particularly crowded by young people visiting the weekly sidewalk sales. After choosing a convenient space on the pavement of Hang Ngang Street and putting down a few small chairs and a sign that reads “Drawing Portraits”, Pham Thi Toan, a junior student from Hanoi Art University said, “Painters on these streets are mostly students like myself or amateur painters.” Toan has been painting on the night streets for nearly 2 years and has had many regular customers. "Sitting on the street was embarrassing and challenging at first. It was embarrassing when friends saw me by chance. Challenging since I was new on the job. And painting before many on-lookers distracted me. But I’m used to it now,” said Toan. Amid many kiosks selling shoes, clothes, glasses and countless little knick-knacks, visitors attending the weekend sidewalk sales still see the future artists. "Customers are mostly young people and children and those who want their own portraits as gifts or souvenirs,” Toan said. Studying on the streets According to Toan, each portrait costs from VND20,000 to 35,000. On busy days, he can have as many as ten customers, while on quiet days, there isn’t any one at all. Thanh Dat, another street painter, who even rents a kiosk for his portraits, said, “We have chances to both earn money and practice painting. We can earn enough money to help our parents pay for our own living expenses and tuition fees.” Asked whether working late at night affected studies, Dat said, “Not all all. This is also a way to study, as I said, though the two types of painting are different.” Toan agreed, “Painting in class is highly academic and artistic. Portrait drawing is much less so. Many of my classmates don’t like this kind of art.”Another thing Toan and other art students learn is that “drawing on night streets” makes them more “mature” and “grown-up”. “In the beginning, I was too shy. I did anything customers wanted me to do. I didn’t dare to chat to them while drawing. Imagine a lot of people staring at you while you are working and sometimes throwing out not-very-nice comments. But these things don’t affect me now,” said Toan. Besides drawing on night streets, Dat, Toan and students like them also sit inside parks and outside universities to have a chance to make money and learn. (Source: Nguoi Lao Dong)