Opinion: What Pride looks like through a sketch artist’s eyes

It is my second Pride in Baltimore. Since the pandemic shut down festivities for two years, I decide to live-sketch the event, on-site. Ten minutes into my first sketch, I realize how nothing could prepare anyone to sketch in such a loud, chaotic, beautiful atmosphere. I drop pens while trying to switch colors as colorful people strut by. I stub my pencil’s nib and then my toe. I blink sweat out of my eyes and watch it drop onto the page.