1st entry for June 19, 2011

On the Sunday morning I got out for some drawing.  K-  was working.  Above is a 5-minute study getting warmed up. Below are two 20-minute studies. All are done with hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.

3rd Entry for June 17, 2011

(Comments are always very welcome from any of you who visit this blog.  But if you want to get a hold of me regarding other queries, or have an interest in perhaps acquiring something, I can be reached by writing to:  
thomasdraws (at) yahoo (dot) ca
(Obviously, you'll have to insert the appropriate symbols - I've written the @ and dot to limit bots harvesting my contact info online.)

regards,
Thomas)

The final 15-minute study of G-  that night was a more playful experiment. At the nearby Dollarama  I had picked up some sparkle-covered tissue sheets to wrap a friends' bitrthday present, and tried doing a charcoal drawing on that. The tissue was very delicate, and began to shred in places, but was argeeably smooth to work on.
I used a harder compressed charcoal for this. If I was going to use more of that I'd try out soft compressed charcoal or soft vine charcoal; they would be gentler on the surface.

2nd Entry for June 17, 2011

These are two 15-minute studies above, and two 20-minute ones below. 
All of these are hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.

1st entry for June 17, 2011

I was back for part of the Friday, and G-  was working. These are a 5-minute and 10-minute study, respectively.
Both are done with hard compressed charcoal on sheets of 18 x 24" cartridge paper

6th Entry for June 16, 2011

These two 15-minute studies of A-  finished up the evening.  They are also done with hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.

5th Entry for June 16, 2011

These are two 15-minute studies, also done with hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.

4th Entry for June 16, 2011

These are further 1-minute studies, from just after the long break that evening.

They are all done with hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.

3rd Entry for June 16, 2011

These are all 10-minute studies, done with hard compressed charcoal on  18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.

2nd Entry for June 16, 2011

These are a 1.5-minute study at top, and three 5-minute ones below.
All are done with hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.

1st entry for June 16, 2011

On the Thursday, A-   was working. These are 1-minute studies. The top four are on 12 x 18" sheets of paper, and the bottom one on an 18 x 24" sheet. They are all done with hard compressed charcoal.

6th Entry for June 12, 2011

These are two final 20-minute studies, also hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper. The top one has what is, for me, a very successful partial face, Only putting in part of a face without underdrawing is something I find very difficult to pull off successfully.

5th Entry for June 12, 2011

After a longer break, there were some further gesture poses and a pair of 15-minute poses. The top study is 1-minute, the other two are 15 minutes each. All are done with hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.

4th Entry for June 12, 2011

These are also 10-minute studies, done with hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.

3rd Entry for June 12, 2011

These are two 5-minute studies above, and a 10-minute one below. All are done with hard compressed charcoal on cartridge paper.

The first 5-minute one was an experiment: I tried drawing on a small (12 x 18" sheet in the middle of a larger pad, so the drawing could run effortlessly out the edges of the page. I tend to choosa a size and stick with it for a while, so to shift scales means being much more on the ball.  I have a theory, though, that in trying to do some drawings on very small sheets, then shifting up to a larger paper makes it seem like a larger piece of real estate. Things in drawing are relative.

The second 5-minute study is on an 18 x 24" sheet, but the scale of head to body was askew. The 10-minute one is also on an 18 x 24" sheet. It was a very dramatic pose, good lighting, and I feel it is an especially strong study. I feel it ranks among my strongest figure studies.

I have noticed a correlation between throwing challenges into the drawing process and the degree of focus in the drawings that follow them. I think it is because one's brain is more awake and engaged.

2nd Entry for June 12, 2011

These are also 1-minute studies, using hard charcoal on 12 x 18" sheets of cartridge paper. ( I was using up some leftover bits of paper as a challenge, to try wotking at the smaller scale.)

1st entry for June 12, 2011

On the Sunday night, E-  was at the TSA, doing very dramatic poses. These are 1-minute studies, using hard charcoal on 12 x 18" sheets of cartridge paper.

5th Entry for June 9, 2011

For most of the rest of the evening I mostly experimented with fragmentary studies. From the top these are two 15-minute studies and a 20-minute study, plus a final 5-minute one.
All these are also charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.