1st entry for Oct. 18, 2011

On the Tuesday I went over to Artists 25. D-   was working, and this was the my first experience drawing him.
From the top, these are two 2-minute studies, a 5-minute one and two 10-minute studies below. All are done with hard compressed U-Art charcoal sticks on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.

3rd Entry for Oct. 17, 2011

These are a 25-minute study above, and a 15-minute one below.  These are also hard charcoal on cartridge paper. I drew the legs a bit short on the upper one, so they have been stretched vertically about 20% here.  (It wasn't my best night, proportion-wise).

2nd Entry for Oct. 17, 2011

These are a couple of 15-minute studies. Both are done with hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" cartridge paper.
The lower one worked out okay, but my drawing of S-   's head was too tall, so I have vertically compressed that portion of the drawing about 15% from the original, to get a better likeness.

1st entry for Oct. 17, 2011

On the Monday night I went over to the Ralph Thornton Centre's drawing session.  S-  was working that night. From above these are a 5-minute and two 10-minute studies, done with hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.

5th Entry for Oct. 16, 2011

The study above was 15 minutes, and the one below was 20 minutes, but I worked on each during the breaks that followed them. Each had a light  underdrawing of willow charcoal that I wiped into the surface, followed by some highlight exposure with a kneaded eraser, and then overdrawing with hard U-Art compressed charcoal.
The willow charcoal really picked up on any finger oil on the paper when wiped, but also afforded a bit of quickly set down `infill' of the paper grain, to tone the harder charcoal's texture down in places. At 15 minutes, that's a rush, but at 20 minutes and up, it is more do-able.
The lower study of B- is nicely rendered in the body, but isn't quite anchored or grounded enough onto the space he is sitting on, I feel.

4th Entry for Oct. 16, 2011

These are a 15-minute study above, and a 20-minute one below.  The full poses weren't moving me  so much, so I looked for interesting areas to focus on.
Both are done with hard compressed U-Art charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.

3rd Entry for Oct. 16, 2011

That evening I came back. B-   was working. From the top, these are a 1-minute study, a 5-minute and 10-minute head study on the same sheet, and two 10-minute studies.
All are done with hard compressed (U-Art) charcoal sticks on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.

2nd Entry for Oct.16, 2011

In the afternoon, I worked on two studies of T-  . The upper one was approx. 2 hours, while the lower one was roughly 40 minutes. Both are using hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.
I was experimenting with varying the `infill' of the paper's surface grain. In the opper one, T-  's figure was drawn directly, and the surrounding areas were blended down into the paper. The surfaces she sits on use direct shading over top of vayring intensities of blended local value. In the lower image, T-   's figure was drawn, the charcoal blended and erased to establish tonal areas, then overdrawn with direct shading. The background is just direct shading no blending.

1st entry for Oct. 16, 2011

I made it out to part of the Sunday morning, and found S-   working. I haven't drawn him for at least a year.  This time he was reminding me physically of a younger version of  Leigh Bowery, one of Lucien Freud's favourite models. Especially the sitting pose.
From the top, these are a 5-minute study, two 15-minute ones and a 20-minute study,  All are done with U-Art hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.

Entry for Oct. 11, 2011

On the Tuesday night, I went to the once-monthly Keyhole Sessions session. I had hopes of an extension of the Dr Sketchy's vibe into this night, as the people modelling were all members of Les Coquettes, a very strong local Burlesque troupe.
It had its' moments, though some of the later group poses they took weren't working as well for me.
These studies are from mostly the first portion of the evening, when the Coquette/Keyhole ratio was tipped more to the former.
The top three studies of La M are 1minute and two 15-minute studies respectively.
The study of D-   looking stern is a 10-minute one, and the one of C-  in the trunk is a 20-minute study.
All are done with U-Art hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.

6th Entry for Oct. 9, 2011

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

5th Entry for Oct. 9, 2011

After a longer break, these are some more 1-minute studies, using hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of bond paper.

4th Entry for Oct. 9, 2011

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

3rd Entry for Oct. 9, 2011

These are two 5-minute studies above, and a 10-minute one below, all hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of bond paper.

2nd Entry for Oct. 9, 2011

On the Sunday, E-  made a debut at the TSA. These are some 1-minute studies, using hard compressed U-Art charcoal sticks on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.

1st entry for Oct. 9, 2011

On the Sunday morning, I managed to get to part of the Sunday morning session, as well as the afternoon. S-  was working, and I had not drawn her before.
At top is a 10-minute study done with hard Koh-I-Noor compressed charcoal, and below that the head study was 15 minutes, done with hard U-Art charcoal.
The lower two studies were done during the afternoon's 3-hour pose. Both are done with U-Art hard compressed charcoal. The dark one is a 2 1/2 hour study, while the lowest one is a 25-minute study. 
The longer study is dramatic, but a little awkward & dense in places. The shorter study is much more fresh and conveys a much better sense of a flesh & bone body.
It's as if I got rid of most of the overworking in the first one, but I like the tonal drama of the upper one.  Once again, somewhere between these two is likely the place I would like the drawing to be in.