3rd entry for Mar 25, 2012

These are a 15-minute study on 18 x 24" Canson paper above, and two 22 x 30" studies, the upper one on Legion rag paper, and the lower one on Maidstone rag paper. Both have some graphite underlayer.
The Legion paper was slightly more rigid and textured than the Maidstone, but not by much.
with both I was fighting with the hard charcoal, trying to get the texture I wanted and not quite succeeding.
Lately I feel I've gotten the hang of the Canson Recycled Sketch paper, but better rag papers are still a fight. A big part of that I suspect is having now done several hundred sketches on the Canson: I believe it takes that to really know a paper, and learn how to work with its qualities.

2nd entry for Mar 25, 2012

These are a 5-minute study above, and three 10-minute ones below. They are all done with hard compressed charcoal on an 18 x 24" sheet of bond paper for the top study, and the same size of Canson Recycled Sketch paper for the lower three.
I was aiming for my project of not making boring drawings. With no criticism of the people posing intended, some angles of some poses just don't strike such a chord as others. Experimenting with different degrees of cropping and different scales of drawing on the page are an interesting challenge, and leading to some proportion irregularities, but I've elected not to sweat that right now.

1st entry for Mar 25, 2012

 

On the Sunday evening,  A-    was working.   These are some 1-minute studies, done with hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of bond paper.

Spring classes at the Toronto School of Art are starting mid-April.   I'll be teaching life drawing classes for beginners Saturday mornings, and for more experienced people on Wednesday nights. Doing gesture drawings is a significant part of that process.
Contact information is available here.

3rd entry for Mar 23, 2012

These are a 20-minute and an 18-minute study done with hard compressed charcoal on Maidstone paper with a thin graphite underlayer.
I was running out of gas, and wrestling with the paper surface on these two, after the more dramatic earlier studies.  The standing figure I have compressed vertically about 15% and enlarged the head, as I realised after the fact that the shading was okay, but the proportions were wildly off.

Photoshop is a handy tool that way, to try altering problematic images to see how they look without unintended distortions.

3rd entry for Mar 23, 2012

These are a 10-minute study above and two 15-minute ones below. During the last while, my emphasis has been shifting a bit.  In moving away from newsprint, I was focusing mostly on the texture of marks and shading, with a `fluid control' being the goal.  With some degree of that control in place - at least on the Canson paper I've been using - I'm now looking at loosening up a bit, and giving more thought to how the image is composed.

There are limits to how much can be set down in 10 or 15 minutes, so there is not a lot of time to address backgrounds. The drapery in the lower image was done while C-   was taking a break. I liked this composition, but it was a bit accidental: when I started drawing, I was expecting her figure would be filling more of the space. But having the figure in the top pportion is more dynamic.

More off-centre compositions are one way to make for a more dynamic image than something that is optimally centered.

1st entry for Mar 23, 2012

On the Friday I came by the TSA session.  C-  was working.   These are a 10-minute study on cheap 18 x 24"  bond paper above, and two 10-minute studies on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper below.
All are done  with hard compressed U-art charcoal sticks.

Making drawings is my passion. But I very much enjoy teaching people about drawing as well.  The Toronto School of Art's Spring term begins mid-april, and I'll be teaching beginner and mid-level figure drawing, as well as perspective essentials. 
You can see the full list of TSA class offerings at the Toronto School of Art website.  

3rd entry for Mar 18, 2012

These are two 15-minute studies above, and a 20-minute one below.
The 15's are done with hard compressed charcoal on Canson Sketch paper, and the 20 is on a 22 x 30" sheet of Maidstone paper with a graphite underlayer.

2nd entry for Mar 18, 2012

These are 10-minute studies of G-     , done with hard compressed U-Art charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper.

For anyone looking for beginner or advanced life drawing classes, the Toronto School of Art's Spring term begins mid-April, and I am offering some classes. You can get more info through their website, www.tsa-art.ca .

1st entry for Mar 18, 2012

 

On the Sunday I hosted the 2nd day of an open house at my studio, showing earlier more lively brush-based works I've done. While they were out, I was taking notice of the freeness with which I had drawn them.
The open house was enjoyable, and once it was over,  I went to the TSA to do some drawing. I resolved to be free with it, as much as possible. These 1-minute studies of G-   are done with hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of bond paper.

5th entry for Mar 11, 2012

Still not the best projected ovals I've drawn, these are two 10-minute studies above, and a 15-minute one below. All are on 22 x 30" sheets of Maidstone paper, They are all done with a graphite underlayer, and hard compressed charcoal on top.

The middle one is the most successful so far of the poses on circus apparatus done with good paper, so I was pleased about that.

4th entry for Mar 13, 2012

These are 5-minute studies, done on 24 x 36" sheets of Durotone paper.   Durotone is slicker than the Maidstone I've been using, and is big, but not prohibitively expensive.
I had brought along the five sheets, and was okay with how it performed with the hard compressed charcoal, so I'll likely explore this further.

3rd entry for Mar 13, 2012

These are 3-minute studies, same materials on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper. The bottom one might be a 5-minute one.

2nd entry for Mar 13, 2012

These are some 2-minute studies, all done with hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Sketch paper.

1st entry for Mar 13, 2012

 

On the Tuesday I went over to Diane McGrath's Drawing Room session. S---- ( a different S-    from the prior week) was there - I'm more accustomed to working with her in more standard life drawing sessions.
These are 1- minute studies, done with hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge and Canson Sketch paper.