3rd entry for July 15, 2012

These are two 5-minute studies at top,  and 10-minute ones below. All are done with hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of paper. The 5's are on bond paper and the 10's are on Canson Recycled Sketch  paper.
A-   is a dancer, and muscle forms are certainly evident in drawing her.  Understanding musculature definitely helps in drawing figures- and in drawing them from imagination. Coming up in the week of Aug 20 - 24  I'll be teaching a 5-day intensive workshop that looks at basic anatomy in relation to figure drawing. It's like 5-day anatomy and drawing boot camp! You can get more details here.

2nd entry for July 15, 2012

I made it back for the evening. A-  was working, and these are some 1-minute studies, with harder and softer compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of bond paper.

Gesture drawing like this is excellent practice for getting to know the forms of a body. Starting this Saturday, Aug 4th, there will be four all-gesture drop-in drawing sessions at the TSA.  The Gesture Drawing Boot Camp is $10 per session, pay-as-you go. No poses over 5 minutes, so bring water, snacks and lots of paper!

1st entry for July 15, 2012

This is a 2-hour study of D-  , done with hard Nobel charcoal on 24 x 36"  Durotone Butcher White paper. The paper is quite heavy and slick, like a thinner index or recipe card. Each time D-  took a break, I erased sizable sections of the drawing with a vinyl eraser, and redrew them, which made for a somewhat richer texture within the drawing.

3rd entry for July 13, 2012

(As noted before, an understanding  - or review - of anatomy can be very useful in figure drawing. On the week of August 20-24, I'll be teaching a 5-day intensive course on anatomy basics. It comprises lecture time, reference to skeleton, muscle models and handouts, all backed up by lots of hands-on drawing time with models. There is space, and you can get more details here.)


These are a couple of 15-minute studies and a 20-minute one. All three are done with Nobel hard compressed charcoal on 23 x 34" sheets of Durotone Extra White paper that I had worked a layer of vine charcoal into in preparation a while ago (for the time that Z-  came to work at my studio, June 18.).



It has been interesting working on continuous-motion studies of moving dancers before going drawing. I feel that it tends to make the life drawing afterwards a little looser and livelier - more energetic, a little less precious.

2nd entry for July 13, 2012

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

1st entry for July 13, 2012

On the  Friday, I again went in the afternoon to an Anandam dance company rehearsal and sketched as they worked. It was inspiring,  frustrating but most of all challenging. After a couple of hours, I went over to the TSA, where, as luck would have it, M-   was working. His short poses are excellent, and once again, even a 1-minute pose seemed generous after constant motion.   
These are two 1-minute studies at top, and three 5-minute ones below, done with hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of bond paper. 

Both M-   and E-  on the day before are excellent gesture pose models. Every Saturday afternoon in August, I'm hosting 3 hours of all-gesture uninstructed life drawing at the Toronto School of Art, from 1:30 - 3:30. Each "Gesture Drawing Boot Camp" session is $10-, pay-as-you-go, so bring lots of paper!

Both E-   and M- are also people on whom anatomical information is unusually clear. Understanding anatomy is an asset when drawing people in general, and on the week of August 20- 24 I will be offering a 5-day instructed intensive on Anatomy and Figure Drawing at the TSA. You can get details on it here.

4th entry for July 12, 2012

Above are two 15-minute studies on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper, and below are two 20-minute ones, done on 23  x 34" sheets of Durotone extra white paper. With the second to last one, I was conscious of not trying to draw everything on E-    to the same degree of detail, but to emphasize some of his bodily action.

3rd entry for July 12, 2012

At top, a 5-minute study, and below two 10-minute ones, all done with hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper. The bottom one also has some black prismacolor art stick shading, especially outside the figure.

2nd entry for July 12, 2012

These are some more 1-minute studies (E-   's gestures are very dynamic...) Hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of bond paper.

1st entry for July 12, 2012

No figure drawing for me for a few days, due to a very enjoyable visit to Montreal with Z and friends. It wasn't 'til the Thursday that I got back to a drawing. Earlier in the day I tried some onsite sketching at an open rehearsal of the Anandam dance company, for their upcoming show Divergent Dances for Windows and Walls at the Bata Shoe Museum next week.  Drawing constantly shifting dancers was extra challenging.  Afterwards I went over to the TSA, where I found it was E-  working.  He is a very dynamic model, which suited my frame of mind.
His gesture poses are challenging, but after drawing people in non-stop motion, having a minute of no motion seemed really generous. These are 1-minute studies, done on 18 x 24 sheets of bond paper with hard compressed charcoal.

Gesture poses will be the order of the day on Saturday afternoons in August when I'll be hosting the "Gesture Drawing Boot Camp" open life-drawing sessions.  $10 per session, 1:30 - 4:30 every Saturday in August.

4th entry for July 2, 2012

These are some 5-minute studies above, a 10-minute one 2nd from bottom, and a 15-minute one below.

The 15-minute one is on a 22 x 30" sheet of Maidstone rag paper, done with hard Nobel charcoal on a gray pastel underlayer. The others are all on 23 x 34" sheets of Durotone Extra White paper.

3rd entry for July 2nd, 2012

These studies are in the 3-minute range, and are also done with hard Nobel compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper.

There wasn't always time to set it down, but A-  's costume, a bodysuit with painted designs was an interesting addition to the drawing situation. The timer didn't go off on the 2nd pose from the top, so there was a bonus minute or so, which gave time to set down more information about the costume.

2nd entry for July 2, 2012

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

The Drawing Room sessions, which are presently happening Monday nights, 7:30 - 9:30 at 213 Sterling Rd N.  It's $15-, open to all and is an especially good gesture-drawing workout.


In August, I'm hosting an all-gesture drop-in life drawing session at the Toronto School of Art. Called "Gesture Drawing Boot Camp" it's a drop-in session, $10 per session, open to everyone and runs 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. every Saturday in August.