Entry for Jan 18, 2012

On the Friday night I got out for the first time to Project:Art up on the 2nd floor across from City TV. Mark Hazen from the TSA is now hosting sessions there Thursday nights and friday nights from 7-10 each evening.
The Thursdays are the old TSA Thursday format of short poses. The Friday has one long pose. Currently they cost $10 for Thursday and $15 for Fridays, but the Thursdays may go up to $15 down the line.
Jeffrey was working that night. I got in late, and didn't have a strong personal response to the pose, so I used it to work on an adding/subtracting practice piece with willow charcoal and Nobel charcoal on the 18 x 24" Canson Recycled Sketch paper. In the end I wasn't that happy with the texture that created. The cast shadows are the part I like out of this study.

4th entry for Jan 15, 2012

More 1-minute fun that ended the night with assorted props: supersoaker rifle, ball, pool noodle and a rubber shark.
These are all 1-minute studies on 18 x 24" paper with a Sakura Graphic felt pen.
It was definitely not my strongest night, but a fun workout at Toons on Tap all the same. It happens every couple of weeks on Tuesday nights upstairs at the Rhino Bar & Grill.

3rd entry for Jan 15, 2013

These are some 10-minute studies, using the same Sakura Graphic 2 pigment marker on sheets of a Canson XL Drawing pad.

2nd entry for Jan 15, 2013

These are more 5-minute and 10-minute studies, plus about 15 minutes of break-time sketching.
I found the Sakura felt pen especially challenging with all the softly graduated values of shadows on Serenity. Adding charcoal, like the top one is an awkward mix. But as the evening progressed I was getting more comfortable with the harder-edged marks and not trying to render too much shadow.

1st entry for Jan 15, 2012

 The non-repro blue pencils,markers and watercolour sets were in full force on the Tuesday night when I was finally able to make it to one of the Toons on Tap drawing sessions at the Rhino bar in Parkdale.  Up 'til now, their Monday scheduling competed with Diane's aerial sessions, but I've been curious.
Like Dr Sketchy's and the Keyhole sessions, there's music, drink if you're legal and a more gregarious crowd - if a little nerdy about it here and there. Quite different from the very quiet trad life sessions. Serenity was working there that night, on a beach theme with lots of props at hand.
Much as I admire good comic work, that's not how I draw, but I enjoyed the challenge of more thematic content. These are 1-minute and 5-minute studies, done with the Sakura Graphic felt pens I've been wrestling with.  When new, they generate such an un-nuanced and bold line - at least in my hand,

5th entry for Jan 7, 2013

These are two 10-minute studies of Sandra above, and a 15-minute one below, which ended that evening. All are done with hard Nobel compressed charcoal on 22 x 30" sheets of Maidstone 90 lb. rag paper.

The drawing sessions at Diane McGrath's studio happen every Monday and are open to anyone to dro in. It's $15 for 2 hours of lively drawing, and well worth it. You can get more detail on facebook here.

4th entry for Jan 7, 2013

These are 5-minute studies, done with hard compressed Nobel charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper.

3rd entry for Jan 7, 2013

These are some 2-minute studies above and 3-minute ones lower down. All are done with a Sakura Graphic pen on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper.

Good news for all of the magnanimous souls out there- I've added a donations button to the sidebar here. If you want to help out with the costs of all this drawing; models, materials - and most importantly, coffee - now you can make a contribution. Any size contribution is always welcome.

2nd entry for Jan 7, 2012

These are some more 1-minute and 2-minute studies done with a Sakura Graphic pen on 18 x 24" Canson Recycled Sketch paper. The lower one may be a 3-minute pose that got out of order.

1st entry for Jan 7, 2013 (a new year)

On the Monday night I went out to the first session I'd been to for a few weeks, at Diane McGrath's studio. Sandra was working that night, and these are some 30-second and 1-minute studies done with a Sakura Graphic pen on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper.

3rd entry for Dec 17, 2012 (last entry of 2012)

 (I'm sorry to note that the classes I was going to teach at the Avenue Road Arts School won't be running this term. But if any of you are interested in a more impromptu class beginning next month, please drop me a line at thomasteaches@yahoo.com and let me know whether days, evenings or weekends are best for you.)

These are a couple of 5-minute studies above, a 10-minute one and a 15-minute one at the bottom. All are done with hard Nobel charcoal. Top two are on 18 x 24" Canson Recycled Sketch paper, the 10-minute one is on 18 x 24" Canson Drawing paper, and the lower one is on 22 x 30" 90 lb Maidstone rag paper.
This was my last drawing session of 2012, and the only one I did in December. Other life concerns took the fore, and are still far from settled, but more studies will be coming. It wasn't my strongest night by any stretch, but just being there and working was a welcome bit of normalcy. Holly did a great job, but I was a little shell-shocked that evening.

2nd entry for Dec 17, 2012

These are some 2-minute and 3-minute studies, done with hard Nobel compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper.