2nd entry for Dec 14, 2013

 

These are four 15-minute studies and a 20-minute one at bottom. The top one is Pitt pen, and the rest are Pentel brushpen - some with some grey ink in a Pentel brushpen for underdrawing.On the the second one down I was a little heavily on the shadows on Chris' face, and decided to try adding a really thick bounding line around his whole figure, as the image was a bit of a write-off. It is an interesting effect, but the head and body were working differently and not well with each other, so I've split them up.
All of these are done on 18 x 24" Canson Recycled Sketch  paper, except for the lowest one, which is on a heavier 18 x 24" sheet of Bright White Canson Drawing paper, with a much cooler colour cast to it. The gray washes sat nicely on it.

1st entry for Dec 14, 2013

On the Saturday morning I got out to the Sakville drawing session, and found Chris was working. These are two 5-minute studies at top and three 10-minute ones below All are on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper. The fourth one down was drawn with a Pentel brushpen, and the rest are done with a Pitt calligraphy point felt pen.

2nd entry for Dec 12, 2013

These are a couple of 10-minute studies, a couple of 15-minute ones and a roughly 25-minute one thet ended the evening. All are on 12 x 18" sheets of paper. The top five are on sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper and are done with the same Pitt pen as the previous post. The bottom one is water-soluble graphite on 150 lm Maidstone rag paper.
Jason's poses had a lot of stretching and foreshortening, which I find visually dramatic. It was extra-challenging with his height, on small paper and at close quarters. You can get an idea as to how close the quarters are by other drawer's feet in a few of the sketches. Nevertheless, there's something about drawing in architectural spaces other than intended public venues that gives a slightly different feel  to the process. This perhaps comes through in the studies.

1st entry for Dec 12, 2013

On the Thursday I got out to another of the Collective sessions, this time back in a highrise condo near Bloor and Sherbourne. Jason was the model for the evening. These are some 3-minute studies at top, and a 5-minute and 10-minute one below. All are done with a Pitt calligraphy tip felt pen on 12 x 18" sheets of cartridge paper.

4th entry for Dec 8, 2013

The sustaining of poses got shorter during the time I was there, and the studies got freer and looser. For every one that is here, there are two or three that have been scrapped owing to being too awkward or unintelligible. I didn't have time to stay for a later set, but closed off two+ hours of sketching with a 15-minute study of DJ Natural Alchemy, one of three DJ's playing downtempo music that night.
Round should be hosting more Reverie nights in the new year.  It's free to go, there's enjoyable music, and an excellent opportunity to do free loose studies of bodies in action. Plus tasty drinks and food if you're so inclined, plus colouring books and drawing stuff if the aerialists aren't your cup of tea/pint of beer just then. It's a nice informal way to spend a Sunday evening.
You can get info on them through Round's facebook page.

3rd entry for Dec 8, 2013

More from the Reverie night at Round in Kensington. When the performers took breaks I was sketching the silks and space for about 15 minutes. All the figure studies are in the maximum 1-minute, mostly shorter range. All black ballpoint on 12 x 18" sheets of cartridge paper.

2nd entry for Dec 8, 2013

On the Sunday evening I got to another of the Reverie evenings at the Round venue on Augusta.  Host Faeya Tal had once again set up a playground of aerial equipment, and during the time I was there, she and JD Spark were experimenting with some improv moves and poses. These are all done with a black medium ballpoint pen on 12 x 18" sheets of cartridge paper, with the two of them holding position for a minute or two at most..

1st Entry for Dec 8, 2013

 The Sunday morning was the monthly `longer poses' session of the 519 Community Centre drawing group, held at the 519. It's open to all to attend, and $10 for the 3-hour session.
Greg was back this time, and with added facial hair.  Usually the session has just the bright ambient light of the 3rd floor room, but this time one of the drawers brought in a spot light as well, which made for stronger highlights on the last three studies.
It took me a bit of time to get warmed up, and the first few short studies were complete throwaways. From the top, these are one 3-minute study, a 10-minute one, a 20-minute one and three 25-30 minute ones.
All these studies are on 18 x 24" sheets of paper.  The top two are Pitt calligraphy tip marker on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch. The 15-minute one is black and grey Pentel brushpens on Canson XL Drawing paper, and the one below it is the same materials on Canson Colorline paper. The bottom two are water-soluble graphite applied with a waterbrush and regular brushes on Canson Bristol paper.
The Colorline paper has quite a violet cast to it, and the study is okay enough to share, but I'm not especially happy with it. The lines overpower the shading, which looks overdone. The balance of line and minimal tone worked better in the one above.
The last two are nice as tonal studies, if slightly `under-exposed' as far as dark values go.

*You may have noted that a bunch of different types of Canson papers are cropping up for my studies lately - over a year ago I had bought a bunch of loose Canson sheets to try out, but decided none of them were suitable for the way I was then using charcoal, so they languished. I'm curious as to how they handle wet media, so I'm taking them out for test-drives now.
Thanks too, to the corporate largesse that attended Curry's re-organization of Woolfitt's Art Supplies after they bought it,  I got a few pads of Canson Recycled Sketch and XL Drawing paper for crazy cheap prices, enabling me to affordably do everything on acid-free paper of late. Plus I'm trying to clear out old unused paper before I get more (a bad habit of mine, the overstocking).

Entry for Dec. 7, 2013

On the Saturday morning I got over to the Sackville Drawing Session at the Daniels Spectrum building.  Natalie was working that day. These are a 3-minute study up top, followed by two 10-minute ones, three 15-minute ones and a 20-minute one at bottom.
All are on 18 x 24" sheets of paper. The top four are Pitt calligraphy point felt pen on Canson Recycled Sketch paper for the 3's and 10's, and Canson XL Drawing paper for the first 15. The other two 15's are done with a gray and a black Pentel brushpen. on Canson XL Drawing paper. The 20-minute one is  water-soluble graphite on an 18 x 24" sheet of 150 lb. Maidstone paper, but the image itself is less than half the size of the sheet.; the smaller scale meant being able to get more tonal info down in the 20 minutes.