1st entry for April 15, 2014

On the Tuesday afternoon, Diane McGrath herself stepped in as the model for her Drawing Room sessions. These are some 1-minute and 2-minute studies, Pitt pen on 18 x 24" sheets of  Canson Recycled Sketch paper.

2nd entry for Apr 13, 2014

These are three 25-minute studies and a roughly 30-minute one at bottom. All are done with Pitt pen and water-soluble graphite on 18 x 24" sheets of paper. The top three are Canson Montval 140 lb paper and the bottom one is Maidstone 150 lb rag paper.
Drawing people foreshortened or interacting with any sort of furniture is one of the many places where perspective enters into the picture. Starting May 21 at the TSA I'l be offering a 6-week "Perspective Basics for Drawing" course on Wednesday mornings. It will cover the core principles of object drawing, and 1-point & 2-point perspective as it applies to observational drawing.
This course was particularly introduced with life drawers in mind, because over the years I have seen a lot of people who have become really strong at drawing bodies, but the elements of the surrounding space are not nearly as effective.  It's $300, and you can sign up for it here.

1st entry for Apr 13, 2014

On the Sunday morning I got out to the 519's once-monthly 3-hour session. It is open to all and happens from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. n the 2nd Sunday of each month. Greg was working, and these are four 3-minute studies above, and a 5-minute one at the bottom. All are done with Pitt pen on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson XL Recycled paper.

If you've been wanting to investigate drawing people for yourself... or want to refresh rusty past skills, I'll be teaching a 6-week Life Drawing Essentials class at the TSA Saturday mornings, starting May 17, It runs 9:15 - 12:15 and is suitable for complete beginners, as well as people who want more practice or a basics refresher.
Including model fees it costs $325, and you can register for it here.

3rd entry for Apr 8, 2014

These are a couple of 5-minute ones at top, two 10-minute studies after that and a 15-minute one at bottom.
All are on 18 x 24" sheets of paper. The top one is on Canson XL Drawing paper, the next on Canson 1557 drawing paper,both using Pitt calligraphy-point pen..
The two 10's are on Canson Montval watercolour paper, with the Pitt pen and water-soluble graphite. I like this combo, as the watercolour graphite is like a more informal marker drawing, but has a similar look*
The bottom one is an experiment using the graphite on its' own on a sheet of Terraskin paper. Terraskin `tree-free' paper is some kind of a synthetic stone-based material, which feels like Mylar or a soft plastic sheet. It's lack of absorbency meant that the same intensity of graphite washes as the studies above laid down much lighter values. Later I will try augmenting this with some soft pencil. I wasn't initially enamored with how it behaves, but glad I tried, as I've been curious about it for a while.

If you want to spend three days investigating line, tone and wash drawings using ink, I am offering a 3-day intensive May 14 - 16,  Drawing With Ink.  Over the years I've enjoyed on and off exploring the versatility of india ink as a drawing medium, and I enjoy introducing others to it. You can enroll for that here, and stay tuned for a couple of other upcoming short workshop announcements for late Spring at the TSA.

(* Ed. note: check out June, July and August 2013 entries for my fling with Copic markers. I like their look and immediacy a lot, but their concerns about their lightfastness ultimately moved me away from them.)

2nd entry for Apr 8, 2014

These are some 2-minute studies at top through to 5-minute ones below. They are all  Pitt pen on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson XL Drawing paper.

1st entry for Apr. 8, 2014

It was another week before I could get out drawing again, back once more to Diane McGrath's Tuesday afternoon Drawing Room session at the Collective Space on Sterling Rd.
Alison was working that day, and it has been a while since I've drawn her*. These are some 30-second and 1-minute poses on a mix of equipment, all Pitt pen on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper.

(* ed. note:  Mar. 29, 2013)

4th entry for Apr 1, 2014

These are two 5-minute studies at top, two 10-minute ones after that and a 15-minute one at the end. All are on 18 x 24" sheets of paper, with a Pitt calligraphy pen. The first and third are on Canson XL Drawing paper, the 2nd and 4th on Canson Montval watercolour paper, and the bottom one is on a 150 lb. Somerset rag paper. The bottom two have some water-soluble graphite in conjunction with the pen marks.
A couple of my 10-week classes that aren't running at TSAthis term means that there is room for some special 5-week and 6-week classes... keep posted on details of these coming shortly.

3rd entry for Apr 1, 2014

These are some 2-minute and 3-minute studies. There were others, but they didn't pass the bar of posting at all. I was struggling a bit with rustiness and too-dry pens that day. The Collective Space is a big room, and Kadri was working with the depth of it a lot, moving from up close to leaning on the back walls.
These are all persnickety Pitt calligraphy-point pens on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch and Canson XL Drawing papers.
If you want to learn about drawing people from life yourself (or shake up old rusty skills of your own, ) there is a Saturday morning 10-week course coming up in about a week that I teach at the TSA. You can still sign up for it here.

2nd entry for Apr 1, 2014

These are some 1-minute studies, Pitt pen on 18  24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper

1st entry for Apr 1, 2014

On the Tuesday Kadri was back in working at Diane's Drawing Room session. These are some 30-second and 1-minute studies, all done with Pitt pen on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper.
The TSA's 10-week Saturday morning Intro to Life Drawing session is starting in a week or two. You can sign up here. No trapeze poses, but a good introduction to drawing human bodies - or for a good solid refresher, if you feel your drawing skills are getting rusty.