2nd entry for Feb 5, 2014

These are, from the top, three 10-minute studies, a 20-minute one and a 15-minute study below. All are on 18 x 18" sheets of paper; the top three are done with Pitt pen and india ink washes in brushpens on Canson Recycled Sketch paper. The more beige one is india ink on a sheet of cold-pressed watercolour paper, and the lowest one is on some Strathmore Series 400 paper, same media.
The better-quality papers absorb the ink faster, which impedes aq steady flow of ink, and means more fusssing, but on the upside, the brushpens do help contain the mess potential of ink.

1st entry for Feb 5, 2015

I was at a Collective session in a condo up near Bloor and Sherbourne on the Thursday. Courtney did the volunteer modelling that night. These are three sheets of 2-minute studies, and 5-minute ones below that. All are done with Pitt pens on 18 x 18" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper. The 5's also have some gray washes with various brushpens.

2nd entry for Feb. 2, 2015

This is a 40-minute study with a variety of washes on an 18 x 24" sheet of Canson Watercolour paper. there was an initial pencil underdrawing to sort out proportions, a few Pitt pen lines, and then an alternation of brushpen and Chinese ink washes delivered with regular watercolour brushes.
I like the open-ness of this, and the juxtaposition of fluid and more controlled values.
There was just enough time that there is a little bit of urgency to the image-making, as opposed to more leisurely overworking.
But time is relative - after 5's, 10's and 15's, 40 minutes seems epic. But within an extended 3-hour pose, 40 minutes is only 1/4 of the way.

1st entry for Feb 2, 2014

The TSA stayed open through a heavy snowstorm, so I headed over there to do some drawing on that Monday. Chris was working, and these are a 5-minute and a 10-minute study on the top sheet, a 10-minute one below that, and two 15-minute ones at the bottom.
The top two sheets are Canson Recycled Sketch paper, and the ones below are Strathmore drawing paper. All are 18 x 24", and all these have medium Pitt pen with a range of greys in Pentel brushpens.

2nd entry for Feb. 1, 2015

These are two 15-minute studies above, and a couple of 30-minute studies below. The upper ones are on 18 x 18" sheets of Strathmore Drawing paper, and the longer studies are on 14 x 17" sheets of Strathmore Bristol paper.
These are all done with a mix of gray washes and a medium point Pitt pen.

1st entry for Feb 1, 2014

On the Sunday afternoon, I tried out a drawing session at the Bampot Bohemian Coffee House on Harbord, near Bathurst. It runs from 2:30 to 5:30 in their back room. I got there a little late and found a back corner in their very full small space.
Burlesque performer and sometime Toons on Tap model El Toro was working that day. these are a sheet of 1-minute studies up top, and then 5-minute ones below. All are Pitt pen and gray brushpen washes on 18 x 18" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper.

2nd entry for Jan 26, 2015

These are two 18 x 18 Canson Recycled Sketch sheets at top with 10-minute studies. Below that is a standing study on 14 x 17" Strathmore Bristol, and at bottom one on a 15 x 13" sheet of heavy watercolour paper.
All are done with a range of gray washes applied with Pentel brushpens.

1st entry for Jan 26, 2015

On the Monday I was back at the White House session, and caught up on drawing Scott from Friday. The top two sheets are 1-minute studies, and the rest of these are 2-minute and 5-minute studies.
These are all Pitt pen and Pentel brushpens with gray washes.
All of these are on 18 x 18" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper.

Entry for Jan 23, 2015

On Friday I went drawing again. I bypassed a too-busy session at TSA of short poses, and went over to Artists 25 instead. Polyna was there that night, doing part of a multi-week pose. This is a 2-hour study, done with gray ink in brushpens and some Chinese ink washes as base values.
The image is a little stiff.  Polyna's head seems a fraction big and edges into cartoon territory, and her foreshortened body sinking into the chair looks awkward. ( I don't know why people seem to be using black cloths on chairs and stools these days - it sort of undermines any adjacent shadow possibilities.)
I kept the background lighter, and I'm happy with the range of marks and values in this one, which includes a fair bit of applying dark ink on the tip of a pen filled with lighter ink, and exploiting the gradients that makes.
This is on an 11 x 22" sheet of the same 200 lb rag cold-pressed paper as the Tuesday. No sanding this time, and it was playing nicer, which I was liking. I feel the inks I are sitting better on this paper. Some of the background washes were applied with regular watercolour brushes, not brushpens, which led to broader strokes and some richer textural effects.

Entry for Jan 20, 2015

I find that often after a drawing session that goes well, there will be a day with some weaker drawing, and that was the case on the Tuesday night. Buoyed by promising results over a couple of previous sessions - and by the the night before at the White House -  I persevered through transit irritation to get over to Artists 25. Paris was working that night, and I had some papers I had got that I wanted to test out.
The top one is black and grey brushpens on 18 x 24" Canson Recycled Sketch paper. The second one is also ink washes on a 15 x 22 sheet of Stonehenge paper. It was a bit more bleed-y than I would have liked.
The next one is water-soluble graphite on an 18 x 24" sheet of Canson watercolour paper. The last two are on 18 x 24" sheets of some Curry's brand cold-pressed 200 lb. rag watercolour paper.
I had picked up a 5-pack of the 200 lb paper, but found it too rough on first try, especially with dry media. This evening I tried sanding it lightly before working. That led to a smoother surface, loads of cotton dust, and uneven absorption, so that is an experiment that has not been repeated.
There just wasn't chemistry for me that night. Some nights are like that, but it's always worth trying, if only to rule out unproductive hypotheses.
The standing back study was okay, but the rest of the night was something of a wash. The images did resemble Paris, but were lacking focus and confidence. Even Paris himself, who is dependably flattering to people about their work, wasn't saying much when he peeked at these during breaks...

3rd entry for Jan 19, 2015

These are four 10-minute studies above, and a 15-minute one at the bottom. The top three are Pitt pen and gray ink washes on Canson Recycled Sketch paper. The fourth is water-soluble graphite on a sheet of Canson Watercolour paper, and the bottom one is ink washes and Pitt pen on a sheet of Strathmore drawing paper.
All of these are on 18 x 18" sheets of paper.

It was my first time at the White House Project space. They are a couple of blocks south of College St. on Augusta, on a second floor. Their drawing session is 2 hours, most Monday nights, from 7 - 9 p.m. The emphasis is on short poses, and the space is quite spare in terms of furniture and props, and lighting is quite simple. They play a mix of indie and post-punk music, not too loud.  Personally,  I liked the bare-bones ambience of it.

2nd entry for Jan 19, 2015

These are three 2-minute studies and a couple of sheets with 5-minute studies. These are Pitt pen and grey washes in Pentel pens on 18 x 18" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper.