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.

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,

4th Entry for Oct. 18, 2010

 

These were 10-minute poses. There were a few props and such scattered around the stage - a stuffed panther doll, a hookah,  fans and such, but for me, in 10 minutes setting down a head and body well is challenging,  A head and body plus beaded and appliqued bellydance outfits is more than ample challenge for me. But props to the organisers Brett and Katherine for aiming to supply a contextual setting  for their models.

4th Entry for March 1, 2010

These were 15-minute and 20-minute poses. As a teen, I was very into sword-and-sorcery epics, and I was finding that R-'s pose with the staff, combined with his what I was seeing as a `Prince Valiant'-y haircut was evoking a Parsifal/Beowulf kind of vibe for me, which I enjoyed.

The AGO space is the sonic equivalent of a shopping mall. All around one can hear instruction being given, and social games being played between talkative painting students. In spite of all the surrounding sounds, I was having a fairly `on' morning that day, and was setting down forms fast enough that I was able to get a fair bit of background drawn as well. I was conscious of using `atmospheric perspective', diminishing contrast in the distance. The big staircase leading down to the AGO class area made for some interesting divisions of the background space.

I contrast the AGO's open sessions with those at the TSA, where someone rustling a plastic bag can be breaking the quiet. Perhaps because I have no investment in the space or the running of the session at the AGO, I can more easily ignore the outside stimuli there. Or maybe I am associating the hubbub with that space, and can incorporate it more readily into the drawing moment.

R- 's pose with his portable game console made me think that that is one thing I have yet to encounter: a model texting or reading his or her Blackberry while posing. People read books now and then, but not tech devices, yet. It's only a matter if time, I reckon.

3rd entry for March 1, 2010

These were 5-minute and 10-minute poses that R- did. I was teasing him at the time about doing the best lotus pose with a Dr Seuss hat and cigarette on a stool I had ever seen. But I was enjoying what he was doing that morning.
Caricature and narrative poses have never been areas I think of as strong suits, and not areas I go into depth on, but I was liking the stretch of trying to set down the flavour as well as the appearance of what he was doing.

2nd entry for March 1, 2010

As long as I have known him, R- has always brought a big bag of props with him to work with. I can think of a few other guys who bring props along, but there's no-one else who deploys them with as much character acting as R- does.
These were 2-minute poses.