Entry for Nov 11, 2014

On the Tuesday night I got over to Artists 25, where I found it was Polyna working. These are three 2-minute studies at top, a 5-minute and a ten-minute below that, followed by three 20-minute studies and a 5-minute one right at the end of the evening.
It was an uneven night for drawing. There were some promising moments. I think the 10-minute study on the low stool is strong, but it doesn't have as solid a sense of weight on the stool as it could.
The top five images are Pitt calligraphy point pen on Canson Recycled Sketch paper. The first two 20-minute ones are a combo of Pitt pen and dilute india ink in a Pentel brushpen for a midtone. The first is on Strathmore drawing paper, and the one on the chair is Canson Mixed Media paper, with it's cooloer colour cast.
The second-last image is watersoluble pencil on Strathmore watercolour paper, and the bottom one is back to Pitt pen on Canson Recycled Sketch paper. All the sheets are 18 x 24"

2nd entry for October 17, 2014

These are three 15-minute studies and a 10-minute one at the bottom.
The top three are water-soluble graphite on Canson Montval watercolour paper, and the lowest one is Pitt pen on Strathmore Series 300 paper.
I feel it was only at the end of the evening that I was getting on track. There are bits of okay work in these, but overall it was not a strong night. Some nights are like that. I always enjoy being in the process, but I do notice in myself how not being as regularly immersed impacts on how loose, confident and sure I can be.

1st entry for October 17, 2014

On the Friday night I got out to the TSA, and Danielle was working that night. These are a 3-minute study and four 10-minute ones, all Pitt pen on 18 x 24" sheets of paper; Canson Recycled Sketch for the top two and Strathmore Series 200 for the lower three.
My pens were a bit dry, and the Strathmore I found a less receptive surface, so the drawing was a bit more of a wrestle than sometimes, and I was not finding my working groove easily that night.
Not that some wrestling to wed line with paper is a bad thing, per se - it does add to the focus challenge of the drawing.

1st entry for July 28, 2014

On the Monday, Shel was working at the TSA. These are three 1-minute studies above, and three 10-minute ones below. All are done with Pitt pigment pens on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper. There were others, but not worth sharing, in spite of strong work from Shel. My opportunities for focussed faster studies were quite limited in July, and the quality of the drawing was lower than I like that night. The back study was the first that came together , though the stool is very shakily rendered.

3rd Entry for Sept 1, 2011

From the top, these are a 10-minute, a 15-minute and two 20-minute studies. All are done with hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.
It wasn't one of my stronger drawing nights. The other studies weren't worth posting, I felt. But a couple worked quite well., all the same.

For people in the Toronto area looking for art instruction, the Toronto School of Art's fall term is beginning next week.
I teach introductory life drawing Saturday mornings (course  # 902) and Intermediate life drawing on Wednesday nights (course # 832), and a couple of other classes as well.  You can get more details about the school's many course offerings and registration info here.

1st entry for Apr 8, 2011

On the Friday, I almost skipped out on drawing, but decided to go at the last minute.  K-   was working that night as well.  From the top, these are a 5-minute, a 10-minute and a 15-minute study. It took some time to get to any adequate drawing, but the bottom one worked reasonably well, especially the handling of K-   's hair.

These are all compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" cartridge paper.

Entry for Dec 26, 2010

Between the TSA's open house and the holidays, it was two weeks til I got back in to do some drawing, and the rustiness is evident.  S-    was working, and I have drawn her many times.  From the top, the first two images are respectively a 10-minute and a 20-minute study.
I stayed on for  a bit of the afternoon, when it was a 3-hour extended pose. The head study was roughly 15 minutes, and is really weak. The lowest one was about 40 minutes in duration, and was the first where I was regaining some control, and getting a bit of a likeness. The proportions are still off - the head is markedly smaller than the body below it - which in this case imparts a bit of a Mannerist monumentality to S -  sitting.
Mostly I post on this blog the images I feel have worked out well. I present these as a document of rust getting undone.
All of these are done using Prismacolor art stick on 20 x 30" cartridge paper.

2nd Entry for Sept. 17, 2010

 

 

 

The topmost and lowest studies are 10 minutes each, and the middle two poses were 5-minute ones that L-  took.
There were a few other studies I did that night, but these are the only ones that worked out at all. A little after the midway of the session I headed out. L- was doing good work, but my mind was too much occupied with resolving things for the weekend's upcoming exhibit, and my focus was way down.

4th Entry for Aug. 20, 2010

These two 15-minute studies were the last ones I did that night. A- was doing good work, but I didn't feel I was at my best that evening. But in order to have stretches of good drawing, I think one has to be willing to slog through the grunt work of less successful times too.
Over the years I do feel that the quality level of what I feel are weak life drawing efforts has risen (as has the top level of really good sessions, but I feel that has risen by a more subtle increment.)

Entry for June 10, 2010

On the Thursday I got out for a small amount of drawing at the TSA. K- was working that night, and these were all in the 10-minute and 15-minute range.

(not one of my stronger drawing night, through no fault of K- .)

5th entry for June 8, 2010

These ware a 10-minute and a 15-minute pose that finished that evening. I still felt that my drawing was less `connected' than it often is.

2nd entry for May 28, 2010

Bottom to top these are a 10-minute, three 15-minute and a 20-minute study that finished the evening.
Nothing else was worth documenting from that night. (Nothing of my work, that is. G- herself was doing a typically fine job.)
The partial back study is not a catchy image, but I feel it has an honesty of description about it.
The head in the 2nd study down was weak, but the torso from the neck down was quite truthfully observed, I feel. It wasn't 'til then- almost the end of the night - that I really started to get properly engaged. The last full figure from the back worked out fairly well.