Entry for Nov 15, 2012

On the Tuesday I went to the second-last of the Keyhole Sessions drawing sessions. The theme was `White Wedding', and featured the series host Sonya posing in her wedding dress, which was a good white-on-white costume challenge. They had their music turned way up that night, and that was interfering with the drawing for me - ultimately I had to make some improv earplugs in order to stay on track. My drawing was not so on that night, which may be cause or effect of why I was being
picky about the sound, but it was jarring that night.
Being the Keyhole sessions this was the kind of wedding that involved rope harnesses and simulated dominance and lesbianism, and as usual provided some multi-figure tableaus that were challenging to draw, and the sense of being a tourist in someone else's specific land of kink. It was a well-attended session, with lots of drawers young and old working away.
Except for the lowest one, which is on an 18 x 24" sheet of Maidstone 250 gram rag paper, the rest are on 18 x 24"sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper, and all are done with hard compressed charcoal. From the top, these are a 1-minute, 5-minute, 10-minute and 15-minute studies of Sonya, a 10-minute study of Jennifer,  a 10-minute and 25-minute study of Jennifer and Suki, and a 45-minute study of all three.
The last Keyhole Session, a multi-model extravaganza, happens Dec 11 at Revival. Check it out on their website for full details.

3rd entry for Nov 11, 2012

(The closing of the TSA means big changes for me. I'm having a studio sale this weekend - 2 PM to 7 PM on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 15 & 16 at my studio, 165 Bathurst St., just south of Queen.  To help with freeing some studio space and give me some working funds, you can pick up some framed older pieces of mine at extraordinarily low prices, so please tell your friends and come by.)

These are some 10-minute and 15-minute studies which ended that evening. All are done on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper. After all the intensive fast drawing that I had done earlier that day, I was losing intensity towards the evening's end.

2nd post for Nov 11, 2012

These are two 5-minute studies above and two 10-minute ones below, trying to mix the Sakura marker line drawing with compressed charcoal shading. All are on 18 x 24" sheets of bond or Canson Recycled Sketch paper. Things work in bits, but I didn't find the two media gelling together right away.

Entry for Dec 8, 2012

If anyone here took classes this fall at TSA or has friends that did, please pass this on:

Arrangements have been made to provide access to the premises to faculty and students to retrieve their personal belongings:
Tuesday, December 11, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and
Wednesday, December 12, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

thanks.

1st entry for Nov 11, 2012

Those of you who visit here semi-regularly have no doubt noticed the sudden lack of my incessant postings. A couple of game-changing, life-changing events took place in the last two weeks, which make the time before it feel like some distant happy bubble.  The pace of life is now settling again, and there are leftover images I've yet to share.
On that Sunday night, Angela was back at the TSA. I had just finished a day and a half of delightfully challenging and inspiring time drawing a super talent pool in a Series 808 dance workshop.  During the day I was using a pigment pen for its speed and directness, so I carried that on to to working with Angela's gesture poses. These are 1-minute studies, done with a Sakura Graphic 3 pen on 18 x 24" bond paper sheets.

Entry for Dec 1, 2012

To all of you who are visiting this blog - some personal matters are requiring my time and attention right now, but in time there will be more drawings to share.

Also, some of you may already have heard the sorry news that the Toronto School of Art has declared bankruptcy and closed their doors as of yesterday, done with no warning or discussion with the teachers, staff or students. For now, the institution of the TSA is gone, but there is much will to see the parts regroup in some way. Hopefully, the TSA body is like those sea sponges, that can be chopped up and reassemble.
I'll post if and when news arises on that. Meantime, here's the rundown on the events from the Star website:
http://m.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1295878--toronto-school-of-art-is-bankrupt-students-teachers-must-pack-up-today

and the Globe:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/after-43-years-toronto-school-of-art-closes-down/article5882302/

Ironic - getting some press about the school while it was running seemed near-impossible, but would no doubt have been a real help. Now when it's not needed, out come the media..

2nd entry for Nov 9, 2012

These are a 15-minute and 10-minute study above, followed by two more 15-minute studies and a 20-minute one at the bottom. All are done with hard Nobel compressed charcoal; the topmost two are on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper, and the lower three on 22 x 30" sheets of 90 lb Maidstone rag paper.