1st entry for June 2, 2013

On the Sunday, Essa was working at the Sackvill session on the Daniels Spectrum building. These are, from the top, a 5-minute study, three 10-minute ones and a 15-minute study at bottom.
I was using warm gray Copic markers, in a range of 10%, 30%, 50%, 70% and black. I was doing initial drawing more gesturally with the 10% and working light to dark.
One of the pitfalls of working light to dark is that values are relative on the page; I tend to shade with the 30% gray as if it was a black, and it looks fairly dark when nothing else is on the page.
But when I add a 50% or darker value, it blows away the effect of darkness and everything looks washed-out.
This is an issue when doing short studies as there is limited time to go over areas multiple times with darker layers; too much time on the light info and the pose is over before I get to darks.  But light values are good for setting up shapes on the page as they are forgiving in a way a dark black mark isn't, because they are ultimately less obtrusive. Layering on one level at a time is like shading the image 3 or four times, in successively dark areas. I could shave off time and save ink by only laying in initial light values in the places they will be seen, but that is weird and patchy until darker values go in, and requires a lot of trust along the way.
My preferred compromise has been to block in all the tonal scheme quickly with a very light value, and then use a much darker one, like a 70% gray in the darkest bits, as a cue to what really dark will look like. Then I go back to building from light-dark through the mid-values. Black I save for extra punch at the end.
I didn't do that here, and the images look washed-out because of running out of time to get to darker values. I might have been smarter to start with a 30% or darker value for these fast ones, and only add lighter values than that if time allowed.
Charcoal and graphite are easier that way; one material means no fiddling back and forth between which instrument I'm holding, and more seamless tonal graduation. But these marker wash sketches have a punchiness and liveliness of their own.

2nd entry for May 31, 2013

These are two 15-minute studies above, and a 20-minute one below. The markers, especially when used fast, show their distinct strokes, so ideally they need to be used in some interesting way. Flat passages are possible but take a little bit longer to build.
Having a light gray makes it fairly easy to make highlights stronger by taking down the general light a notch. Three steps of value and black read as fairly graduated values at some distance, but aren't too many choices to be fiddling between.
These are done on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson 1557 heavier-weight drawing paper. It is a very nice soft surface and has a soft light about it, but it does absorb a lot of ink and the ink spreads a bit owing to its absorbency.

1st entry for May 31, 2013

Friday night, and my trip over to the TSA session got stalled by a downpour 5 minutes from the building.  When I did get there, I found it was Tahnee working.
These are all done on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge and Canson Recycled Sketch paper. I was using Copic cool grays  in a 10%, 30% and 50%, plus black.
The frontal lighting and my late start led to throwing down some very immediate images with minimal fussing. These are a 5-minute study up top, and 10-minute ones below.

2nd entry for May 26, 2013

I learned that the Sunday afternoons on Sackville are now broken up into roughly 1-hour poses, rather than the old 3-hour-long pose format. I like this, as it is long enough to get fussy, but not as long to overwork things.
Polina was there in the afternoon. These are 1-hour marker studies, done on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson XL Drawing paper. At lunch I had headed over to Curry's to get some mid-tone markers to augment the black I had, and got Copic's warm grays in 10%, 30% and 50% values.
By the last image the markers were all almost emptied. I was interested by the range of values I could get with them.  the drybrush marks when almost empty weren't awful either.

1st entry for May 26, 2013

On the Sunday morning, Justin was working. From the top, these are a 5-minute study, a 10-minute one and some 15-minute studies. Most are done with scuffed-up black Sakura and Copic pens and a gray 30% Copic marker - with the exception of the last 15-minute one. which is done with hard Nobel compressed charcoal. All are on 18 x 24" sheets of paper.
Most are on Canson Recycled Sketch paper, but the second last two are on heavier Canson Drawing paper. I thought the toothier heavy paper would allow for some drybrushing of the pens, but that didn't happen. Instead the linework soaked right in, and to me looked coarse and awkward, but not in the good way.

Entry for May 24, 2013

On the Friday at the TSA's session, Ben was working.
I had a medium gray Copic and a light gray Prismacolour markers, plus a bunch of Sakura Grahic pens. I had an idea that the graphic crispness of marker was the element I was wanting, something kind of like a woodcut or a lithograph. I also thought that if I distressed a broad nib by ripping it up a bit I could get some more interesting brushy chance textures.
So I tried shredding a Sakura nib on coarse sandpaper, but it just gave a broader soft mushy end.
Like the Toons retro space session a couple of weeks earlier,  I used the very light gay for underdrawing, and black on top.
The top 10-minute study is on 18 x 24" bond paper, which was too absorbent.
The one below was also 10 minutes on bond, but with initial Nobel charcoal drawing and marker on top. The problem with that is it means effectively drawing the image twice, and 10 minutes is sitill on the short side for that. But you have to try. No magic for me there, though.
The next standing study is 15 minutes on Canson Recycled Sketch paper. The value range and marks worked well - like a brush wash drawing.
The last three are two 15-minute studies and a 20-minute one at bottom. I switched to 18 x 24" Canson XL Drawing paper, which is heavier and a bit more toothy. It is also quite absorbent, so the markers sopped in and dispersed out a bit, which emptied them faster.
The middle two worked best that night; the last one got into overworked territory. The experimenting was engaging, all the same.  

2nd entry for May 19, 2013

From the top, these are a 10-minute study, two 15-minutes and a 20-minute one. These are also hard Nobel charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper.