1st entry for Nov 7, 2013

On the Thursday I was out for another of the Collective drawing sessions, at the same place as the previous week. Ren was the volunteer sitter that night. These are a 2-minute study at top, some 5-minute ones and a 10-minute at bottom.
These are all on 11 x 15" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper. They are done with a Pitt calligraphy point pen and the bottom one has some dilute India ink from a waterbrush, which was co-operating more this time around.

Entry for Nov 3, 2013

On the Sunday evening I went for the last stretch of OCAD U's two-day drawing marathon.  I was there for roughly the last 3.5 hours of a possible 9-hour drawing day.
It was shift change when I got there, so the top study of Murray is a 5-minute line drawing with shading during the break.
After that Jacqueline was up, and these are two 1-hour studies and a 20-minute one at bottom.
All of these are done on 11 x 15" paper: the top one is on Canson Recycled Sketch paper, and all the others are on Canson 140 lb watercolour paper. The shading is all done with water-soluble graphite applied with a waterbrush.
The top study of Jacqueline is a little too conventional in composition & placement; the one below it is more interesting, and the last one, though too rushed, has the most honest directness.

Entry for Oct 31, 2013

On the Thursday night I was out at another Collective session, this time in a funky old house near Bloor and Parliament. Francis, one of the drawers stepped up to sit for the night. These are two 5-minute studies, two 10's and two 15's below.
The top four are on 11 x 15" sheets of cartridge paper, and the lower two on the same size of Canson XL Drawing paper. I was trying the mix of a dilute india ink underdrawing and Pentel brushpen in black. The small waterbrush I was using for the gray was a bit more co-operative, but still tended to run out of flow faster than my marks. I also had a broader-tip waterbrush that gave some midtone to the second-last study before petering out.
Heading home via Halloween at Church and Jarvis was a colourful contrast to the cozy drawing session that preceded it. Cold rain wasn't dampening spirits there much at all.

2nd entry for Oct 29, 2013

These are five 5-minute studies above, a couple of 10-minute ones below that and a 15-minute one at bottom.
I felt it wasn't one of my stronger drawing sessions. Some days are like that. It was as if I had taken a klutzy pill, and things ket slipping and dropping and rolling off the bench I was working on. (I didn't knock over my coffee, which is something...).
A dilute ink mixture I was trying out in a waterbrush wasn't flowing, and the calligraphy tip pen I was wanting to work with had dried out - in general, I was wrestling with materials that day.
There were moments, and the last study worked well from a descriptive standpoint.
These are all done on 18 x 24" sheets of paper. The top one is on Canson Recycled Sketch paper, the next six are on Canson XL Drawing paper, and the bottom one is on a sheet of 150 lb. Maidstone rag paper.
The bottom one is done with water-soluble graphite applied with a waterbrush, and some pencil undersketching. All the others are Pentel brushpen with either pencil or dilute ink indersketching to help with proportions.
Kirsten's work was very solid, and her costume of black pvc top with red lace-up ribbons in back and black satin track shorts, nude tights and ankle wraps was a nice challenge, but one I wasn't quite as confident with as I would have liked to have been.

1st entry for Oct 29, 2013

On the Tuesday, I was a bit late arriving at Diane's Drawing Room session. I found Kirsten already in the midst of some trapeze work.
As I got settled into work, she started mixing up equipment.
These are 2-minute and 3-minute studies, done with Pentel brushpen on 18 x 24" sheets of Canson Recycled Sketch paper.

2nd entry for Oct 24, 2013

These are a couple of 10-minute studies at top, two 15-minute ones, and a couple of 20-minute ones below that.
The top four are on 11 x 15" cartridge paper, and the lower two are on 11 x 15" 140 lb. Canson Watercolour paper.
The upper ones are done with Pentel brushpen and a bit of pencil underdrawing (erased in the top two).
The lower two are water-soluble graphite with some light pencil undersketching. There was a break in between the two long poses, which is why there is more background detail in the first one. I like that these are set in a distinct space, but in hindsight prefer the more simple evocation of an interior in the lower one.

1st entry for Oct 24, 2013

Size is a relative thing. When I was doing 4' x 5' images, 24 x 36" seemed small.  22 x 30" was a tight squeeze. Now, I'm increasingly accustomed to fitting figures on 18 x 24" sheets, and once-normal  papers seem like big expanses.
On the Thursday night I was out at another Collective session, where I was trying to shoehorn figures onto the postage stamp playing field (at least for me) of 9 x 12" paper. sitting beside me on couches were people happily drawing in tiny Moleskine books, a feat that continues to impress me. It was a chatty session at a condo highrise near Rosedale. Tasty food and music that was working for me. Daryl was kind enough to be the volunteer model for the evening.
These are 1-minute and 2-minute studies above, and a couple of 5-minute studies below, all done with a Pentel brushpen on 9 x 12" sheets of cartridge paper.