2nd Entry for Apr 29, 2011

In case you're wondering what has happened to the 3rd and 4th posts from this session,  a glitch in Blogger's systems has meant that a couple of posts from the past 2 days have been pulled, but should return. If not, I'll re-post them in a few days.

(Most of the studies documented on this blog are very short and direct. But for people who are interested in investigating doing longer figure drawings of their own, I am teaching a workshop from 9 a.m to 4 p.m daily May 16 -20  at the Toronto School of Art.  It's called "Bodies in Context".  Each day features a different model, set up in a tableau with props and backdrop elements, to explore narrative and symbolic  situations.
Good figure drawing practice, lots of time for one-on-one feedback and coaching, and an excellent opportunity to consider content - and the potential  meaning of figures - within your work.
There are a couple of places left, and for details, check in at the TSA's website.)

These are 10-minute studies, all done with compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" cartridge paper.

1st entry for Apr 29, 2011

On the Friday night,   M-  was working. These are a 1-minute study above, and three 5-minute head studies below.
These are all done on 18 x 24" cartridge paper with hard compressed charcoal. M-  has a very expressive face, and I got caught up in trying to capture some of that expression.

1st entry for Apr 24, 2011

 This is a  1 hour study of S-    , give or take a few minutes.   That was all I had time for that day.  It is done with compressed charcoal on a 22 x 30" sheet of Japanese paper. I am reasonably happy with the directness of the drawing here - it doesn't look too fussed-over.

An image like this is floating, in my mind, on a sea of possible directions into which the surrounding space could situate S-  , or contrast with his image.  I find that is often the stage the drawings are hovering at at the end of working with a model.

Any people who people who like investigating longer figure drawings of their own should check out a  Spring Intensive workshop I am teaching at the Toronto School of Art next week. (May 16 -20).   It's called "Bodies in Context", and runs from 9 a.m to 4 p.m daily     

 

Each day features a different model, set up in a tableau with props and backdrop elements, to explore narrative and symbolic  situations.  Good figure drawing practice, lots of time for one-on-one feedback and coaching, and an excellent opportunity to consider content - and the meaning of figures - within your work. 

There are a couple of places left, and for details, check in at the TSA's website.

2nd Entry for Apr 22, 2011

(Most of the studies documented on this blog are very short and direct. But for people who are interested in investigating doing longer figure drawings of their own, I will be teaching a workshop from 9 a.m to 4 p.m daily May 16 -20 over at the TSA.  It's called "Bodies in Context".  Each day features a different model, set up in a tableau with props and backdrop elements, to explore narrative and symbolic  situations.  Good figure drawing practice, lots of time for one-on-one feedback and coaching, and an excellent opportunity to consider content - and the meaning of figures - within your work.
There are a couple of places left, and for details, check in at the TSA's website.)


These are two 20-minute studies. Both are on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper.  The upper one is hard compressed charcoal alone, while the lower one has a very small amount of 8B grahite worked in as well.
I feel that the last one (below) has a good degree of the spntaneity that I like to see in a drawing of a person - a balance of looseness and control, and an un-selfconsciousness about the marks it is drawn with.

1st entry for Apr 22, 2011

Owing to the TSA Open House and various other things, it was nearly two weeks before I got in drawing again. On the quiet (Good) Friday night, S- was working. These are three 10-minute studies above, and a 15-minute one below.
I was feeling a bit rusty, but not drawing abysmally, either.  All of these are on 18 x 24" sheets of cartridge paper. The top three are hard compressed charcoal alone, while the lowest one is a mix of charcoal and 8B graphite.

4th Entry for Apr 10, 2011

Most of the studies documented on this blog are very short and direct. But for people who are interested in investigating doing longer figure drawings of their own, I will be teaching a workshop from 9 a.m to 4 p.m daily May 16 -20 over at the TSA.  It's called "Bodies in Context".  Each day features a different model, set up in a tableau with props and backdrop elements, to explore narrative and symbolic  situations.  Good figure drawing practice, lots of time for one-on-one feedback and coaching, and an excellent opportunity to consider content - and the meaning of figures - within your work.
There are a couple of places left, and for details, check in at the TSA's website.

These longer poses finished the evening.  The top two are 15-minute studies, while the bottom two are 20 minutes each. The topmost one is charcoal on 18 x 24" cartridge paper, and the others are all charcoal on 18 x 24" sheets of different types of Japanese paper. 

3rd Entry for Apr 10, 2011

These were some more 1-minute studies, following a longer break. All are done with hard compressed charcoal on 18 x 24" cartridge paper.