Dr Sketchy and Pub Sketches - 16 Sept 2013

I'm doing a double post this week since I had two drawing sessions. This Monday was a cold, record breaking rainy day (almost 60mm in 24 hours for interested weather nerds...) so it meant that there weren't many people there. I got a good spot with one of the best models (I'm being diplomatic, all the models have been great!)

Last night was Dr Sketchy, Lichtenstein at the NGA. The venue was huge so lots of space to move about and breath! The models were all different shapes & sizes and wore various costumes associated with the pop art theme for the night. I happened to join a table of talented & entertaining ladies which was located right next to the model I drew on Monday night! I didn't recognise her at first behind spotty body paint and blond wig but I did immediately recognise her tattoo! It was handy to draw a familiar model for warm ups before working on final sketches. My best drawings from the night were of a resistance fighter, Calamity Jane and Wonder Woman which I won a prize for ;-D That definitely made my night! The wine, mini burgers and fish & chips were also a bonus...

So to sum up, the location was brilliant with perfect lighting and loads of space, great music and entertainment (I ended up refining some drawings during the acts whilst glancing up now and then), tasty food, big tables to work at with loads of sketch pads and pencils supplied. I'd definitely go again.

Pub sketch - 15 minute pose, conte on brown paper

Pub sketch - 30 minute pose, black&white conte on brown paper

Dr Sketchy - 15 minute pose, conte on brown paper

Dr Sketchy - 10 minute pose, conte on brown paper

Dr Sketchy - Prize winning Wonder Woman sketch, black biro. The prize was a book of Coop artwork.

Pub Sketches - 9 September 2013

I didn't have the best angle tonight but got a couple of drawings which turned out OK using black conte. Most of my evening was spent feasting on Potato Wedges...

30 minute pose

15 minute pose

15 minute pose

Pub Sketches - 2 September 2013

Yay for Spring! A male model this week which I always find challenging. Still using brown paper, I worked with a black ball point pen for continuous line one and two minute warm up sketches and also for a detailed face study otherwise I used conte. I missplaced my white conte so didn't use the highlight technique, just blocked in areas of shadow instead. I focused a bit more on hands and feet tonight and I think there's improvement happening.

15 minute drawing, black conte

15 minute drawing, black ball point pen

10 minute sketch, black conte

Pub Sketches - 26 August 2013

After a two week break fighting off a particularly feral strain of flu, I returned to life drawing at the pub tonight. I was struggling to begin with as my nose decided to start running which combined with charcoal covered hands and an absence of tissues, meant I was mainly focused on trying not to smear charcoal across my face or annoy the poor lady next to me by constantly sniffing... Noice. Thankfully I was rescued by a fellow artist who was smart enough to bring some tissues (...note to self...) and I could finally focus on drawing again. I used conte in black with a few white highlights on brown drawing paper which is a bit of a favourite technique at the moment. I'm trying not to overdo the white highlights so they just accentuate the areas the spotlight hits. I also did a sketch focusing on negative space to bring out highlights.

10 minute pose - negative space sketch

15 minute pose

30 minute pose using minimal white highlights

Pub Sketches - 5 August 2013

Well, I feel like I'm repeating myself but it was another freezing cold, drizzly night for drawing at the pub! Tonight we had a male model with amazingly awesome muscle tone. I would have needed an hour to complete a drawing as there's so much work involved in getting all the muscles into the drawing. I had to really focus and think about proportion a lot more than usual. I got my hands on some brown drawing paper tonight, I've got a dealer! It was perfect for experimenting with a bit of mixed media to build tone with highlights. I dug out my old black and white conte again and also dropped in some Copic light blue marker for shadow areas. I'm liking the combo.

10 minute warm up sketch

15 minute pose

 

30 minute pose

 

Pub Sketches - 29 July 2013

Another dark, cold, rainy night in a cosy warm pub for some more drawing. It wasn't as crowded as last week but still didn't get the best vantage point when I first got there even though I actually turned up on time for a change! Some folks must camp out I'm thinking. Got a better spot after the break and a mass exodus.

This week I used an Aquash brush which was still a bit ink stained from the last time I used it to sketch the outlines and shading before adding line work with a blue watercolour pencil. I added further detail with a grey fine tip marker on the 30 minute sketch. I'm thinking I might have overworked it but it was worth experimenting with.

One guy there tonight was using light warm grey Copic markers to sketch outlines and shading before inking over the top which had a really nice subtle effect. Great drawings with smooth, confident lines. I didn't catch his name but I loved his stuff. He made me want to go shopping for a couple more Copic colours...

Warm up sketches - 1 & 2 minute, charcoal

20 minute pose

30 minute pose

Pub Sketches - 22 July 2013

This week we had a variation, a bloke! Now there's a challenge. I'm out of practice drawing male models as the majority have been female over the years. There's a totally different world of muscle tone and fewer curves. I decided to work in charcoal for warm ups and black ball point pen for the longer poses.

 

Warm up, charcoal - 2 mins

 

Warm up, ballpoint pen - 10 mins

 

15 minute pose



30 minute pose

 

 

 

Pub Sketches - 15 July 2013

Another cold rainy night but warm and cozy at the pub for life drawing! A lovely model with some beautiful poses this week. I arrived a little late so didn't start out with the best vantage point so I mainly focused on the face and upper body which is all I could see. I got myself into a better position a little higher up after the break and a few people had left.

Tonight I tried another technique using black and grey Copic markers and an old calligraphy pen to get an illustrative, stylised look. Similar to last weeks fine pencil work but a bit bolder. Permanant too, no opportunities to erase bits and start over. I worked on the basic outline first with grey incorporating areas of shadow then worked over that in detail with the calligraphy pen. I'm slowly working out my own style and rhythm.


5 minute poses

10 minute pose - legs and feet study

10 minute pose

Final 30 minute pose

Pub Sketches - 8 July 2013

It's below 0c degrees tonight so why not head to the pub for some life drawing? Tonight's model was absolutely stunning! I focused on her face and went for a different style and technique tonight for a bit of a change. I figured I've done enough charcoal for the last few weeks so thought I'd go for a more detailed, illustrative style instead which suited the models fine features and bone structure. I liked the languid, relaxed poses she made which had a real 1920's feel and hopefully that mood is reflected in these two sketches.



30 minute pose



15 minute pose

Eleri Mai Harris comic workshop

Two posts in one day! Not really, this is one I composed on iPad weeks ago but struggled to get it to work on the app. so I'm finally finishing it off.  

 

Once again, I've had a massive gap between creative projects! My motivation has been zero unfortunately even though there have been various opportunities to take advantage of. I seem to get stuck before pen even hits paper because I weigh myself down wanting to make something polished and perfect. 

 

This is why I really enjoyed participating in a comic workshop recently hosted by Eleri Mai Harris http://elerimai.com/ who is currently studying at the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont, http://www.teachingcomics.org. We had 20 minutes to produce finished, print ready page for a mini comic which was photocopied and bound by the end of the session. The comic had to include the following elements  

 

1. A distinctive Canberra landmark
2. The Skywhale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Skywhale and
3. One of Wally Wood's '22 Panels that always work' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wally_Wood. 

This is what I came up with.

I thoroughly enjoyed this workshop. It was well organised and involved creating a finished book to take home at the end of the night. The pressure to complete a full page in twenty minutes was a great way to actually create something without dwelling on details or making it perfect which normally involves hours of procrastination! We need more workshops like this for sure. I loved the silk screen cover artwork Eleri had prepared, simple and striking. Another technique I'd love to learn about! 

Life drawing again

Again, it's been ages since I posted anything and ages since I did any drawing for that matter which is why I'm making an effort to get back into it again. Whenever I take a break from it all, I seem to miss it or think about all the things I'd like to be drawing so the only cure is to jump back on the horse and do some stuff, no matter how dodgy it is!

Over the last three weeks, I've been heading to life drawing sessions held at a pub in town. The atmosphere is very casual, there is no instructor or lesson format, it's just people turning up who like to draw the figure with beer, wine, snacks, great music and, in my case, a decent cuppa! I need to focus on getting proportion right but mostly just trying to get my style and technique more refined.

Last week, I also went along to Dr Sketchy's Freak Show at a local bar. The costumes were brilliant as were the models who were mostly Burlesque dancers. There were also some seriously delicious cupcakes on the night! The only downside was the nature of the venue. The bar is right in the middle which made it difficult for 50+ people with sketch pads to navigate around the room and watch the acts & draw poses. The longest poses went for only 10 minutes which isn't long enough if you want to do a completed, detailed drawing. Besides that, it was a fun night and I find people watching is a highlight - 'is that guy here to draw or just to have a perv?' I'm pretty sure I'll go along to the next one too but just be a little more strategic about it. Pick out a fave model, sketch some poses then just super refine my favourite sketch looking back to the model for detail and give myself more time.

Enjoy these sketches and comments are most welcome!

Dr Sketchy

Life drawing at the pub

Life drawing at the pub

Life drawing at the pub

Liedekijn Illustration

First of all, it's been waaaaaaay too long since I last posted anything on this blog so I thought it was about time I got back into it again with a project I've been working on in January. This is an illustration for an upcoming exhibition at The Front Cafe and Gallery in Lyneham during March and April 2013. It's a group sequential exhibition based on the medieval Dutch/Flemish fairytale 'The Song of Heer Halewijn'. More detailed information can be found on the exhibition site, liedekijn.com

I was asked if I'd be interested in doing this illustration a few weeks ago when the original participant pulled out so I thought I'd give it a crack. Quite detailed descriptions of garments, characters and accessories were provided which required less reference material and meant I was able to come up with a drawing relatively quickly. Below are photos showing the process I went through to create the artwork from sketch to finish. I've only shown sections of the illustration as it hasn't been published or put on display yet. You'll just have to go along and check it out yourself or order a copy of the art book! It'll be fascinating seeing all the different interpretations and styles up on the wall together in the one place. I shall have to try to avoid comparing my artwork to those by others (creative types tend to all be guilty of that unfortunately!) 

Enjoy the journey!

I started with a detailed pencil sketch using a regular mechanical pencil.
I used reference material for the horse and face from 1920's images.

Once I was happy with the sketch, I got to work on inking.
I got the thick, outline work done first using a calligraphy Copic marker.

More detailed line work was completed using a 0.05 Copic liner.
I created a border in the style of Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale
around the centre image to bind the illustration together.

The border was inked using the calligraphy marker around the edges
and the fine liner for the detail work. Pencils were erased.

Once I was happy with the illustration, I then scanned it on a flat bed scanner
at 1200dpi to pick up the detail and cleaned up any marks and
line work I wasn't happy with in Photoshop.

...and the finishing up! I took the scan into InDesign where I added colour in various layers.
The overall illustration has a classic comic book look and feel. A style that I keep coming back to.