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!