Dragging In the New Year

The first Tuesday night drawing session of 2020 kicked off with one of our favorite male models. Here he is, Atlas-like, dragging in the new year and decade. 

Tuesday Night Models

Male model at a recent Tuesday Night Drawing session. 

A similar pose one week later.

Quick pose, fast sketch. Massive hair is always one of my favorite poses.

  

Elizabethan Costumed Models

Charcoal and chalk on tan-toned paper.

Last night was the third, and final, in a series of three drawing events, iDraw Shakespeare, sponsored by the International Shakespeare Center, Santa Fe, and the inaugural Santa Fe Summer Shakespeare festival that offered many varied events during June, July, and August. Events were as diverse as theater plays, theater talks and presentations, play readings, reading groups, a game of Shakespeare Jeopardy, Elizabethan dance lessons, and a life-drawing event every month. 15 artists participated in the 2-hour session, held at A Gallery Somewhere.

Elizabethan models.

A guy with a hairy chest

A guy with a hairy chest
Charcoal on newsprint
5-minute pose
18 x 24 inches

7-miinute Portrait

A very fast portrait sketch. My standard for portraits is this: if you can successfully use the portrait to pick the model out of a lineup of suspects, it's a pretty good portrait. Some lineups may be easier than others (everyone else in the lineup might be bald or have a beard), but it's a standard that works well enough for me.

Model's View of Tuesday Night Drawing

Left to right: Greta, Dan, Diwan, Joseph, Richard’s son (back), Richard (back), Fred, Arlene (seated on the floor) Mike (back), Clarity (back), Ed, Vicki, Lisa, Raye, Will (back), George, John’s easel, Bob, and Holly.

A panorama photo to show what the Tuesday Night Drawing group looks like from the model’s perspective. Nineteen artists in attendance this week, a little short of our record of 22 artists.

40-minute drawing

iDraw Shakespeare: 2nd of 3 special drawing events

Last night was the second of three special drawing events planned for the inaugural Santa Fe Summer Shakespeare festival, iDraw Shakespeare. Each session, held on the second Thursday of June, July, and August features two models for two hours. You can choose which model to draw, or move around as you wish to draw both.

Photos of the event can be seen on the A Gallery Somewhere blog.

Arzelie in Elizabethan costume
Charcoal on tan paper

Big, Soft, Messy Charcoal

For last Tuesday night’s drawings I used a bigger, softer charcoal stick and went for a fast, messy, sketchy style. 

Tuesday Night Drawing

Drawings from this week's Tuesday Night Drawing group:

Woman Wearing a Scarf (detail)
Charcoal on paper
24" x 18"

Woman Wearing a Headband
charcoal on paper
24" x 18"

Warmup sketch
charcoal on paper
24" x 18"

Drawing Event: iDraw Shakespeare #1

Charcoal on newsprint

The first of three drawing events took place last Thursday at A Gallery Somewhere, featuring two models dressed in Elizabethan costumes. Thirteen artists participated. The next iDraw Shakespeare event is July 11.

Sketchy Portrait

Charcoal on paper.

Messy but Fast

From Tuesday Night Drawing group: 

Charcoal on newsprint warmup drawings. 

5 and 10 minute poses.

Poses

Of the 15 or 16 poses last night, I kept about 10 drawings, should have kept half that many, and scanned these three. The model was great, the 60s-70s background music featured The Byrds.

Soft conte crayon on white paper.

Charcoal on newsprint.

Charcoal on newsprint. Not enough time during this pose for me to add a face.

Back to Argos

The latest Tuesday Night Drawing session at Argos Studio/Gallery (in Santa Fe) featured a male model, with Pandora background music of 80s Rock.

A Wedding in Santa Fe

On August 25, 2018. Jimmy and Shiori were married at the Mermaid Tavern’s plaza in Santa Fe.

Guests from Nagasaki and Osaka (Japan), San Francisco, Houston, Portland (Oregon), Santa Rosa (California), and Hawaii attended the ceremony and reception.

Steve and Risa, musicians/friends of Jimmy’s, played a song for Jimmy and Shiori, and surprised everyone with a surprise performance with a Mariachi band.

Saturday morning. Preparations start for the 4 p.m. wedding, including the covered patio. 

Last minute adjustments.

The Mermaid Tavern Plaza.

Matt Sanford performs the wedding ceremony.

Scarlett offers a touching toast to her brother, Jimmy, and his bride, Shiori.

Later the next day, video games provide the entertainment for some. 

Margaritas.

Jimmy and Shiori head out to The Great 28, a nine-hole practice course at Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe. 

Shiori and Jimmy on the ninth fairway of The Great 28.

Robin designed a new front door to welcome the wedding guests—a sonnet, laser-etched into solid maple—masterfully built by artist/woodworker Arlan Sanford, Scarlett's father-in-law.

Portrait Class

Gabe
Oil on canvas
20" x 16"

This is Gabe, one of the models for a four-week portrait oil painting class that I attended, taught by Kevin Gorges, in Santa Fe. I think I probably unofficially flunked the class, because Kevin was pretty insistent that I attend at least the first two sessions of the next class. The big question with a portrait painting is always “Does the painting actually look like the model?” Yes. In fact, it actually looks even more like him than he does.

Thinking About Blogging

Pencil drawing from the Tuesday Night Drawing Group,
using a $40 pencil given to me by drawing-group-regular/artist/pal Karl Whitaker.

The Bad News: As far as I can tell, no one noticed that I haven't posted a blog here for a couple of years. Not even me.

The Good News: No one complained.

Other Good News: A lot of interesting stuff (interesting to me, at least) has been happening and this is a good place to make note of it for later reference, so I'm back on the occasional blog routine. Now, when when someone say’s “Whatcha’ been up to?” I can say “Thinkin’ ’bout ’bloggin’.”

Tara at an Exhibition

Tara at an Exhibition

One of our favorite Tuesday Night Drawing Group models, the multi-talented Tara, was fabulous performance art at the CCA (Center for Contemporary Arts) inaugural Art Bank exhibit. This is a piece of art of her art at the art exhibit. 

Spikey Hair

A favorite model returned this week, after a brief-but-too-long absence, with her awesome spikey hair and nice poses.