knight in shining armour

Third year has ended, and I have to admit I am glad to see it go. Although I learned a lot, it was quite a headache and much too stressful. I am grateful that I had hard-working groupmates on our film. We finished on time, so there should be a clip to post here sometime soon. For now, here are my last two life drawings of the year.

The light at the end of the tunnel is that Mitch (my fiancé), San, and I are going to Asia for the summer. San and I are completing our apprenticeships for Sheridan, so this will be another challenge and a fantastic learning opportunity. Stay tuned for more on that!

Portraits

Sooooo, it's been a while. Thanks for checking back. The group film at Sheridan has taken over my life, and doing extra art on the side has been postponed for a while. I have, however, managed to get in a little bit of life drawing. I am really liking portraits. So much so that I am neglecting the rest of the body. Ha. Will get back to that shortly.

I would like to promise to post again soon, but the moment school ends I am on a plane to South East Asia for the summer. Things will be busy for a while, but with any luck I will have lots of stuff to post from that working holiday. As for now, wish me and my group members luck getting through the last few weeks of this film!

Life in Whistler

Just for good measure, thought I should throw up some life drawings from the summer. We are so spoiled with free life drawing at Sheridan. When away, I appreciate it so much more. I vow to hit the open sessions 3-4 times per week this school year. Hold me to that!

Shape

Seems like the word of the week is "Shape". I wish it had been the word of the last couple years because I now see how important it is to drawing, painting, and overall design. The concept is still a little zygote in my mind. I need to take some time to nurture it, but I am really looking forward to the discoveries to come.

Figure Painting 101

I've recently been brave (or foolish) enough to try figure painting with watercolours. Being inspired by the bold colours of Charles Reid's figure paintings, I've definitely taken some liberties here. I do not profess to have anywhere near Charles Reid's capabilities, but hey, 'ya gotta start somewhere. Plus, slapping colour around is fun, and that's what really matters in the end.

Life Drawing Dump

It's the end of winter break, and much to my surprise I've actually taken a break. Wow, what a concept. In theatre school they demanded that any amount of time that was allotted as break time was to be used as such. Whether it was a 10 minute stretch or a three week holiday, we allowed our bodies to rest and our minds to relax. Most importantly, we focused on other areas of our lives that also needed attention, such as investing time on hobbies and with loved ones.

Although I have been doing some personal artwork, I don't feel that it's blog-worthy yet. Feeling, still, that I should post regularly I've decided to dump some life drawings. Literally. I tend to chuck out old drawings pretty quickly, so I thought I'd share these before they hit the trash.

Being introduced, gradually, to tone and drapery. These areas become much more exciting when costume is added. The technical can make way for the dramatic, or I should say 'supports' the dramatic. Above are three drawings based on the concept of Don Quixote. It was fun to explore, and helps me remember why I go to life drawing in the first place: to tell a story!

Earlier studies of drapery and tone.

Three-point perspective.

A few selections from my last portfolio.

Post Already!

Okay, okay, I hear you!

After several harassing comments, I am finally (reluctantly) posting. School is back in, and art is on display everywhere. Art that inspires, yet depresses. When I see the seniors' work I think, "Now, I can't possibly post my silly, amateur doodles on a blog!"

Alas, here I am, facing these fears and self-doubts. These life drawings were done last week at an extra course San and I take off campus. It is so refreshing to go into Toronto one night mid-week and mid-rush to simply enjoy art for art. I tend to produce more confident work there with the pressures of the Sheridan competition removed.

The constant goal is to find a balance between looking at your neighbour's newsprint (or painting, or animation...) for inspiration and guidance versus looking at your neighbour's newsprint to find out where you rank. I think we can all relate to this, and I will continue to take extra courses outside of Sheridan's program in order to remind myself why I came to this school in the first place: art is fun!

Life in Nelson

So I promised myself I would post once every two weeks this summer, but clearly that goal is a little out of reach at the moment. In an attempt to make regular posts a habit, regardless of my fears of the work being seen, here are some random life drawings from open classes in Nelson. Now, when I presented the idea of three minute gestures to this group they looked at me like I had three heads; so these are 10 - 30 minutes. At least I got a chance to try some rendering.


Also, I took a baseball to my right thumb a couple of weeks ago ending a stellar season. (Anyone who knows me well knows the previous sentence is loaded with sarcasm.) Not wanting to give up drawing, I started drawing with my left hand. I've wanted to develop my ambidextrus abilities for a while and activate the creative side of my brain, so below is a caricature that came out of this new lefty freedom.

First ever caricatures!

My first try at caricatures! It was more fun than I anticipated, too.

I usually draw faces like this:


so this is a big departure for me:




Looking forward to pushing it more and getting away from portrait-looking faces.