Figure Drawing session 2 @ ACAD

Going around the classroom you get to see how the artists view the model and you get a sense of the model in the round, 3D space made up with multiple 2d viewpoints.

People doing portraits

My Tuesday portrait drawing and painting classes have passed the point of the study of the placement and proportions and all the planes of the individual parts and individual parts and have now moved into the nitty gritty. The first challenge being to drawing a self portrait in the mirror.

We often quickly go over this review of order and placement of the facial features.

 We have to remind to burn it into our mind.

For future reference and to train our eye.

That way the parts are put in the right place in proper proportion from the start.

We want these to like like someone we should know very well.

By the end of the class they begin to.

 In paint we block in dark and light.

And pay homage to the gift that is our parents.

Still life studies - hard textures

This past Still life studies session was focused on seeing hard textures and conveying with mark making and contrast.   Also we had Merlin visit earning the glorious title of studio dog for the day!

More figure drawing from Wednesday

Every Wednesday 7-10 pm at Atelier Artista we host long pose drawing for only $20 + gst. So, whether you want to draw or paint and you want to study the human form you can come do it. We had a lot of drawers this session so we worked a few more warm ups before settling into the longer pose. See some of whats up below.

Go here for more info and to sign up:

http://www.atelierartista.com/figure-drawing

Figure drawing featuring Danielle

In this Wednesday night session we are graced by Danielle. The first three are each of my stages between breaks followed the final work.

 Below are some process shots of some of the work by the artists participating this evening.

If you would like to come down Wednesday night we start at 7pm and go until 10 pm.

You can sign up online:
http://www.atelierartista.com/figure-drawing

EPISODE 49 SAN MIGUEL

I've edited and uploaded the second video from my week log sketchbook travel to Mexico fro your enjoyment!  In this one we take a road trip to San Miguel de Allende and visit art galleries, studios and see the sights and sounds f this beautiful city before returning to Guanajuato for a few more days of sight seeing and studio visits. Check it out on my Youtube channel.

EPISODE 48 Guanajuato

It's Cinco de Mayo and since my return from Mexico I managed to upload the first video from my trip for you. Check it out above or on Youtube. Episode 48 Guanajuato.

Return from Guanajuato

I'm glad to be back. The very next morning after my return I opened the atelier and we got back down to business.  There are warm and fond memories to revisit, pictures to go through, unpacking to do and a whole lot more. As they say "No rest for the wicked".

These feet did a lot of walking, it was hilly, so I bought myself these nifty boots. The entire trip my hands kept busy, I sketched, painted watercolour and gouache and saw many sights. My mouth tasting the culinary favourites of the region. My ears listened to the cacophony of the busy streets and battling Mariachi bands in the plaza.  There is much to tell and share, but it will have to arrive in its own time. For now back to the Atelier!

Listen to this! We started the portrait class with the study of the ear and why? we have to draw it that way. I did a quick demo after anatomical notes on the board. I gave each student a reference photo to study and transmit onto their paper.

 After the portrait drawng class we moved into the afternoon portrait painting portion where we continued our study f the ear. In this session we painted in the skin tones based on what we drew previously. We roughed in colour an defined.

 The following day in Still life/object studies we learned to draw bone texture with two skulls I borrowed from the decor of my house.

 I did a demo of finding dark shapes and some lights on toned ground.

 The students did great work describing the forms in their own styles. After a short break we moved into paint studies and how to mix warm and cool grey tones and how to lay them in for the skull study.

 We scraped back our work after the lesson ready for another painting session anther day.

 We also have a new studio assistant, on loan from JJ peters. Thanks to her sleuthing skills we have a full sized skeleton in questionable condition to work with. That was just the first two days back!

Coming very soon....

....more updates

plus

the latest episodes on Youtube from Guanajuato!

Peparing to depart

Preparation is Key. I have a week long "sketchbook travels" trip to Guanajuato, Mexico coming up....... immediately. I signed up and paid most of it last year and I cant believe it is already here. My co worker Mark Vazquez-Mckay and his wife Carmen put this together. The itinerary is jam packed full of good stuff.

My fingers are crossed that I don't have any complications, hold ups or sickness while abroad. I've never been to Mexico, it should be exciting. I treated myself to a bunch of new gear to test run on this trip as well as new smaller carry on luggage, I'm packing light!

Hopefully I can put something good together for follow up episodes even though I'm not bringing much in the way of camera gear, stay tuned, keep joining me and subscribe below if you haven't.

If you'd like to know more about classes and events at my studio got
Http://Atelierartista.com

Gear:

Thumbbox by Guerilla available at Swintons Art Supply.
http://swintonsart.com

The folding CGI camping chair can be bough on Amazon for just over $20 find it here:
http://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=+GCI+Outdoor+Pack+Seat%2C+Black

I picked up the MeFoto tripods for under $300 @Vistek
https://www.vistek.ca/search/-MeFoto/tripod.aspx