5.5x6.5" pencil
I'd intended to attend the Society of Illustrator's 2-on-2 sketch night twice a month. Given the things I do, that seemed a reasonable schedule, though they do it twice a week, so opportunities abound. The 1.5 hour round-trip commute doesn't help I guess. In any case, here is some fresh stuff from just last night. Sorry I haven't been able to show you other things lately. Hopefully soon!
Though there are always two models on the platform, I usually just draw one. Mainly, that's due to the time constraints, with the longest poses being only 20 minutes. Slightly aggravating, especially because the above pose was great with both ladies. I knew I couldn't get far, but a lot of us recognized it and started in on both anyway. Another 20 minute session would've been great, but I sought to frame the image and work with the incomplete parts so that it made a nice shape anyway.
I started the night out frustrated. The short-pose sketches didn't go very well this time. Maybe I was just tired, but it took awhile to get in the groove this time. Every once in awhile, you sit to draw and it's almost like you forgot how. During breaks I mentioned this to a couple guys who asked how it was going--I was relieved the hear them both say that yeah that happens all the time to them, too. I mean, I think I knew that, but it's nice to hear anyway.
I think I also learned that me and conte sticks need to part ways. At least for the kind of work I'm doing here. They just aren't friendly for holding. When I use conte in its pencil-form, I find I'm much more able to control it. So that's what I stuck with for the longer poses--if I worked larger, on longer poses, sticks would be great. But I work smallish, and trying to accurately draw more detailed areas can be problematic with these chunky, edged things. Even the conte pencils are a little problematic, since they don't fit easily in sharpeners. So you whittle points out of them using Xacto blades and, well, it's just not as predictable as pencil. This can be crucial when trying to draw facial features, for instance. But conte is great and fast for shading, where pencil is slow, or for mass drawing (drawing only shadow shapes, avoiding linework).
In any case, it is my intention to pick up the life drawing more often, hopefully twice a month starting next year (but it's not a resolution!).The music is a nice accompaniment to the evening, and there are lots of good artists working there, so it's a good environment overall to be in.
L: 3x9" conte pencil
R: 4.25x6.25" conte pencil
