Dead Men Chase no Tail

Posted on April 22, 2011February 7, 2022 by Thor

I decided to go to Austin’s Coffee (929 W. Fairbanks Avenue) to join “Sketchy Broads” for an evening of sketching. It was pouring on my drive over from work. All day there had been tornado warnings across Central Florida. I made sure my sketch books were in plastic bags and then I sprinted through the parking lot to the back door. I ordered a Yak which is a frozen coffee with caramel and chocolate. Sean Moore, Austin’s owner and coffee expert, told me he had peaked over my shoulder the last time I had stopped in for a sip and a sketch. He liked what I was working on and invited me to exhibit my work on the coffee shop walls. I always get nervous when my sketchbooks leave my studio but I might take him up on the offer.

While I was waiting for my drink, Orit Reuben introduced herself. She was there to sketch as well. We both had arrived early and both of us were attending the Austin’s sketch event for the first time. Sean let us know he would be moving furniture off the front stage area to get things ready. I joined Orit when she started moving chairs. Sean and I moved the Victorian looking purple couch onto the stage as a prop. Soon the models, Jenny Coyle and Lindsay Boswell, arrived. They had a hamper full of pirate costuming and props. When Jenny pulled out an old bottle of rum, an artist remarked, “That’s no prop, she goes everywhere with that tharr bottle!” Everyone laughed.

As artists arrived, I added them to my sketch. I did some of the fast poses but then erased them and waited to add the pirates when they took longer poses. Orit had a concerned look on her face when she sketched. She had a large 18 by 24 pad for doing pastels but I think she needed an easel. Another artist arrived with a mini easel and he told her where she could pick one up. He did some very detailed pencil renderings of the pirates faces. I have just the one sketch to show for the evenings modeling session. As I left, I bumped into Swami Worldtraveler and he let me know about the weekly jazz sessions at Austin’s every Thursday night starting at 9pm. Sounds like I have to come back for another sketch!

Crealde – Saturday Figure Drawing

Posted on September 16, 2010February 7, 2022 by Thor

Every Sunday there is a figure drawing class at Crealde from 10:30am to 12:30pm. I usually have other events on my plate but this Sunday I decided to get back to figure drawing. It is so nice to have a model stand still for five minutes or longer. Amber is a young petite model who had a steely focus when posing. She would stare at a spot right above everyone’s head and remain totally still. She didn’t take the most dynamic poses but I was overjoyed to be able to relax and take my time with my drawings. I filled 2 spreads in my sketch book with tiny studies before I decided to expand my view to incorporate all the artists. There were some female artists as well, they just happened to be on the opposite side of the room. Paul McNear runs the class starting with 2 minute poses then 5 minues then finishing up with 20 minute poses. Paul is the artist with the checkered shirt, I love drawing his expressive face.
Once I started this sketch I didn’t take any breaks, while others chatted away, I was adding washes and adding background details. The devil is always in the details. I loved that there was a poster on the wall that said simply, “Hope.” Every drawing begins with a bit of hope and faith. With this sketch I didn’t do any preliminary pencil work. I attacked the drawing by going straight to ink and I feel the result is bolder with more chances being taken. If I do this more often I should be able to finish my sketches on location much faster.

Available

Posted on August 25, 2010February 7, 2022 by Thor

For the entire month of August, performance artist Brian Feldman has decided to make himself “Available” to do anything you need help with. Do you need your car washed? Laundry folded? Lawn mowed? Dog walked? Dinner prepared? Someone to go shopping with? Someone to see a movie with? Kids watched? Help crossing the road? Services of the self-proclaimed greatest designated driver of all time? Just fill out the form and he is available for you. It is like hiring a friend to help out for FREE!
One request caught my eye from the start. Karen Cali (KC), a figurative artist, wanted Brian to post nude for her. As KC wrote, “I do charcoal work from the figure and there’s a shortage of male models in general and my money to pay models in particular.” There was a mad flurry of e-mails as this private sketch session was arranged. Several sketch locations were considered and then discarded, including the Mobile Art Show and Blank Space. Since I was having a sketchbook display at Frames Forever & Art Gallery, we finally decided this would be the perfect spot for a quiet Sunday morning sketch session. Katie Windish, who owns the shop, is still offering huge clearance discounts on everything in stock. She even bought in a whole pile of art books, DVDs and other items from home. She had a tiny digital camera that she wanted to sell and before Brian got to the shop we duck taped it to the far wall opposite from where he was going to pose. We made no effort to disguise the camera, we just wanted to see if he would ever notice it. It took him about half an hour, but when he did notice it we all had a good laugh.
KC had bought her own artist sketch bench and a flood lamp. Brian hung a black drape over the windows of the shop door. KC and I dropped our cell phones off in the back room of the shop with Katie. She was busy working on a framing job and wasn’t prepared to see Brian nude, so she stayed hidden. She did stop out when Brian had a break and was in his bathrobe. I showed her my drawing but kept my thumb over the private parts. KC did a great job of posing Brian and reassuring him as he found his pose. He is actually a really good model since many of his performances involve stamina and patience. KC did two drawings and I worked on this blog sketch. The second pose was a standing pose, and offered the full monty. I decided to stick with this sketch where his clenched hands hide his privates. I have a newfound respect for the lengths Brian will go to for the sake of his art.

Boudoir Bombshells Calender Shoot

Posted on July 25, 2010February 7, 2022 by Thor

Kristen Wheeler invited me to a photo shoot for a Boudoir Bombshell calender. The shoot took place in Clermont which is way out on the west side of Orlando. Driving on 50 heading west there is still quite a bit of undeveloped land. Clermont is a quaint little old Florida town. the shoot took place in a small storefront business called Thyme of Day which offers yoga classes. When I knocked on the door, a boxer dog barked a few times and started spinning around in a circle. Kristen welcomed me and introduced me to an author who was at the shoot as research for a character in her book titled 3 Flavors. A character in that book is loosely based on her observations of Kristen. None of the models had arrived yet and Kristen was just starting to set up her backdrop. She suggested I get lunch at Cheeser’s Palace across the street and after hearing her descriptions of some of the menu items I decided that was a great idea.
While waiting for my order to arrive, Marcie, an actress I had met before at the Fringe walked in and ordered the 5 cheese grilled sandwich. She had just gotten back from Alaska and we chatted for a while about sea otters and the unspoiled beauty of the Alaska wilderness. Marcie was the first model to show up for the shoot and she got her sandwich to go. When I got back to the photo studio more models had arrived and they were sorting garter belts , nylons and staring to apply makeup. Brooke had been assigned the task of blowing up as many red white and blue balloons as she could. In the back room of the studio the women began to get into their costumes. Timarie, or T, began to began to work on Marcie’s hair. She used her curling iron to help establish the 1940’s look she was after. When Marcie saw the final results in a mirror she was delighted.
The first model to be shot was Chloe. She had never done a Boudoir photo shoot before so Kristen walked her through a quick introductory course. Kristen said, “Now say your vowels but enunciate and exaggerate how you use your lips, A E I O U.” The pursing of the lips on U made for a sultry Marilyn Monroe look and everyone laughed. Kristen had taken a number of shots of Cloe before Roz stepped in and asked Chloe if it was OK for her to remove her glasses.She pointed out that Chloe had beautiful eyes and they wanted to see them. Chloe was fine with that and the shoot continued. She then lay down on the floor and Kristen shot her from above. She held her legs in the air and announced, “O” for Kristen. Rosalind said, “Now push the girls together.” Chloe adjusted her bra with the desired effect. She said, “I have never been complimented so many times in one day.” It is true that she was told she was beautiful and a natural so many times it is hard to count. Dizzi, the boxer, is a bit of a ham and whenever she was let in the photo shoot room she would spin around and then find a spot where she was sure to be photographed or sketched.
Next up was Marcie who was dressed in a cute tight fitting sailors outfit. She was to represent July 4th and she stood in a sea of balloons. During her shoot all the other girls grabbed as many balloons as they could and they threw then up in the air letting them rain down on Marcie while the shutter clicked away. Dizzi, the boxer, was having a fit spinning in a tight circle and barking her head off. This was more excitement than any dog should be expected to handle. Marci is a pro and she knew how to play up the coy looks and come hither gazes. Whenever she would raise her left eyebrow, it bought about a round of laughter from everyone. The white backdrop behind Marcie will be replaced by an American flag for the calender.
Getting to sit in on a Boudoir photo shoot was very fun and there were so many other sketching opportunities. In late October or early November there will be a calender release party. I will keep you posted.

Crealde Sunday Sketch Class

Posted on June 22, 2010February 7, 2022 by Thor

Every Sunday at Crealde there is a sketch class from 10AM to 12:30PM. I write it in my calender every week but usually there is some other arts related event that I end up going to sketch. This week they places one of my Crealde sketches on the invitation so I made an extra effort to show some solidarity and I headed out to the class.
The class starts out with 2 minute gestures then 5e minute gestures. By the end of the class the model is taking 20 minute poses. I started the sketch by blocking in a 5 minute gesture of the model on her stand. Then for the rest of the class I focused on the artists as they concentrated on the task at hand. The model named Jenny looked familiar to me but I couldn’t figure out where I had seen her before. Half way through the class when she was on a break I finally shouted out, “You were Alice!” She admitted that she had modeled for a group called “Sketchy Broads.”
There is another sketching event in town called “Dr. Sketchy’s.” A lot of new people going to Dr. Sketchy’s were really confused about the two sketching events– they had similar names, similar themes, they were both on Wednesdays, etc. Artists started thinking Sketchy Broads and Dr. Sketchy were the same group, or would get dates confused, showing up at Tatame (where Dr. Sketchy’s is usually held) on the wrong night. Because of this confusion, Molly Crabaapple who is the head of Dr. Sketchy’s, sent Jenny an e-mail explaining how Dr. Sketchy’s is a notable world-wide brand, and how there’s been confusion between the events, so she asked if Jenny could change the name. “Sketchy Broads” is now called “The Notorious Unnamed Sketch Club.” I plan to head out to their next event called “Lions Lindsays and Bears…Oh My!” on Wednesday, June 23rd at 6:30PM to 9:00PM at Stardust Video and Coffee. I like that new venues like this are popping up.
Since I kept working on this sketch even through the breaks, I never had a chance to see any other artists work. There were perhaps about 10 artists at the session. I need to go back more often to just sketch the model and experiment with different ways of working. Sketching the nude figure is always a great way to charge the creative battery.