As a thank you gift, I suppose, for keeping him company (I just can't use "it" for animals, french habit...) he let me sketch without moving. I did first a contour drawing with a felt pen without looking at the paper. It was going well, then I got the same panicky feeling as when swimming and you realize your feet wont touch the bottom. I stopped without finishing the head. I was pleased to see that I was actually swimming ok.

Pour me remercier de lui avoir tenu compagnie, je pense, il s'est laissé dessiner sans bouger. J'ai commencé par un contour au feutre sans regarder la feuille de papier. Ca allait bien jusqu'a ce que la panique me paralyse, comme la sensation de ne plus avoir pied quand on commence a nager. J'ai arreté sans finir la tête et en regardant j'ai vu que finalement je nageais pas si mal que ça.

And remember that class sizes are limited to five to eight students. So sign up today and pay anytime up until the first day of class.

I so want to adopt this dog:

Because its aims are gradual and cumulative, drawing is a discipline, an organizing and training and honing of the imagination so that one may be ready to work spontaneously whenever called upon.  It is a discipline that requires constant exercise.

I always loved the life drawing classes I took in college.  While this class is really a practice session without an instructor, I find that I learn so much just by making drawings for two solid hours and looking at what the other participants create.  I seem to be really smitten with contour drawing, so I'll have to shake up my technique next month.

I don't look like this, yet in some crazy way this is my portrait.  I made this whimsical pen drawing after Ingres's magnificient Portrait of Mme Moitessier that lives in the National Gallery, London.  I saw the painting when it was loaned to the National Gallery of Art in Washington for an Ingres exhibit a few years ago, but made this drawing from a reproduction.  While searching the net for an image of the painting to show readers, I also found this surprising appearance of the grand lady.  (She gets around more than I supposed!)  Actually the real painting is much larger than the reproduction of her that gazes out upon the pedestrians.  The real MacCoy measures 120 x 92.1 cm (about 60 x 38 inches).  Some of the real Mme Moitessier's story is available  here.

I realize that lots of people care about celebrities.  There wouldn't be celebrities, I mean, such category of persons would not exist, were there not a "demand" for them.  It's not a sentiment that I share.  Of course, I can identify some of the currently famous actresses of the present because like everyone I enjoy eating, and consequently find myself shopping fairly regularly for groceries.  And the ubiquitous check out tabloids stare out at you and greet everyone and update the world of the latest misadventures of the famous "beautiful people." 

Well, that kind of thing holds no appeal for me.  Most of the famously photographed people could arrive at my doorstep, and finding them outside their grocery store check-out line context, I wouldn't know who they are.  But -- if Mme Moitessier ever showed up.... Holy cow!  Wouldn't that be the day!  I'd certainly recognize her.  And she'd be a stand out in any group wearing the fabulous dress she wears in Ingres's portrait.

Of course, Mme Moitessier is unfortunately quite long dead.  Moreover, she probably did not thoroughly resemble the woman in her picture.  Or let's just say, it was mighty convenient of her to happen to look so much like the Roman fresco goddess that Ingres worshipped, into whose pose Ingres put her.  The dress may be partly Ingres's invention. So, one might as well expect a fictional character to arrive at one's door.  The odds that Britney Spears's car would break down in front of the house, and she require the use of some of our wrenches and other car tools is far more likely than that anyone vaguely resembling Mme Moitessier should arrive.  And, really, it's a shame.

[Top of the post:  Me as Mme Moitessier, sort of... by Aletha Kuschan]

Perhaps because paper was once in short supply, we note that the old masters drew on their rare pages with more joyful abandon than is typical of artists today.  And they were more thrifty.  Often a page of old master drawings will have several subjects on the same page, and they will not necessarily have anything to do with each other.  Often they are at right angles to each other.  And sometimes artists (like Ingres or Rubens) would even put more than the correct number of limbs on their figures -- all presumably in the interest of deciding what the pose should be.  Four armed ladies?  Let's not go there.  Save that for another occasion.

In our era of anything goes, it's interesting that this conceit -- this putting lots of things onto the same page hasn't caught on as a revivified trend.  Heck, a lot of artists could do it and suppose that they were inventing something brand new (the ones who have not studied history, that is).

Besides things that happen to rent space on the same page are the colors that halo objects.  Everything in the world is colored and if you look really closely at all the color, it can drive you nuts!  There is so much of it to notice.  I didn't peer too deeply in this drawing, but just enough to put some blue on top and green on the side of the marigold.

[Top of the post:  Studies of Plants by  Aletha Kuschan]

I went walking in the park later and caught an unsuspecting turtle sunning itself on a hill that immediately responded by peeing. It tried to hide by burying its face between my leg and backpack, then staring at me for a while. I felt we made a connection, a friendship was established, until I picked him up to draw the bottom of his shell. He peed again and ran away very slowly. Also got a few gestures of various other animals in the park and a quick landscape.

Janie, age 4, enjoys our Toddler & Me class.

The Center for the Arts in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., is dedicated to growing the arts in the town's historic district.

We offer a full range of classes for students of all ages, as well as art for sale from local and regional artists.

For more information, email me at stegenarts@gmail.com

Anyway, here's a few drawings from that session.

So this was the second life-drawing session I attended, and it went much smoother than did last week's. It's all about getting into the proper head-space and not trying to rush your lines. Last week I was all worried about the time limit and not having enough time to finish, so I just scribbled everything in and it looked bad. But this week I was like "man, I don't care how much of the drawing I get done just so long as whatever I DO complete has some effort put into it". And that totally worked. I feel much better about my drawings this week, but they're still by no means anywhere near to perfect. I've got a long way to go.

I'm a fourth year student at the Alberta College of Art and Design and I study Illustration and Character Design. Right now thanks to my counterpart ZEE, I have nailed a pretty sweet summer job to fill the gap between my third and fourth year at art school. I work under him as a junior artist and together we persuade Photoshop to make video games look good. I draw every day. 

The three of us started drawing together almost five years ago. We used to meet every week at a coffee shop and draw for hours until the staff dimmed the lights and lit kerosene candles on our table to set an awkwardly sensual and inhospitable scene for drawing. This blog will hopefully capture some of the highlights of our weekly "draw-seshs".

Here's a few drawings from the last two figure drawing sessions I went to:

Here marks our inaugural post!

This blog will hopefully be a regularly maintained documentation of the illustration, design and artwork of three individuals who have found a common point of interest in their desire to put as many marks on as many surfaces as possible.

I shall leave the introductions of the other two members to be accomplished on their own. However, I suppose it would be prudent to introduce myself. Since I have made a habit of signing my work with the ZEE tag I see no reason to quit now. So I suppose that's as good a name as any for you to know me by. Simple, short, easy.

I'm an art/design drop-out who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. I have been working for a video game company as an artist for almost 2 years now. I co-own an independent record label, and I play in too many bands. I think that pretty much sums things up nice and concise(ly).

The image I'm posting here is a drawing I did last Friday at a life-drawing session I attended along with my "co-bloggers" (haha, what a terrible word). I hadn't done any life-drawing since my first few years when I was doing fine art at the University, so getting back into it was a little rough. Overall though it was a good experience and I hope to continue attending these sessions regularly.

And with that, I must leave you. If we don't see any posts from my co-conspirators within the next few days I'll start bugging them to get a first post of their own up. You'll want to stick around to see what they've got in store for you! These dudes are intense artists, and I certainly put in a good deal of effort just to keep up with them!

bye for now,
-zee.

Thank God I am almost finished with drawing classes. All I have is figure drawing next winter term. I am not looking forward to it. I'm not a fan of figure drawing. Especially since this one is being taught by Analee. This is going to be worse than all her other classes combined because figure drawing is kind of her forte'. So she is guarantied to be ultra biased, strict, and condescending about anyones pursuits in her class. But most what I am not looking forward to is drawing from live, nude models. It is a sure bet that the school can't afford to pay for anyone that I would want to see naked to model for the class. It will undoubtedly be old, fat, ugly people with no shame looking to make an easy buck. There will definitely be the obligatory pregnant lady, probably black. Honestly, I don't think live models are that necessary in drawing or painting in the studio. I would much rather use a photo reference than have someone sit naked for me for hours at a time; it would feel a bit awkward. It is just an excuse for horny guys to look at live, naked women without seeming like pervs. It's okay because it's done in the name of art. If any girls have been asked to sit naked by a friend as a model it's not because he wanted to do it for the art. It's because he just wanted to have an excuse to see that girl naked, I'm sorry. It's a shameful and underhanded way of getting live nudity. It's a deceit that borders on statutory rape in my opinion. To you male artists out there, if you want to see some live tahs, either get a girl friend who will show them to you, or just pay the few bucks to go to the strip club. Fine artists makes my blood boil right up there with Protestant sola scriptora (scripture alone), and muslims.

Also, the anatomy and pose are way off, but here's another color test: