Gage Drawing Jam

Hi all. Surprised I didn't see you, Gail. Ha ha. Might have had something to do with the fact that there seemed to be about three thousand people there. Good drawings by the way! I was so intent on getting to the life room that I didn't even think to draw "the place," the way a proper Urban Sketcher should. All of my sketches are of people, but not just "people." They are figure models, and figure models are superhuman. The room I camped out in for most of the day had at least a couple hundred (not a typo) folks in it, and up to four models working at the same time. What a trip! After picking through my sketches for the ones that were presentable, and appropriate for this family-friendly site, here's what I ended up with.

When I'm in a life drawing session, and they insist (as they always do) on those exasperatingly short "gesture poses," I just do quick portrait sketches to keep myself from going (more) insane:


This was a longer pose, but I didn't have much time (I was afraid they might run out of wine in the cafe) so I just did a quick sketch with pen. The "resignation" that for me comes with working in ink has a way of freeing the mind. Sometimes.

During the longer poses I was able to do a little watercolor-ing, and without bumping too many other artist-elbows in the process. I did have to keep the dramatic flourishes with my brush-arm to a minimum of course, but there are always sacrifices to be made: