Stan the Man #2

The holidays have come and there's not too much time to paint or sketch with all the activities going on, but I did get a chance to sketch my father. Presented here is, "Stan the Man, #2". It just so happens this is the last spread in my sketchbook which nicely coincides with the end of 2012 (almost). Happy holidays.

Figure drawing at the TSA

Yesterday I went to the Toronto School of Art for the open figure drawing class. It's been a while since I drew any nudes and it was nice to scrape the rust off from that part of my brain. The models name was Sidney (Or is it, "Syndey"). She was a great model and held some great, dynamic poses for the 1 minute poses (not shown). I'm sure I'll be back for more figure drawing in the future.

The blue arylic paintings were done in the afternoon session. It was one pose for three hours. Fortunately for me I was able to get in two angles. Unfortunately for Sidney, she had to hold it for the three hours. She dozed off a few times during that pose... who wouldn't!

sketchbook

It's become somewhat of a tradition now to sketch my dad whenever I'm up at his place. Here's the latest addition to the "Stan the Man" series.

sketchbook

For the first time in many years I went to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. It's a chance for urban dwellers to get in touch with their respective inner ruralist. I don't think I actually got in touch with that part of me but I did enjoy seeing all the livestock that were present.

sketchbook

It's been a while since I sketched at the Dufferin Mall food court. So today, I went there and it was packed. I'm not one for crowds but the one upside about this was that I had to share a table with "Gus". Of course nothing comes for free so he had to (unwittingly) pose for me.

After Dufferin Mall and a short walk later, I was at the Bloor Gladstone Library. A nice place to sketch. I'll have to bring a non leaky blue pen with me next time

Sketchbook

Well it's that time of year again, when I start looking for warm, public places to sketch in. I returned to one of my favourite haunts: the Bloor Gladstone Library.
I didn't realize that they were closing at 5pm so I had to squeeze in a quick 45 min. sketch. The one good thing about a time constrained drawing like this is that I couldn't be nit picky about everything. In my world a 45 minute drawing is equivalent to a 30 sec. gesture drawing. (yeah, I'm a slow sketcher.)

Sketchbook

My friend, Karolina and I sketching at the Moonbean Cafe in the Market on a gorgeous MOnday afternoon.

Sketchbook

My friend, Pasquale, came over to use my computer. A perfect situation for a sketching session.

Sketchbook

I tend to sketch my dad whenever I'm up visiting him. The morbid side of me thinks he won't be around for much longer so now's the chance to connect with him on paper. I'm really bad at remembering birthdays and ages, so I think he's 76. Maybe 77... but he doesn't look a day over 60...maybe, 61.

Done. Done & Done!

A-Z

For the last 2 months, I've spent most of my time painting the alphabet in sign language. I've finished all the letters but now I have to assemble it.

I realized last night that not all the panels were exactly 5x7 in. so it'll throw everything off. Fortunately I work at a place that has a table saw.

All glued down, now hand lettering this bugger of a painting. It took longer than I thought it would because not al the pieces were square. A bit of massaging had to  happen.

camera(s)

Now that I'm looking at it through the camera's eye, I think  need some more contrast in this painting. I had an idea with ths guy when I started it, but it's falling short from what I had envisioned it to be.

Experiments

Framed and ready to hang in my show/sale.
I find when I say "I experiment", I do not stray far from my figurative approach to painting. I tend to add bits and pieces to something I know how to do. Experimenter? Perhaps calling me a Incremental experimenter would be closer to the mark.

 8 x 8.5 in. Mixed media.

8 x 8.5 in. Mixed media.

The last letter (Z). The last pose.

UPDATE, Aug 28:

For the last two months I've been painting the alphabet in sign language on these small 5x7 masonite boards. Tonight I finished the paintings with the letter "Z" (how appropriate). I feel happy but I still have a few more steps to call this project complete. I'll be compiling all 26 hands into a larger painting and then painting the individual letters to the matching hands. I see the light!

I see the light. But there's a bit of work yet to be done after I finish the last letter.

Work in progress… the letter J

I could see the light. Here's the second last letter of the alphabet I have to paint. It's the letter "J" that involves motion to describe the letter. I've painted the start and end points, not I just have to paint the transitional pose.

I've also realized as I progress with this particular project, I'm loosening up and I could definitely tell which hands were painted at the start of this project and which ones were more recent.

More works in progress

Just abut finished the painting on the left. A few shadows to add and some hi lites. The hands are almost done. @ more more hands to go, but in actuality that means 6 more paintings. After I get the hands done, I'll be assembling them into a larger piece and then I'll paint the corresponding letters.

More works in progress

A progression detail of the letter "Y". I have a few more details to add to this image but it's pretty much done. This makes 20 letters. Almost there!

19 letters at this point. Some more dry than others but all awaiting compiling into a larger image. The final step will be to paint the letter to the corresponding hand.

Works in progress…

This painting of a piggy bank has been going on for a while. I knew I wanted to paint a piggy bank but the setting for it was up in the air, so it's still going. The palette is a bit bland in my opinion so I need to add some zip to it somehow. Stay tuned for some more progress shots.


26 hands representing the 26 letters of the alphabet in sign language. I have 7 sorta done and I'm moving forward with a few letters tonight. When I have the 26 completed, I compile them into a larger painting.

sketchbook

Another sketch session at Dufferin Mall. I'm always guaranteed some old men to sketch there and today the perfect model unwittingly posed for me. I called him, "Fernando". Whenever I sketch a man like Fernando who's sitting by himself in a contemplative mood, I tend to make up a back story for him. Is he happy with his life in Toronto? Was he happier in Portugal? Is he proud of his kids and what they're doing with their lives? I guess these questions are the questions I have for my dad with respect to me and my sisters.

sketchbook

The last day of my oil painting class and I had thought it would just be critiques. So, I didn't bring my paints. Oops, but it did give me an opportunity to sketch some of my classmates,

Man and Cubes

Playing around with coloured tissue paper, pencil and several layers of glossy mat medium.

Sketchbook

It's dawning on me that I am a creature of habit. Work.Dinner. Sleep. However, I broke that routine today when a friend asked me if I wanted to go sketch after work. What??!! You mean I won't be going home right after work?! Sure felt weird sketching at a cafe after work, but I found it was a great way to unwind a bit and do some catch up with Karoliina (that's her in the curtains).

More is more

Bah. Who really needs a minimalist picture with a lot of white space? I certainly don't. I'm currently taking an oil painting class but wanted to keep up with my acrylics, so this was a stab at them. I wanted to put down a lot of paint and see where it takes me. No story in this image, just things that popped up during my painting session(s). I think it was a continuation of the attitude I tried to cultivate with the Sketchbook Project: Just put images on the page and don't overanalyze the lines too much.

The Sketchbook Project

My favourite spread from the book.

I participated in the Sketchbook Project, a project that is based out of Brooklyn, New York. The participants of the project choose one of several themes offered and fill the supplied sketchbook with the theme. I chose "life underground". I can't say it's my best work, but it allowed me not to over think every line I put down. Plus, I procrastinated too much and meeting the deadline also forced me to just put images down on paper. Some images are a stretch from the theme but that's ok with me. A fun project and now it's time to concentrate on my oils.