What happens when the model doesn't show?

From Figure Drawing at ToJo Gallery

From Figure Drawing at ToJo Gallery

It doesn't happen that often, but it happens. The only thing worse is the host not showing. Well, last night our model did not show up. When this happens the artist has a few options. You can just pack up and leave or stay and draw.

If you choose to stay and draw, which everyone actually did, you draw what is on hand and that was each other. We took turns doing facial expressions for awhile and let that turn into longer and longer poses. Of course about the only thing we take off is our glasses.

I must also mention that specific to our sessions held at TOJO, we do not change the $10 fee to stay and draw if the model does not show up.

I took a couple of pics from my phone of the 10 minute portraits I did.

Some recent works from previous sessions

From Figure Drawing at ToJo Gallery

From Figure Drawing at ToJo Gallery

From Figure Drawing at ToJo Gallery

I was able to take some better photos of some recent work. If you would like to share your work here just email it to me or sign up and you can post it yourself.

Gesture Drawing

From Figure Drawing at ToJo Gallery

Gesture drawing is a great way to loosen up and it really helps get better at drawing overall.

We start all of our session with the gesture. Gestures can be as fast as 30 seconds to 10 minutes. The whole idea is to draw fast.
This will help you focus and capture those fleeting moments while sketching from life.

Here are a few thing to consider while drawing your gestures.

• Flow; find the flow of the model, this will also help find the center of gravity. The spine is one of the best sources for this.

• Light touch; if you keep your touch light you can also move around the paper faster and smoother.

• Overlap; let your shapes overlap. This will also help see connections and flow in the contour.

• Speed; you really want to try capture the whole model in the given amount of time.

• Move; keep your drawing utensil moving all the time. Time is precious here, keep moving.

• Eraser; put it away, you don't need it here.

• Relax; you really can't do anything wrong here, though you'll improve over time.

• Size, consider the amount of time you have for the size of the figure you're capturing. If you only have 30 seconds you won't be able to fill the entire page. Consider quartering the page or even drawing over the previous drawing in a new color.