Strange Meeting

I drew this from life at a Keyhole Session in Toronto.

two women

Drawn from life with a Copic brush marker at a Keyhole Session in Toronto, Ontario.

strange encounter

Drawn from life at a Keyhole Session in Toronto, using a copic brush pen, a china marker, and several other pens. This drawing took about 45 minutes, which obviously wasn't enough.

There is nothing quite so difficult to draw as the intersection of multiple human bodies.

that new raincoat

...before a fall

Drawn from life at a Keyhole Session in Toronto, Ontario, with various Copic markers.

the orator

Drawn from life at a Keyhole Session in Toronto, Ontario, with various markers and crayons.

victrix

Drawn from life with various markers, pens, and crayons.

Look back and savour

A drawing done from life in about ten minutes, with several Copic brush pens, at a Keyhole Session in Toronto, Ontario.

Protege moi...

...is what it said on her ribcage. There were other tattoos, but I just don't draw that fast.

It was done from life with a brush ben and crayons.

I'm not here for you

Drawn from life in about five minutes.

Perseus Medusam occidet

A drawing from last year's classically themed Keyhole Session in Toronto. It was a diverting evening of life drawing, in which fetish models played Athena, Medusa, and Perseus. Just because.

So here's Perseus putting the sword to Medusa's neck. The drawing was done from life and took about 30 minutes.

We managed to fit in most of the Medusa story, including a rather unterrifying scene of Athena cursing Medusa, a more convincing Medusa transformed, and the Goddess of Wisdom sitting around looking wise. Or faintly regal, anyway.

jacki

Drawn from life in 60 seconds, using a Copic brush pen.

Discipline and silence

Drawn from life in about fifteen minutes, with a variety of markers and crayons, at a Keyhole Session in Toronto.

Grey-Eyed Goddess

A drawing done from life, in perhaps ten minutes, during a classically themed Keyhole Session in Toronto.

I know I'll see you

I made this drawing with a black brush pen at a Toronto Keyhole Session in February of 2012.

The colours came later, in photoshop. It's a bit more garish than I'm used to. I recall that I was listening to A Place to Bury Strangers when I chose that green. Which may seem a trivial reason to select such an aggressive hue, but a lot of this comes down to instinct, and instinct comes down to experience, aural and otherwise.

2 Women

It's Pride week.

Drawn from life at the Keyhole Sessions in Toronto, Ontario.

This night has opened my eyes

A drawing from the keyhole sessions in Toronto.

the red tie

I dropped by the Keyhole Session in Toronto this week. It was a Valentine's themed version, and therefore all about lust and romance. Well, just lust.

So pretty much the same as every other keyhole event.

Keyhole Session: A Romantic Gesture

Two women at the Keyhole Session drawing event last march. The drawing was done with various markers and a red china marker. It took about ten minutes.

The advantages of flexibilty

A quick contortion on a summer's day.

I often find I don't like complicated poses, especially those that involve a lot of stretching. In part it's because drawing is one step removed from reality, and attention can often focus not on the drawing, but on the gap between representation and real life. If we see something wrong in any representation, we are inclined to attribute a problem to the drawing, or painting, etc., instead of accepting our surprise at an outlandish contortion.

Also, our ability to understand representation depends a lot on what we're used to. What one admires as an example of the contortionist's art when seen in real life becomes in a drawing - because it's unfamiliar - simply a confused mess.

All of which sounds a bit defensive. It doesn't need to be. The drawing above is quite simple.