A scholar

Reinisa

Whitney Hall in winter

It's only October, but it feels as if winter is already upon us. There are many good things about Canada, but the weather is not among them.

This is more of a February scene, though; it's a Georgian style block that serves as one of the University of Toronto's prettier colleges. It's also, I think, the only one from the 19th century that isn't dressed up in  typical campus gothic revival. I love faux-medieval architecture as much as the next person, but some variety is nice.

cafe sketch

A very quick sketch done in the Perkins cafe at Duke University. I used a fine-tipped micron pen, and had only a minute or two before she got up.

basilica di Santa Maria e Donato

A drawing of the beautiful basilica of Santa Maria and San Donato, on the Isle of Murano in the lagoon of Venice.

I made the picture with a china marker and watercolour - two mediums that do not complement each other. The roughness of the china marker is a sharp contrast to the delicacy of tone possible with watercolours, although here I laid down the paint more garishly than usual.

Murano is a peripheral suburb of Venice that is chiefly famous for its glass. Other than glass studios, its principal attraction is this church, to which my sketch hardly does justice.

It's an old church, perhaps going back to the 7th century, although the structure is largely of the 11th century. The famous mosaic pavement within dates from 1140.

Also inside are the bones of a dragon slain by Saint Donatus. Dragons were apparently quite common in Italy in the late Roman period, but seem to have been largely exterminated by the saints of the 4th and 5th centuries. Certain heathens have attributed the bones behind the altar of this church to a pleistocene megafauna of some sort, but they have no poetry in their souls.

on the subway

Sarah

Sarah is an expert in the ivory trade of the 12th and 13th century Mediterranean. I drew this at a conference of Canadian Medieval Art Historians, and used photoshop to colour it.

Rachel

A drawing done from life in about 20 minutes, with a brush pen.

New Studio

Tarragon recently abandoned his garret in Hackney for a new studio. The floral wallpaper will not be missed.

Here's a photo of a wall in the new space. He's hard at work on portraits, and indulging his love of pensive Victorian maidens.

a tattooed man

at the grad club

faces

The old farm

A recent ink painting by Tarragon.

Grey-Eyed Goddess

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

Sharin Barber and Bryce

The talented Sharin Barber, master of portraits and animals, drawing Bryce. I was drawing Bryce too.

Summertime Sadness

a church

The apse of a church in the village of Settignano, which is located a short trek east of Florence. It is not, to my knowledge, a church of any particular interest, but if you walk around it you will discover an abrupt turn that is not visible until you are upon, and which leads to a narrow path above a rural valley.

It's a beautiful and rarely frequented walk, and one I recommend for anyone who enjoys tramping around in Tuscany.

The picture was done with gouache, in less time than it ought.

Some games are bigger than others

Jacki and Rob, dawn from life in 60 seconds.

no chances to rewind

a boy in my dreams

A small linocut. The original is less than three inches to a side. That's not why this picture lacks polish, however. It's possible to achieve incredible precise results with lino- (and wood-) cuts. Sometimes, however, I prefer it rough.