Another Night Drawing At The Rooster (#25)

It has been quite a few months since I was able to attend a "Drawing At The Rooster" (DATR) session hosted by Ottawa artists Peter Purdy and Rebecca Gilman. The last monthly session that I attended was in October 2015 Drawing at the Rooster #20 - Heroes and Villains.

"Drawing at the Rooster is a monthly life drawing event. There are multiple live models (clothed/costumed) that will do a variety of short and long poses. 

Each event has a different theme! Drawing at the Rooster is a no cover event, and is a creative, non-judgmental environment where artists of all skill levels will have an opportunity to practice their life drawing skills.  (Source: DATR facebook)

Drawing At The Rooster #25 Poster

There was a winter storm warning issued for the evening and some folks 'facebooked' their regrets not wanting to chance a potentially hazardous and dangerous drive home.

Still, around twenty artists showed up to sketch while the snow continued to fall outside.

There were three models for the evening: Linda, Jessica and Ringo and they held poses for two, three, five, ten and twenty minutes in duration.

Model #1 Linda

Model #1-Linda

I always find the first model a challenge because I'm not warmed up enough and the two, three and five minute poses finish much too quickly for me.

By the time we got to the ten minute and twenty minute poses with Linda, I felt I was beginning to loosen up with my sketches.

My ten minute and twenty minute sketches

Model #2 Jessica

Model #2 - Jessica

Loved Jessica's beautiful red hair!

Sketching in a bar is tricky. The tables are always too small for drinks AND art supplies and sketchbooks. By the time we made it to the second model, I had eliminated a lot of equipment and decided on a pencil, my pens and my watercolour palette.

I start with my HB pencil and scribble in what I am focussing on quick and loosely and then I use ink and finish off with watercolour.

I like to do full body sketches but found myself mostly doing portraits the whole night. I am not sure why but in Jessica's case it was the beautiful red hair that I wanted to capture most.

My three, five, ten and twenty minute sketches of Jessica

Model # 3 Ringo

Model #3 - Ringo

The final pose - my favourite of the night!

Ringo was our last model and we were pressed for time so Peter thought it best to skip the two, three and five minute sketches and go directly to a ten minute and a twenty minute pose to end the night. Peter was worried about the weather and driving and didn't want to keep anyone out past 10 for safety sake.

And it was too bad because Ringo was so beautiful and so much fun to sketch. Her hair and face and her clothes were lovely and interesting to sketch. I hope she comes back again to a future session.

My twenty minute sketch of Ringo

All of the pictures posted here were not touched up before I scanned them although this is quite a temptation. You always see faults in your sketches when you arrive home but to correct the sketches after I get home defeats my purpose.

I love these life drawing sessions for the practice that they give me to sketch people fast and loose and "in the moment" so that I see how closely I can come to capturing their essence.

I love sketching from photos as well because you can get your subject as close to perfect as your skills will take you but at these monthly sessions, you learn to be okay with "imperfect". That's a good thing.

And that's why I am eternally grateful to Peter Purdy and Rebecca Gilman for generously volunteering their time to organize these monthly sessions and I look forward to the next one in April!

Previous DATR Blog Posts

• Drawing At The Rooster #18 http://moynahanstudio.blogspot.ca/2015/08/drawing-at-rooster-datr.html 
• Drawing At The Rooster #19 - Sailor's Delight http://moynahanstudio.blogspot.ca/2015/09/life-drawing-19-sailors-delight.html
• Drawing At The Rooster  #20 - Heroes and Villains http://moynahanstudio.blogspot.ca/2015/10/life-drawing-20-villains-and-heroes.html