This is the drawing I did last night, and that I'm not too happy with. I used conte crayons and some pastel pencils on what is really a watercolour paper, so the texture of the paper peeps through. I finished a sketch (which I included here) from the very last Keyhole Life-Drawing session whose theme was 'Fight Club.'

4-final, Keyhole Sessions, 12013, Brenda Clews, 15" x 11", charcoal, conte crayon, pastel pencils, 130lb archival paper.

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Because I like to keep a record, and also to show you, I've uploaded my untouched drawings from The Keyhole Session last night, the last life-drawing session of its kind ever.

They're all charcoal drawings, some with watercolour crayons, some with Cretacolor Aquarelle oil pastels. The first eight are approximately 15" x 11" and on 130lb archival art paper; the last is 16" x 12" and on triple-primed cotton canvas sheet.

The theme was The Fight Club and there were about 20 models arrayed around the room. The Madame's sense of performance, dramatic poses and grand spectacle shone spectacularly in the spacious Mod Club in Toronto.

Below, there was still time after drawing the first image, so I began on the 2nd, for which I had only a minute or two left - it's much more gestural. Except for that one, they are 15 minute sketches, with the final group one being 45 minutes.

All in all, I'm fairly happy with my work last night. My artist friends, Jen Hosein and Jacques Albert, also came and the camaraderie was nice.












Sonia Barnett, the mastermind and Madame behind these sessions, took the photo below and posted it on Facebook while the session was in-progress. You can see me bottom centre, and the model directly in front of me is who the first drawing posted above is of. It was quite an event, as you can see from this terrific photograph.



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drawings photographed the next morning in bright sun for correct colour and white balance and posted in the next post
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Last Keyhole life-drawing session tonight - though I do hope she continues the Nuit Blanche extravaganzas. This charcoal and coloured conte crayon sketch from the last session, Nov 13th, three 1 minute poses on the same page. 17" x 14", archival paper. I do have to run over to the art store to get a pad of primed cotton canvas sheets. Twenty models tonight, it's going to be a blow-out.



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Finally just did a photo shoot of this series. The Keyhole Sessions, 13 November 2012, and the theme was, 'White Wedding.' The Madame herself posed, and wore her wedding dress or various undresses of it. I had to leave early to be on Nik Beat's radio show, HOWL, to promote our poetry reading the following Sunday, so did the final drawing in a few quick minutes. Some of them (1, 6, 7) have had a bit of work; most are as is from that evening.


1- Women and Paper Lanterns, Brenda Clews, 13 Nov 2012, Life-Drawing at The Keyhole Sessions, theme: White Wedding, 16" x 13", charcoal, coloured conte crayons, archival art paper.


2- The Madame I, Brenda Clews, 13 Nov 2012, Life-Drawing at The Keyhole Sessions, theme: White Wedding, 16" x 13", charcoal, archival art paper.


3- White Wedding, Brenda Clews, 13 Nov 2012, Life-Drawing at The Keyhole Sessions, theme: White Wedding, 16" x 13", charcoal, archival art paper.


4- The Madame II, Brenda Clews, 13 Nov 2012, Life-Drawing at The Keyhole Sessions, theme: White Wedding, 11" x 15", charcoal on primed cotton canvas sheet.


5- Woman, Brenda Clews, 13 Nov 2012, Life-Drawing at The Keyhole Sessions, theme: White Wedding, 16" x 13", charcoal, Cretacolor aquarelle oil pastels, archival art paper.


6- Women of the Ocean, Brenda Clews, 13 Nov 2012, Life-Drawing at The Keyhole Sessions, theme: White Wedding, 16" x 13", charcoal, coloured conte crayons, Cretacolor aquarelle oil pastels, archival art paper.


7- Two Women, Brenda Clews, 13 Nov 2012, Life-Drawing at The Keyhole Sessions, theme: White Wedding, 15" x 11", charcoal, Cretacolor aquarelle oil pastels, India ink, primed cotton canvas sheet.


8- Three Women, Brenda Clews, 13 Nov 2012, Life-Drawing at The Keyhole Sessions, theme: White Wedding, 15" x 11", charcoal, India Ink on primed cotton canvas sheet. I was rushing out to be on Nik Beat's radio show to promote an upcoming poetry reading and stopped at the back of the room, threw a canvas sheet onto the bar, and drew as quickly as I could. Painting this one might be fun.

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Another drawing from the Keyhole Sessions 'White Wedding' on Nov 13, 2012. Untouched (I may tinker later on), charcoal, 11" x 15", archival paper. A 10 minute sketch. Click to see larger size.



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I forgot to set my computer to record the radio show I was on, along with Jen Hosein and Pen Smith, to promote our poetry reading on the 25th. Oh well. It was a busy day. The show was truly wonderful, though, and I will share it as soon as I get a copy.

But I did go to the 2nd last Keyhole Sessions life drawing event and have a few drawings to show. Rather than filling one post with them, as usual, because they're coming to an end (only one more session), I'll post one at a time.

These are the raw sketches, before I do anything to them. Of course, I'll post any that do get worked on as well.

'Two Women,' 2012, 15" x 12", charcoal, water-soluble wax crayons and oil pastels, India ink on canvas sheet.

The pose was quite complicated and time ran out, as it always does. While it was a 25 min pose, I chose not to work on the correctness of the drawing itself; rather, I drew something general and then spent most of the time colouring it with water-soluble oil pastels. While I tend to think that I can do colouring at home, really I can't. It's best done on-site. Luckily, the painting had a half hour to dry before I grabbed a cab to get to Nik's radio show, HOWL. Later that night, at home, I added some ink lines. Sometimes I wish we could take reference photos at life drawing sessions. Here the cross-over of limbs and intertwining of figures in 3D space was hard to translate into a 2D sketch, and I can see that spending more time on the basic sketch itself would have helped. Adding colour in the time allotted for the pose meant I had to move on before feeling that the drawing was as good as I could do. Meaning, the figures are a little abstract - expressions of feeling, I guess. Still, I feel it's an okay piece in the style of colouring developing in these figure drawings from life-drawing sessions.

The photograph was taken in direct sunlight to get the best white balance, and you are also seeing all the detail; on the wall, however, it is a little darker, more solidified.
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(An update.) Still tinkering. Her bent leg was too long in the version posted below this one, I thought. And without the pillar behind her, the shadow didn't make sense, so I've tried to decrease it. While I have used some Golden titanic white acrylic to cover the original charcoal lines, the Cretacolor Aquastics, or water-soluble oil pastels, all the colour that you see, do rub off mostly with water (which is a very nice thing about using them on canvas). Once I spray with an archival fine art fixative, everything, of course, sets permanently.

That arm is bothering me still. The original sketch was done too quickly in a darkly lit room (for the artists, the models were well lit with stage lights) for my normally slow drawing.

I really am more interested in the energy, sensuality and colour of these small charcoal and pastel paintings, and anatomy must serve that, and so I don't worry too much unless it interferes with the overall flow. Does that arm interfere in your viewing, and what would you suggest for 'fixing' it? If the eye skirts over it, as a vertical line, like the dancer's pole, then it's ok, no?

Woman in Ribbons, 2012, 11" x 14", charcoal, oil pastels, acrylic on triple-primed canvas sheet.




(Original post.) Today I finished one of the sketches I started at 'LES CHEVAUX, a late night drawing extravaganza,' hosted by The Keyhole Sessions, a Rogue Nuit Blanche event. She wore an incredible headdress composed of many multi-coloured ribbons, and I could not see her face from my angle.



Woman in Gladiator Corset and Ribbons, 2012, Brenda Clews, 11" x 14", charcoal and water-soluble oil pastels on triple-primed canvas sheet.



Original raw sketch.
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One of my composite drawings from Nuit Blanche at 'LES CHEVAUX, a late night drawing extravaganza,' hosted by Keyhole Sessions. There were 5 or 6 concurrent poses, which changed perhaps every 15 minutes. In this drawing I did quick sketches of 3, and almost 4, of the models, and kept turning the paper.

I enjoy working in Photoshop occasionally and have finished this drawing digitally. I include the original sketch as well.



The Emotions Running Through It (Surreal Sketch), digitally finished, 2012, 20" x 13.5", charcoal, coloured pencil, water-soluble oil pastels on 90lb archival paper.



Original sketch.
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'LES CHEVAUX, a late night drawing extravaganza,' hosted by The Keyhole Sessions was an awesome Rogue Nuit Blanche event! The offerings, incredible. Outfits, poses, the whole set-up, pure brilliance of the dear Madame, Sonia Barnett.

There was not a lot of time to pick and draw one of 5 or 6 ongoing poses, each with one or two models, since they changed every 15 minutes or so. I brought a whack of art supplies with me for this session. First I did a quick charcoal sketch; then I broke out my large set of water-soluble oil pastels and scribbled in colour; finally, I wet a brush and slid it over the figures so their lines turned into paint. I like to show 'the morning after, as is.' If I manage to further work on these, of course I will also post those whenever that happens (all my Keyhole life drawings are in a Picasa album).


Two Women, Keyhole at Nuit Blanche, 29 Sep 2012, unfinished sketch, Brenda Clews, 12" x 16", charcoal, water-soluble oil pastels on triple-primed canvas.



Woman in Corset with Fishnet Stockings and Doc Martens Boots, Keyhole at Nuit Blanche, 29 Sep 2012, unfinished sketch, Brenda Clews, 12" x 16", charcoal, water-soluble oil pastels on triple-primed canvas.



Woman in Ribbons, Keyhole at Nuit Blanche, 29 Sep 2012, unfinished sketch, Brenda Clews, 12" x 16", charcoal, water-soluble oil pastels on triple-primed canvas.



Two Sketches (iPhone photo), Keyhole at Nuit Blanche, 29 Sep 2012, Brenda Clews, 12" x 16", charcoal, water-soluble oil pastels on triple-primed canvas.



Four Sketches, Keyhole at Nuit Blanche, 29 Sep 2012, Brenda Clews, 12" x 16", charcoal, water-soluble oil pastels on triple-primed canvas



The Emotions Running Through It (Surreal Sketch), digitally finished, Brenda Clews, 2012, 20" x 13.5", charcoal, coloured pencil, water-soluble oil pastels on 90lb archival paper.



One of the many models; one of the many poses (five or six poses concurrently, which you can't see in this iPhone snap). Isn't she gorgeous? Because I was still working on a previous pose by a different model, I did not draw this one. Wish I had!


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