Black and white for last "long pose" of the season

This was our last  Friday "long pose" as we can't book daytime space once the schoolkids are out and kid's classes are running all the time. I decided to keep it simple and draw in Chinese ink. Paper does make a difference. The top drawings were warm-up poses of one minute each and are drawn with a Chinese brush on cartridge paper. The brush and ink has a lovely flow for doing the quick sketches. The next shown was actually the third from the long pose and I had shifted my position a little.  It is done all with a brush and ink on "terra-skin" - the paper that isn't really a paper as it is actually made from stone. The ink wash puddled a bit more as terra-skin is not as absorbent - so it took longer to dry. I don't really like the mottled effect that results. The next drawing is on vellum paper - a bit creamier and thicker. The washes sunk into the paper quicker so there was more control. The last one is also on vellum paper and there was some pen used as well as the brush. These were all part of a roughly three-hour session - which means a little over two hours of actual drawing time. Although we can't book daytime sessions during the summer, fortunately we still have our Wednesday night Life Drawing.  It is not likely that I'll work in Chinese ink then as we are more crowded and I need a bit of room to work with ink.

Shades of Grey?

Well- maybe not"shades of grey" = that was just to get your attention. There is only one grey - and that is the paper. The rest is black charcoal pencil and white charcoal pencil. Men in Hats were drawing and mostly painting at Harold Steves' farm but I decided to keep the transport simple and just work on a drawing. This building appealed because it was very dark inside but you could see the light coming through from two back windows. I also thought the wire fence would be a challenge. It is interesting to just work in tonal values for a change - and not think about colour at all. I may do some more along this line-- much easier than taking paints - and right now, I don't have a good packable easel. My good old reliable one packed it in the other day.