Relax and Draw

The Drawing Studio
After a chaotic week, with school starting and me not use to dense morning traffic, I thought this weekend was going to be all about R & R. Sure, I did intend on working, I have two paintings in progress that I would like to finish up, as well as laundry and food etc...making more zucchini bread.
In the middle of Sunday afternoon a friend called and said, get your butt out here and DRAW!!! Mind you, I was just organizing my acrylic paint into some sort of a working order, moving clutter from one area to another area, much like a busy ant. I knew I needed this kick in the ass! Grabbed my sketch book and a few pencils and pens and drove apox. 10 miles to the The Drawing Studio which is ran by illustrator Jeff Fisher.


Jeff Fisher's teaching technique is individualized and unique to the perspective of an illustrator. There is a Dave Pasalaqua influence that takes you out of your comfort zone and to a point of really seeing. Example, draw from the inside out, finding the internal structure, understanding it and not to simply draw outlines. There are also exercises with using your non-dominant hand and even using both hands at opposite sides of the paper. This technique wasn't new to me, I had experienced it in Graduate School from an instructor who was also a student of Pasalaqua. At times it could be intimidating as is the point.

It was my first time there, but I knew about it for a year and had every intention of going, as figure drawing from a live model is an artists form of a work out, like going to the gym, one should never tire of doing it, quoted from Jeff Fisher, but I have also told my classes that very same thing.
What I found was a completely relaxed space, and lots of YOUNG artists. To my amazement some artists were still in High School, and they were GREAT!!! They approached the model with a sophisticated seriousness, but in this fun and relaxed environment. It nearly boggles my mind to think of these kids having this type of exposure, and I think they know how lucky they are too. Some were combining different medias, pastel, ink, paint, watercolour, they were having a ball, working, concentrating and making some pretty impressive drawings.

As an artist, I find my weakness with life drawing, I do love it and know that I need to really invest in it. Well, as soon as I grabbed my ink pen, the dam thing ran out of ink. A friend loaned me his pen, I like using inks more than charcoal.
Our model had a brilliantly colored body tattoo that rolled around her torso, adding some interest to the drawing.
Upon leaving the sun had set as that late summer evening musical crickets began their singing, I wanted to come back and make this part of each Sunday, next time bring more ink, perhaps a brush and paint...


©Heidi Younger