Core Drawing Class

I signed up for the Core Drawing Class at the Goshen Art Academy in New York City.  The art studio is one block away from work so it was easy to attend the 6:00-9:00 pm Tuesday class.  The studio is run by Ken Goshen, an artist who I admire in the way he explains the art concepts in pure simple terms.  I've done figure sketching in the past but all of them non-instructional.  Here I was able to get some advice and feedback on my work.  

On my first day, I was struggling to get my direction as the approach to classical drawing was totally different than what I was accustomed to doing.  Here I was asked to do some sketch studies of the model.  Plus, drawing with charcoal sticks is very new to me.  Anyway, at the end of the three hour session, I was able to get a respectable sketch study.

On the second week, a new instructional twist was added.  We were given a bigger sheet of paper that has more tooth compared to the newsprint paper material from a week ago.  Different other tools were discussed, some of which I am already familiar with.

We finished the live nude model drawing session on my third class this evening,   It felt like something is working for me.  I'm slowly beginning to understand the assignment and the way the drawing tools are handled.

After the 3rd week.

After the 2nd week.

     

FIT Museum and Impromptu Ace Hotel Venues

The FIT Museum on 27th Street and 8th Avenue was the original venue for last Saturday's NYC USk meetup but the place was rather small for the sketchers to share with the regular museum visitors.  Furthermore, the challenging indoor light conditions made it a no-brainer for the most of us to seek an alternate location at the Ace Hotel a few blocks away.  I was able to finish three sketches for the day.  It was my way of catching up on sketching having missed the last two weekend events.

Nice to add the Asian mother/daughter's name to my sketch.

Alan, Jin and Melanie captured on my sketch using a purple pencil.

Pen and ink used here to emphasize the challenging light conditions in the FIT museum.

Organic Iced Tea

Made it to the Grand Central Terminal some 25 minutes early for the next train to Stamford yesterday afternoon.  At the same time, a new pop-up event was happening inside the Vanderbilt Hall.  It was for a brand called Saint James Iced Tea.  I got a sample Mango flavored black tea which I saved for later.  My priority was to make a 15 minute sketch of the event before I hop on my train on Track 35.  Met some of the people from the company including the young owner(?) I was told.  I enjoy sketching these fun events at Grand Central Terminal!

Tax Preparation Help

The AARP offers a free tax-filing services at the local library so I went there to get mine done today.  There were nine others already on the list at 9:30am when I got there.  However, I came prepared with a mini sketchbook to keep me occupied, while waiting, until they were ready to help me file my taxes.

The Vault by Nespresso

After that one day fashion show event last week, they tore down the props and cleared the Vanderbilt Hall for another type of event.  The Vault by Nespresso opened a three day promo event showcasing a new selection of coffee pods you can try for free!  I made a point to stop and sketch last Wednesday morning before going to work and in the process, was able to meet some Nespresso people who are responsible for the event.  Showed them the sketch and they were grateful that I shared it.

Before heading home, I sketched the view once again even though the venue has closed for the day.  It was nice to capture a different view which I later finished adding color at home.  On Thursday morning, I showed up there once again for the free coffee and made sure to share the colored pieces to the people I met the day before.

My evening sketch of the coffee bar.

The morning sketch that I had added some color to it.

 

The New York Fashion Week at GCT

The New York Fashion Week started last Thursday.  That morning, I made my way out of Grand Central in the Vanderbilt Hall direction and saw some finished props for the show.  I caught the tail end of the show after work just before my train ride home.  Trying to sketch quickly was nice and enjoyable.  I added some color to the sketch once I got home.