Feedback from You!

The New York Figure Drawing Group AKA The Summer Sketch Group, has been going strong for years before social media, but with the advent of social media, we've really been able to reach a lot of people in New York and around the world! Draw-mania!, our monthly draw-a-thon and variety show has become a vacation destination for artists from around the world (Brazil, Canada, Australia, Austria,Germany and France, to name a few).

One thing that makes us unique from other figure drawing groups is that we are willing to offer different kinds of events based on member suggestions. This year, based on member suggestions, we've added a long-pose class and brought back basic drawing classes with instruction, as well as workshops and special events.

What would you like to get from this group? I've set up a poll on our Meetup site to get some general feedback, and if you have a minute, please use it to let me know what you think! And if you'd like to email me with more specific questions or suggestions, I'd love to hear from you!
http://www.meetup.com/FigureSketching-NYC/polls/1225879/

Jerry's Draw-mania! --a brand new weekly event in a brand new store

Starting on Tuesday, September 9th., we instituted a weekly figure drawing session in partnership with the Jerry's International Palette Shop!

The event is called Jerry's Draw-mania! and occurs every Tuesday, from 9-11pm. It's a fun, relaxed figure sketching session featuring one great model, for ONLY $5!!

 

Jerry's International Palette Shop is a great new art store in NYC at 111 Fourth Avenue (site of the original Utrecht Art store, for you old-timers). Jerry's offers a full range of art supplies, but it has a particularly full range of products for painters. More tubes of paint than you've ever seen in one place, I recon! They are the first New York outpost of the popular Jerry's Artarama chain. They also offer a number of exciting events and workshops in their store after hours. See their site for details: http://jerryspaletteshop.com/

 

 

Draw-mania! Goes INTERSTATE!

Hi folks!
Sorry I haven't posted anything new in a while. The Summer Sketch group has been going strong, still meeting a couple of Sundays every month (all year long, not just the summer), and attendance has been terrific--enough people to get a fun sense of community but not so many that it becomes awkward or overcrowded.

Draw-mania!, our monthly draw-a-thon and variety show, has really taken off! We're approaching our 15th event, and we're going strong into the coming year. If you've never been to one, just imagine a space filled with over 30 artists of all skill levels, from absolute beginners to seasoned pros, sketching, chatting, and, should they so desire, drinking, as they draw from 6 of the top art models for four hours! There's a break for the models every 20 minutes, and that's when a comedian, storyteller or musician takes the stage for a 10 minute performance. It' a blast!
We've been going strong every last Monday of the month in the East Village, at the possibly legendary and always amazing Otto's Shrunken Head (538 East 14th st.). Well, Starting in March, we're adding a second monthly Draw-mania!, just across the Hudson river, in Hoboken, NJ! If you're not familiar with Hoboken, you should be! It's incredibly close to Manhattan (The Hoboken PATH Train station is about 8 minutes from Manhattan's 14th st. & 6th Ave PATH station), and in the 80s it was where all the artists went after Soho priced them out. Nowadays, it's a cool, cozy neighborhood that features a lot of unpretentious bars and restaurants. We'll be at Teak on the Hudson (16-18 Hudon Place), a rather upscale place with a fun, exotic vibe, great cocktails and food, and an amazing riverfront view! Our first event will be March 6th, 8pm to midnight, and I'm putting together a great lineup of models and performers.

Hope you can make it, it's gonna be a blast!

for more info:
www.draw-mania.com

If you're on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/DrawMania

And if you're on Meetup.com:
http://www.meetup.com/FigureSketching-NYC/
http://www.meetup.com/Figure-Drawing-HOBOKEN-Draw-Mania/

Come To Our Events! NOW!

I guess I've been remiss in posting to the blog for a while. But as many of you know, We've been going strong out in the real world! Summer Sketch session are still meeting roughly every two weeks. You can sign up for the next one(s) here: http://www.meetup.com/FigureSketching-NYC/

And in concert with my friend Pedro Hernandez, and an incredible crew of models, we've been presenting the Draw-mania! draw-a-thon, which is now a monthly event at Otto's Shrunken Head on 14th street in Manhattan, the last Monday evening of each month. We feature half a dozen of your favorite art models (some of the top models in the city!), a terrific DJ, and a ever-changing assortment of performers to entertain during the breaks. For the latest on that, go to th website http://www.draw-mania.com and like the Draw-mania! page on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/drawmania

Not in New York? (Class listings all over the place)

You know figurative artists are obsessive about honing their skills, and artists in New York are lucky in that there are so many places they can go. What if you're not in New York/ What if you're new and can't find a place to go?

Here's a great site that lists figure drawing sessions all over the nation!

http://www.artmodelbook.com/figure-drawing-directory.htm