The Old Man Mad About Drawing (Hokusai)

I'm fond of paraphrasing this (badly) but it's about time I stop mangling the master's words and let him speak for himself. If you've asked how long it takes to get good at drawing, here's the simple answer.

 

“From the age of 6 I had a mania for drawing the shapes of things.

When I was 50 I had published a universe of designs. 

But all I have done before the the age of 70 is not worth bothering with. 

At 75 I'll have learned something of the pattern of nature, of animals, of plants, of trees, birds, fish and insects. 

When I am 80 you will see real progress. 

At 90 I shall have cut my way deeply into the mystery of life itself. 

At 100, I shall be a marvelous artist. 

At 110, everything I create; a dot, a line, will jump to life as never before. 

To all of you who are going to live as long as I do, I promise to keep my word. I am writing this in my old age. I used to call myself Hokusai, but today I sign my self 'The Old Man Mad About Drawing.”
― Hokusai Katsushika

Got 5 minutes? Treat yourself to this delightful little documentary:

Video from our first Art Sail of 2015

Our next Draw-mania! Art Sail will be July 26th. 2015, and you can find out more about it here:
http://www.meetup.com/FigureSketching-NYC/events/223571674/

But if you'd like to see a little live-action feedback first, have a look at our video:

We're Back At Sea! (Well, the Hudson River)..

Last August, we took the action onto the water-- three models and 45 artists, all on a 100+ year old schooner that went out around the tip of Manhattan for two hours. It was so popular, it sold out in 3 days!

You know we had to do it again! You can read all about it below, but if you just want the dates:
June 21 (Sunday, 1-3pm.)
July 26 (Sunday, 1-3pm.)
August 16 or 23 (Sunday, 1-3pm.)
September, weather permitting..
(Dates are subject to change, based on weather or other factors)
Ticket information will be posted Monday (Price ranging $35-$45)
For more info: http://www.meetup.com/FigureSketching-NYC/events/223123168/

It was so popular last year, we had to do it again!  Draw-mania! takes to the waters with a 2-hour art sail aboard the Schooner Pioneer! Join us for a fun and relaxing sail around the tip of Manhattan on one of the most scenic and historic boats afloat, with three inspiring figure models on deck!! How much fun will that be?
Bring your own art materials and refreshments of your choice, and expect to have a great time!

Made possible with the cooperation of Draw-Mania! and The Art Students League of New York.

South Street Seaport Museum's Schooner PIONEER and Draw-Mania!, the long-running downtown draw-a-thon and variety show, will be offering artists, art students, and others, the opportunity to sketch during a two-hour Pioneer sail.

Attractions Include:
Three live art models, the harbor, shoreline, other boats, Pioneer, and the crew as they sail PIONEER.

You will be provided with extra water, paper towels, a place to keep work till ashore, and once ashore, fixative for those who wish to use it.

Please bring your own materials, bearing in mind that there will be no space for easels.

See the sights of New York Harbor from the decks of the historic 130-year-old schooner PIONEER. The vessel, first launched in 1885, was built as an iron-hulled sloop to carry cargo along the Delaware River and was even featured in the pilot of Boardwalk Empire. Bring a picnic lunch, afternoon snack or favorite beverage as you enjoy sketching and your sail!

Special Draw-mania! price: $45 ($35 for Seaport Museum members)

Schooner Pioneer, (c) Jeff Sauber

All sales are final. There are no refunds or exchanges for tickets once purchased.

Weather:
We will sail in shine only at sail time. If rain occurs during the sail, but the captain deems the waters safe, or that it is a passing storm, the sail will continue. In case of continuous rain, the captain will return to dock. If the sail runs for less than an hour, passengers may reschedule for a rain date art sail. If the sail runs for more than an hour, no exchanges will be offered. In the event there is weather that is determined by the Captain to be unsafe, the sail will be canceled. Purchaser is then entitled to re-schedule at another time or credit towards another sail that can be purchased in the future. All weather related decisions are made as close to the time of sail as possible. If the sail is canceled, all online ticket buyers will be notified via email at the email address they provided when they purchased tickets.

Venue Details:
PIER 16 SOUTH STREET SEAPORT MUSEUM
Pier 16
New York NY 10038

SOUTH STREET SEAPORT MUSEUM
12 FULTON STREET
NEW YORK CITY, NY 10038

www. southstreetseaportmuseum.org Home of the 1885 Schooner PIONEER, Tall Ships America's Sail Training Program of the Year!

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/

Posemaniac lets you develop rapid sketching on computer or smartphone

This is soooo cool!
http://www.posemaniacs.com/thirtysecond

Anyone who's taken a drawing class with me knows that I love 30 second poses. There's even an article on this blog about why 30 second poses are so good for you when they seem so frustrating at first. They have a lot of benefits, but I'll recap the most important in a nutshell: Quick sketches internalize the form into your mind faster. Working that quickly, you can't get hung up on the details, just the "gesture" (or motion of the figure) and the proportions. And after you do these for a while, the "feel" for the figure becomes ingrained and instinctive.

And besides, once you start to get 'em, quick sketching is REALLY fun!

So what do you do if you can't make it to my sketch group? Go to http://www.posemaniacs.com/thirtysecond

There, on your screen, you'll have 30 second poses generated for you to draw. you can actually set it for different intervals, and in fairness, the figures are computer-generated and can be a little hard to "get" for the first 5 minutes or so. It also offers you odd angles that you'd rarely get to see a live model from, like form underfoot, and even a very useful "negative space option."

You can select specific poses from the pose files, and many can be rotated too, and you can also bring up a grid to make it easy to reproduce the proportions accurately.

Stick with this program and you'll find your mastery of the figure increasing quickly and dramatically.

The site also offers other links for specific anatomical part & details, but you may have to engage your browser's Japanese translation in order to get the most out of it. (the Google toolbar offer a really good one, but there are others, too).

Special thanks to Jim Fleming for letting me know about this!