Figure Drawing Workshop with Henry Yan

Spindle Studios is hosting a week-long workshop with renowned artist Henry Yan.

This workshop will be focused on both short and long pose charcoal drawings from life models. Different techniques mentioned in his book (Henry Yan’s Figure Drawing-Techniques and Tips) will also be introduced and practiced in class.

Other than techniques, students will also be encouraged to find their own way of seeking beauty from each pose when practice, and interpret what they found with a personal artistic approach instead of just copying.

To see his work, visit henryyanart.com

The workshop will run from Monday, August 25th - Friday, August 29th 9am-4:30 pm.

Total fee: $500. ($100 deposit by August 1st).
henry_yan

basecamp has changed everything

i have looked for a very long time and finally found a solution to one of my greatest problems. anyone who needs to manage projects, especially with multiple people involved at multiple sites working cross-platform should check out basecamp.

i’ve been using it for about two weeks to manage the workflow and communication at the studio and have been very impressed with it.

click here to check it out… basecamp

an old drawing and a few from recent sessions as well…

jeremy keeps asking me to post some drawings from the beginning of our sessons so here you go…

and here are a couple from a few more recent sessions…

more to come as soon as i take some more pics.

in the mean time you guys can check out what some of the other folks who come are doing here…

there is room for more folks, if anyone wants to draw friday mornings just shoot me an email.

posted for your edification

30 seconds to wreck it and more than 30 days to fix it.

car accidents just aren’t as fun as they use to be.

here it goes…

you guys have no idea how scary this is for me…

I drew every day of my life from about 5 years old until I was 20. the last 5 or 6 years of that time I drew/painted upwards of 6 or 7 hours a day and the last few it was easily 12 hours a day. At 20 years old I stopped cold. I took a 12 year break (that is a much longer story than I care to type out—ask me if you are interested) and started again last fall, only this time it is just once a week for about 3 hours. needless to say I am rusty, I could draw better at 17 than I do now at 33. I am also a bit insecure about the whole thing—I always was.

That is the only reason I am posting these today. For years I hid my work, I was ashamed of it. the problem was that my entire identity was built around my ability to make art so I was afraid to make something ugly, I was afraid I would make something stupid and therefore I would be reveald as ugly and stupid, the jig would be up and I would be seen as a fraud, the product of too much praise and boasting at a young age—I had to maintain the reputation of talent but was deathly afraid I didn’t actually possess any. I may be able to draw slightly better than the average joe but I am no master and my perfectionistic expectations stunted my artistic growth and so for years I was paralized by my insecurity.

In many ways that is still the case; the difference now is that my identity has nothing to do with being able to do anything, be it art, or anything else. It is nice to be freed from having your identity tied to your performance. (there is a sermon in here somewhere) So I have decided to do the thing that scares me most and show some of the drawings that I’ve done over the last few months. Not because I am proud of them but because I want to improve, I can’t do that if I am fearful, if I hide my work and insualte myself from critique—so please have at it—post your crit—It’s good for me. Not to mention, it just feels wrong hiding something that brings me so much joy—no matter what the drawings look like.

so here it goes…

30 sec…

5 min…

15 min…

20 min…

30-40 min…

vintage logos make me happy

nice suff here…

below is a little taste…

women as weapons—this made me want to vomit.

the following excerpt is from an article on the forbes site that is asking why there has been such an increase in female suicide bombers. put all your politics aside and grieve with me for the women who are being reduced to, and being used as munitions. and if you are a praying type, i think i just found a good thing to bring up in your next conversation with God.

Exploitation. The bombing conducted last month by two women with Down syndrome involved a more simple, and common, abuse of vulnerable women by terrorist groups. This is not a new trend; Iraqi hospital administrators have occasionally “exchanged” physically and mentally disabled patients for money, and these individuals may sometimes end up in the custody of insurgents.

here is the artice in its entirety…

trying to be half the man i used to be…

This week completes my 4th month of radically changing my eating habits. Four months has never felt so long—I miss my midnight Chalupa runs and my mid-day baconator Anyway I am down 47lbs since novemeber and I still have 78lbs to go until I hit my goal. That is a long way off, but now for the first time I think I will actually make it. In the mean time, my friends need to stop asking me to go get a pizza with them—at least until next august.

very excited indeed…

my most amazing wife is sending me to a week long workshop with Henry Yan at a little studio on the coast of north carolina. The stuff on his site is nice but you need to see his book to really appreciate just how amazing his work is. his treatment of the figure and his use of charcoal blow me away, to say that i am excited to spend a week drawing under this man’s tutelage is a huge understatement. check out a few of his drawings below…