Brand new Puerto Rican Hip Hop Study

I decided to go back to my PRHH DVD to see if I could find another interesting pose to sketch from and then work up in Photoshop. I'll include the original blue pencil study so you can see how it progressed. I'm pretty happy with the color and composition. I might auction this drawing off next week. Stay tooned.

-Ed

Another drawing up for bid this weekend

I've got this drawing up for bid on Ebay, so stop by and have a look. You can click on the widget in the right-hand column of this blog or click here.

This is one of the larger pieces I've auctioned off. Hope it sells! Auction closes Saturday night.

Thanks,
-Ed

A golden oldie

Circa 1998. Drawn during my old Monday night, St. Augustine Sketch classes many, many moons ago.

I was looking for images for Saturday's workshop, and this fell out of the slide sleeve.

Just sharing.

-Ed

New syndicate cartoon

We can totally relate to this one here at the Hall household. The recession has finally reached our shores. I won't go into details, but suffice it to say, we're scrambling. Luckily I'm picking up a bunch of new work.

-Ed

Another Hawaiian Hip Hop Still

I tried to loosen up a bit with this one. Not take so much time with it, and just kind of (as Fabry puts it) get close to the pocket. I'll probably do another one tonight or tomorrow morning. I've also got lesson plans to do for Saturday, and one more cartoon, so it's gonna be a busy Thursday.

Let me hear from you.

Cheers,

Ed

Almost forgot to post this!

Here's today's syndicate cartoon. Look for another one shortly. Can't believe I did them both in one day this week!

Cheers,

Ed

Hula Video Stills

Staying with the recent theme, I broke out the old Hawaiian Hula DVD last night and sketched some stills. I thought it might be interesting to juxtapose this new drawing with one I did several months ago. They show the same pose at different angles. One thing that jumps out at me right away is the difference in confidence of line. The old drawing looks much more free, and less labored over, while the one I did last night looks a little more stiff and over-analyzed. Hmm. I think it's very important to recognize these types of things in your own work. Be aware of them and build upon them. I'm gonna check the used book store today for a new and inspiring aerobic video to draw from, but I also think I might also try a different attitude when I sit down to draw the next still. Stay tooned! -Ed

Sunday Sketch 01-24-10

I enjoyed sketch class yesterday (after I settled down). My mind is always racing during the first hour. I was finding it particularly difficult to concentrate. Anyway, I'll post the gestures first. I think those came out nice - plenty of movement, and freedom of line. I even sketched her before she undressed (always a good warm up before warm ups to get the proportions of the figure in your mind as early as possible). I think the workshop I'm hosting/teaching is forcing me to think about some old ways of seeing. It's all good. I was particularly happy with the final drawing. I took an old piece of paper with some ink splattered on it and "found" the figure in the marks. Hope you enjoy these. Let me hear from you! And, as always, a great big HELLO to the new followers of the blog.

Cheers,

Ed

More video still sketchy sketch

A couple more video still sketches for your perusal. BTW, I'm in the 2nd week of a figure drawing workshop I'm hosting here in Jacksonville. What a wonderful group of hungry minds and talented hands! It's been great. This will be the first in a series of classes running through the Spring. If you're in Jacksonville, and interested you can contact Jim at Reddi-arts for the details. I'll probably be attending Sunday sketch tomorrow, so look for those results on Monday. Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend. Stay solvent.

-Ed

Today's syndicate cartoon

Dr. Sketchy workup from a gesture

I wanted to take one of my gesture drawings from last week and work it up into a more finished sketch. At coffee last night I spent the time re-sketching it into more of a stylized figure, and then this morning finished it up in Photoshop. I played around with the perspective and foreshortening of the figure with the free transform tool.I'll post the original gesture so that you can see where the inspiration came from. Can't wait until next month's event. -Ed

I live for this stuff...

Anytime I can use a Monty Python reference in a cartoon (and a local one at that) I'm a happy man. Now, time to go eat some Spam!

-Ed

PS - They were pissed last week about our paper's coverage of this issue, so I expect a letter or two on this one. Stay tooned.

Local cartoon

Like many other businesses tied to the construction industry, Hanson Roof Tiles has become a victim of the recession. They are a London based roofing tile manufacturer who built a facility in Baker County in 2006 to service the Carolina's and south Florida. At that time, the county donated the 15 acres of land that the facility was built on. Now they have dropped from 70 employees to zero, the County has filed a lien on the property, and no one is inhabiting the building except for security guards. I guess they, like everyone else, thought the party was going to go on forever.

One last Dr. Sketchy Sketch

Here's my final Photoshop workup from last week's Dr. Sketchy's. Can't wait for the next one! Thanks again Chris for organizing such a GREAT event.

-Ed

New gig!

I picked up two new local community newspapers last week. Sure they're monthlies, but in this economy work is work. Besides, they're right in my own neighborhood! This first one deals with an issue I'm familiar with. After WWII Water Oaks were planted through out Jacksonville. Problem is the life span is only 50 years, so many of them are well past their lifespans. We had one removed from our yard a couple of years ago, and the entire interior trunk was literally full of water! The tree guy said it was a miracle it hadn't already fallen on our house. When he picked the trunk up with the crane, and it tilted to the side, it looked like a giant glass of water being poured out onto the ground. Riverside will probably lose a big part of it's historic canopy when these trees are removed, but the city is stepping up with a replanting schedule. And this time they're only using Live Oaks and Elms (longer lasting trees).

One more...

I thought that I was finished for the week, and then THIS idea hit me last night. What a total nimrod this guy is. I really can't see how his comments on Haiti cannot infuriate even his base supporters.

Last Syndicate cartoon of the week

Oh yeah, editorial cartoons. I'm supposed to be doing those too! Taking a break from figure drawing, here's the last syndicate cartoon post of the week. Enjoy.

Job Outlook Update: It looks like I may have picked up a couple of new local papers here this week. I'll post those on Monday along with the specifics.

Have a GREAT weekend.

-Ed

Straight Sketchy Sketch

Here are a few sketches from last night, untouched by Photoshop.

Have I mentioned how much fun this event was? It had a great pace - with several 1 minute poses, then some 3 minute poses (shown here), and then some longer 10 and 20 minute poses. The organization, speed, and theatricality kept the drawings coming fast and furious!

More Dr. Sketchy's

Here's another sketch from last night's event (tweaked in Photoshop). I'm enjoying these. Will post more as I finish them up.

Cheers,

Ed

Dr. Sketchy's Jax Rocked!

Yee haa! What a great time we had last night at Sinclair's with the 2nd Jacksonville Dr. Sketchy's! Cowgirl & Saloon Girl theme models, contests, free shots, and lots of sketching. Who could ask for more? If you're not familiar with Dr. Sketchy's click here. I've got a bunch more of these to post, but I just had to get this one up on the blog early. Thanks to all of the organizers, and my fellow participants, especially Henry for dragging me to this. This is now definitely on our to-do list for next month. It was fun.

Cheers,

Ed

One more Cardio Go Go

A few gestures worth posting

I've been having better luck with my gesture drawings lately. Maybe it's the fluidity of line and spontaneous quality of these sketches, but I'm feeling pretty good about turning these into Pronto Plates. Stay tooned.

Dr. Sketchy's is being held tonight at a bar downtown. I'm not sure what to expect, I just hope that they get some decent models, and that the costumes are cool. We'll see. Henry and I are gonna check it out, and if it looks legit, we'll draw for a while. Look for that tomorrow.

Cheers,

Ed

New Local cartoon

The new Baker County Jail continues to wait on ICE inmates to fill it's beds, and, in turn, fill it's coffers. That, coupled with a lien that has just been filed by one of the contractors on the building means they're now laying off officers to make up for the shortfall. Oh, and it's still really cold in NE Florida.

Monday Night Sketch

I got extremely bored with last night's pose. So much so that I started drawing people in the class. I'm glad I did too, because I really like this drawing. I think I'm done with going to this session (sorry Dat). It's just too much someone else's show. I did learn something though - and that is this - always draw what excites your eye, not what you're necessarily supposed to be drawing. My gestures came out pretty good too, so I may post those later or transfer them to Pronto Plate.

Stay tooned.

-E

Morning Aerobics

Here's a couple more video still studies from my Cardio Go Go DVD. Just in case you never saw the first ones I did last year, this is a technique I learned from comic artist Glen Fabry, where you can pause a DVD or video tape on an interesting pose and sketch it from across the room. The trick is not to take too long with these; usually not more than 20 or 30 minutes to complete the drawing. Like I said yesterday, I'll try to do 1-2 of these a day for a while and see where they lead. I had really forgotten how much I enjoyed them. The 3 hour pose last night wasn't nearly as fun. The model was set up in a very stiff posture, and I actually ended up doing a better drawing of one of the girls in the class. I'll post that drawing shortly.

-Ed

Local cartoon I forgot to post

I liked the way the color came out in this one, so I'm gonna post it. Just found out that there is another 3 hour pose tonight at the Art Coop. I think I'm gonna go up there and give it another shot. Look for the results tomorrow.

Cheers,

Ed

Video Still Studies are back!

After an atrocious day at drawing class yesterday, I decided to break out the video stills as a home reference guide again. I'm going to try to do at least one or two of these a day for a while, without getting too distracted by them. This one is from the Cardio Go Go DVD.

These women have waaaay too much energy for 8:00 AM!

-Ed

A nice little blurb on Helen South's About.com blog

Click here to see it.

Thanks Helen!

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In other news, I was very excited to find out last week that we are finally going to get a Dr. Sketchys here in Jacksonville. If you don't know what that is, check out this link. It's scheduled for next Wednesday, so Henry and I will be attending that instead of our regular Wednesday night coffee. Look for those results on Thursday. Should be interesting.

Also, this Sunday, our figure class organizer Vinnie has decided to set up a 3 hour pose. This should be a nice change of pace from our regular schedule, and it's one of my favorite models. I think I'm going to do a digital portrait on the laptop, and I'll post that on Monday.

One more item of news in case you missed it: I've posted 3 new drawings on Ebay. The auctions close on Sunday, so if you get a chance, stop by and bid on some original Ed Hall artwork. Thanks, and Happy Weekend! -Ed

Pronto Plates for sale

The prints ain't sellin', so I'm selling the plates. This is your chance to get an original inked pronto plate with the gesture drawing it came from behind (or underneath) it. Two drawings in one, and meant to be framed together, as you can see through the vellum. Both of these, plus one other color pencil drawing will be auctioned off this weekend, so be sure to head over to my Ebay auction page to bid: http://myworld.ebay.com/halltoons2qr3

Thanks for looking!

-Ed

New Local Cartoon

We haven't gotten above freezing in three days here in NE Florida, which is a rarity for us. They're also calling for snow flurries on Friday! I know, my Northern brethren will give me sh*t for being a wimp when it comes to the cold, but I am sooooo ready for it to get warm again. Luckily my studio is on the second floor, so all of the warm air rises up here.

Recipe for tonight:

-Raging Fire

-Spicy Indian food

-Hot Toddy

-Football

Sunday Sketch Part II

As promised, here's the rest of the drawings from this past Sunday's class. I thought it would be interesting to post the original sketch along with the digital drawing I did over the weekend. If you look closely you can see where I made minor modifications to the proportion and placement of feet, hands and limbs. Hope you like these, and I hope the new year is treating you well so far.

I'll probably put at least one of these up on Ebay for auction. Stay tooned.

-E