Friday, February 26, 2010

DFW Sketch and Life Drawing Groups

If you live in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and are looking to get out and draw or paint with other artists, there's a number of opportunities, but I've found the information is scattered all around and often out-of-date. So, I thought I'd try and consolidate a list of some chances for us artists to just get together and draw.

Some require a fee which I've noted. Since this is about community, I'm pretty selective about the classes listed here; they'll be limited mainly to model sessions with a "show up at the door with your money and sketchpad" admission policy (rather than, e.g., accredited schools.)

Let me know if this list has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate... and always be sure to double-check with the group before driving out because of reading this!

Drink & Draw DFW
Hosted by Jose Ramirez; meets bi-weekly, currently Sundays at 6:30pm, at various locations around the Metroplex such as the Flying Saucer (Addison) and Big Racks BBQ (Grapevine.) Now also meeting on alternate weekends in Fort Worth!
Facebook
Blog
Twitter

Uptown Dallas Sketch Group
Meets bi-weekly on Tuesdays at Cafe Express in uptown Dallas with occasional special events.
Meetup

Plano Sketchers
Meets roughly weekly or semi-weekly at Collin Creek Mall. Dates may vary, usually 7:00pm.
Meetup

Dallas Sketch Club
Informal, social drawing group. Hosted by Lucas Puryear at Taco Bueno at 75 & Forest Ln. Often bi-weekly, every other Saturday 5-7:00pm, but pretty intermittent so get in touch first. Past meeting locations have included Richland College cafeteria and Chipotle at 75 & Forest Ln.
Facebook

A Bunch of Short Guys
DFW's premier animation and VFX guild. Not strictly a drawing group but they sometimes host drawing sessions and related classes. A highlight is their annual Industry Giants conference which usually features a figure drawing track. Meets monthly, usually on a Saturday at 10:00am, at Collin College Spring Creek Campus (2800 East Spring Creek Parkway, room C-104, Plano, TX 75074).

Web site
Meetup
Facebook


Dallas Artist Networking Group
Hosts a variety of artist meetups including monthly socials, a weekly "Friday Night Creative Circle", gallery shows, and a (roughly) monthly ArtLoveMagic with music, poetry, etc. I haven't been to any myself, but I know some who reguarly like to attend and sketch.
Meetup

Tarrant Artist Networking Group (TANG)
An extention of the Dallas Artist Networking Group (DANG), they organize a (roughly) weekly meetup at Roots coffee house in North Richland Hills, though the date and time seems to move around a bit.
Meetup
Facebook


Figure Drawing:

Cedar's Art Gallery
Traditional life drawing sessions which favor long poses-- often a single pose for two to three weeks-- though they occasionally do shorter poses (e.g. 10-20 min). Thursdays 7-9:30pm and Sundays 1-4pm, $20 session fee. David Terry and Paul Labadie run mailing lists; contact me for their email address.
Web site

Dr. Sketchy's Dallas
Monthly life drawing, usually Sunday 4-7pm, featuring "fringe culture" models such as burlesque dancers, roller derby girls, and the like. $10 session fee.
Web site
Blog
Facebook
MySpace

Dr. Sketchy's Denton
Monthly, usually on Sunday nights at Banter Cafe on W. Oak St. $10 session fee.
Facebook
MySpace

The Society of Figurative Arts (TSOFA)
Michael Mentler teaches life drawing classes in Carrollton from the model every Tuesday and Wednesday, with weekend "crash course" workshops. The web site is (or at least seems to be) eternally out of date, so you may want to contact him to verify class times. $30 normal class ($25/class when purchased in groups of 10), $185 weekend workshops.
Web Site
Michael Mentler's online sketchbook
FACES & FEATURES
Tuesdays 11:00a to 1:30p
FIGURE DRAWING
Wednesdays 11:00a to 1:30p
Wednesdays 7:00p to 9:30p

Friday Night Lights and Shadows (Meetup.com)
Drawing from live models, varying clothed, costumed and nude. $15 fee, Friday nights at Brookhaven College, usually weekly at 7:00p.
Meetup

Visual Arts Guild of Frisco (VAGF)Occasionally runs weekly series of figure drawing workshops.
Web site (events)

On the Internet and abroad:

Sketchoholic
Featuring "Chiustream" with Bobby Chiu sketching, chatting, and voting on viewer drawings at the end so draw as you watch. Very motivational and addictive! Every Friday 4-5:30pm CST. Also hosts live interviews with professional artists and illustrators (times vary).
Web site
Live stream
@bobbychiu on Twitter (announcements when the live streams start, as well as upcoming interviews and contests)

SketchCrawl
Worldwide, quarterly, grassroots event started by Pixar story artist Enrico Casarosa. A day set aside to walk around and draw! DFW isn't always well-represented, so if you don't see anyone organizing something then feel free to start your own thread on the forums.
Upcoming dates:
SketchCrawl #26 - February 27, 2010
SketchCrawl #27 - May 15, 2010
SketchCrawl #28 - July 31, 2010
SketchCrawl forums


Defunct (groups that died out, but you can keep your eyes on them in case they pop up again):

DFW Sketch Group and DFW Sketch Group Northeast
Informal, social drawing group. Meets bi-weekly, Saturdays at 1pm, with alternating locations: Borders cafe in Lewisville, and Half-Price Books community lounge on Northwest Highway off US-75 in Dallas.
Meetup
Update: As of Aug. 5, 2010, this sketch group has been cancelled.

Greater Fort Worth Sketch Group
Not sure if they host it, but they regularly advertise a weekly Drink and Draw at Mellow Mushroom at the Bluebonnet traffic circle off TCU campus, Mondays at 6pm, as well as other sketch meetups.
Meetup
Mellow Mushroom Fort Worth on Facebook
Mellow Mushroom Fort Worth Happenings

As of March 22, 2010, Mellow Mushroom's Drink and Draw has been cancelled until further notice.


Dallas Sketch Group
Used to meet on Sundays 11:30am-2:30pm at the Half-Price Books on Northwest Highway off US-75, but died out a few years ago (2011?).
Blog
Facebook

Plano Figuredrawing and Painting GroupShort-lived figure drawing group in Plano on Meetup.com. Meetings were scheduled for Sunday afternoons/evenings but died out to lack of interest.
Meetup

Figure Drawing (Meetup.com)
This was hosting open model figure drawing sessions but ended a while back. I used to have a link in case it came back but I think the hosting site dropped it completely.

UTD Little Concept WorkshopSketch/painting group (roughly weekly, location varies) focused toward drawing for concept and fantasy art. One or more subjects are given for the attendees to focus on, and in the future they hope to add some figure drawing to the mix. Meets usually on Saturdays 7:30pm - 9:30pm.
Facebook
Blog

DFW Life Drawing (Fort Worth) (Meetup.com)
Defunct as of March 9, 2013. Used to meet in Fort Worth weekly with $10 fee.
Meetup

Magnolia Ave. Life Drawing Group (Meetup.com)
Defunct as of April 15, 2013. Drawing from the live model with instruction and motivation from leader and professor David Calton. $15 fee, meets at Calton's studio at the corner of Magnolia and College in the Historic Southside district in Fort Worth, Thursdays 6:30p to 9:30p and Sundays 1:00p to 4:00p.
Meetup


Deep Ellum Draws (Meetup.com)
Cancelled as of May 20, 2013. Drawing from live models, usually nude, $20 fee, Thursday nights 7-10:00p in Deep Ellum. Hosted by animator Bill Konersman.
Meetup

Monday, February 22, 2010

Drink & Draw Feb. 21

Great fun last night at the Drink & Draw in Grapevine. Even had time to do a few sketches...

JPR_20100221

Monday, February 15, 2010

Roussillon

Roussillon

Roussillon, France. Roussillon is very... red. It's a famous source of ochre pigment. I think there must be a law or something stating every door in Provence must be painted light blue. 22.9x30.5, watercolor on Strathmore paper.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Great Basin National Park

JPR_20100204_2658

Ugh... yes, well, I may redo this one since I do at least like the scene, and make it less "busy". From imagination, inspired by a TV show I watched on Great Basin National Park. I've never actually been there though it looks pretty cool. Watercolor on Strathmore 300gsm paper, 22.9x30.5.

Using metric makes it look like I know what I'm doing...