The Human Canvas - Here Be Wolves

My tooth is really killing me right now...been in and out of a daze...but I gotta get this one done. With this one more post, with just one more day in the month, I will have July as the month of Human Canvas Sessions from Turkey. I unexpectedly was able to do 5.


While I had been doing the first four at Arsah, Musa - who works there - had been quietly witnessing these sessions, or the results OF them. Turns out...he wanted a wolf. I kind of expected something kind of easy...a profile of a wolf, howling at the moon. Something like what's pictured above.

But...

...He had an image in mind.

It was on his cell phone...

...which kept disappearing after 15 seconds, due to the screen saver.

I sketched it out with a yellow highlighter to kind of get the general idea...

...and went from there.

This is where it became handy to have NOT had a black pen during the last session...

...but having hung onto the one we were able to find...

...giving me a couple different shades of black to play with.

And since Musa wanted THIS image of a wolf...

This allows me to do the whole howling at the moon, wolf-profile image on someone else...

...'cause at this point, I only have one more session to publish...

Before having run out of smiling participants.

Thank you Musa.

And to all at Arsah: Whether you work there, own the place, or just happen to have stopped in while being a tourist during late April - and let a complete stranger draw on you...

Thank You.

The Human Canvas - C'Mon! Who Leaves Their Hotel With Just One Sharpie?!?

 Still in Istanbul, I was once again at my favorite hang, Arsah. And, once again - trying to explain to some fellow travellers why I might be walking around with some 30 sharpies on me. This is Haida.

The best explanation, was for me to simply bring up one of the photos from the previous night

Haida wanted something done, but didn't care what.

So...Having promised to only take about 10 - 15 minutes...

...And having grabbed an orange Sharpie out of my pocket...

...I decided to rely on the familiar - another Koi.

Problem was...that orange Sharpie I grabbed...was the only one I'd taken from the hotel!

No Black!!!

I mean...C'Mon! Who leaves their hotel with just one Sharpie?!?

Mehmet and Huseyin, normally running the shop, started running around looking for a black pen.

Couldn't find anything that had the boldness of a Sharpie. Instead of a black, we ended up with a rather dark grey.

This came in handy a day or two later - on yet another session.

She had a few stars already tattooed on her forearm.

With the Koi in place, I felt like they needed to be colored in...

And a couple more added.

So again...meet Haida. And in a city of some 8.8 million, I actually ran into her again a day or two later...

...Allowing me to get a shot of the fading process.

Thank you Haida.

This was the fourth of five sessions while in Turkey. All at Arsah...

...As was the next. Musa. He had been witnessing this over the last few days, and wanted a wolf.

We'll see this one soon.

Please check back.

The Human Canvas - Smaugy in Istanbul

Istanbul...Arsah - again, THE place to go if you're in the area. For me, among other things, it was also a great place to draw on people. I really didn't think I'd be doing any Human Canvas sessions while in Turkey...but one night, I ended up doing three.

Meet Mehmet.

The previous two pices that night - a Sun on Ha and a whirling dervish on Heena - were by request. Mehmet didn't really care...he just wanted to be a part of the experience.

So...I relied on something familiar...

...while trying to incorporate things I'd learned on other drawings.

So...once again...

Here be Dragons!

Some detail...

...and a background...

...And there we are.

Now...here are all three from that night:

Left to Right - Heena, Ha, and Mehmet.

Thanks to the three of you...

...And thanks to Mehmet AND Huseyin - for allowing me to do this in their store. As well as the next two...done a day or two later.

Please check back. And for the beginings of these adventures, click on the tabs near the top of the page for "The Human Canvas - the begining" and "The Human Canvas II - 2011".