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".

The Human Canvas - A Whirling Dervish in Istanbul

So...while in Turkey recently, hanging out at Arsah - THE place to go in Istanbul, I was able to do 5 Human Canvas sessions during the week we were there...three of them in one night...one after the other. I had just finished a large, old-fashioned Sun on Ha, while her friend Heena took photos. After I finished, they traded places - with Ha picking up the camera, and Heena sitting down to be the next canvas.

This was a nice surprise - as she was hesitant at first, AND Ha's piece took about 40 minutes.

Heena wanted a whirling Dervish...

Not really abstract...

...but not really keeping in the confines of strict realism either.

So this session was really cool...

...somewhat spur of the moment...

...and not knowing what the image would be...

...until just before we started...

...and going from there.

This one went rather quickly.

Quicker than expected, actually.

Maybe ten or fifteen minutes later...

And Done. So now here's Heena AND Ha.

The next session started about ten minutes later. We'll see that one next. Please check back. Also, to see the beginings of these adventures, go to the tabs near the top of the page - "The Human Canvas - the begining" and "The Human Canvas II - 2011".