Pictures of Lily

First, some cool photos from Lucho Salazar, including a nice one of the outside of the cafe. (When in Hamtramck, visit the Cafe 1923, right across from the neon wiener-on-a-fork sign on the Kowalski sausage factory.)



Next, a couple from Jim Anderson, including one of our lovely model modeling the new Dr. Sketchy t-shirt designed by... Jim!




Jim also sent some of his typically great sketches.



Plus, here are a couple of round robin drawings from last session - three artists per drawing, each working for five minutes.

DS Recap Part 2: Suzanne Baumann Edition

Suzanne sent some excellent sketches from the last few sessions. Above is her Lily LaRue drawing, and below are some from February and October.

DS Recap Part 1: Valentine's Day

Doug Blanchard sent another of his great sketchbook collages, this one from our Feb. 14 session.


Don't worry, I checked: Hello Kitty was invented in 1974, so she's old enough to drink.


Trixie did a lot of posing for photos. Only fair someone shot one of DS regular Agnes for a change.

DS16: Lily LaRue and an art show too

Many thanks to everyone who braved the blowing snow and booger-freezing temperatures last night to come to Dr. Sketchy at the Hatchback exhibit's opening reception. It looked like a hit from where I was, with lots of art lovers coming and going all night and an enthusiastic batch of sketchers on hand.


I also saw a number of lovely drawings of the beautiful Lily LaRue, so send some my way everyone and I'll post them up here. Lily was awesome, and I encourage everyone to check out her performance at the upcoming Torch with a Twist show next Sunday, March 16 at Cliff Bells in Detroit. Read all about 'em: Here's the link to the Metro Times cover story about Torch with a Twist from last year. Also, aspiring burlesque dancers should keep in mind Lily's burlesque dance classes in Ferndale. Link to the MT calendar blurb here or check out Lily's own site here.

If things were too crowded to get a good look last night, Hatch's Hatchback show will be on display at Café 1923 until April 12. Congrats, by the way, to Sketchy regular Michelangelo Cicerone, who not only won a Dr. Sketchy prize package for his "Think Spring"-themed drawing, but was awarded an honorary membership to Hatch as an emerging artist!

Thanks again all, keep an eye out for an April date TBA soon, and more art and photos will be up from last month's DS too (as soon as the Blogger server stops being temperamental!)

Dr. Sketchy's Got Yer Back: DS @ the Hatchback exhibit in Hamtown!

Hey there art monkeys,

As promised, Dr. Sketchy is happening again THIS SATURDAY, MARCH 8 from 5-8pm at the Cafe 1923 in Hamtramck.

The Hamtramck arts collective Hatch will be debuting its latest juried art exhibit HATCHBACK that night. How better to kick off the festivities than with a sketch session featuring the fabulous burlesque performer and instructor LILY LA RUE of the Torch With a Twist troupe?

Check out photos of last year's art opening with fairy-winged Xaina on the DS blog to see what you can expect!

PLUS: The Dr. Sketchy t-shirts are HERE! You are for sure gonna wanna get your hands on one of these handsome babies so you can rock your Sketchy cred for the world to see (once the weather warms up, anyway...)

Come for the sketching, stay for the art, snacks and mingling, and stay even later in Hamtramck to take in the last of the Blowout-related music and arts events around town. See you there!

Sean

I Left My Heart at Dr. Sketchy

(...so if you picked it up the other night please drop it in the mail for me.)

Well, despite sort of short notice, cold weather, the fact that it's supposed to be the biggest date night of the year (I assume, right?) and my disastrous attempt to make cookies the night before, Dr. Sketchy 15 was a heart-warming success. New sketchers and old friends came out to draw our fantastic models. In fact one of them was new to DS too - the lovely Trixie, while the other was our old pal Muana, roaring back after some recent health issues and wonderful as always. We did manage to get some cookies out there, thanks to Martha Washington bakery. Leave these things to the pros, is my new motto.

Anyway - photos! First from newcomer Christian, then a shot from Agnes over prize-winner Brian's shoulder. Yes, that's Hello Kitty they're fighting over. More on her misadventures later...


Next a painterly work by another newbie, Lou, who shot this with a laptop-mounted webcam and altered it in some kinda new-fangled photoshoppy software.

A heart-y (yuk yuk!) thanks to everyone who came out. More art and photos to come (send me your work!).

NEXT MONTH: Dr. Sketchy returns to the Café 1923 for the opening of Hatch's second annual juried art show, Hatchback! Plans are afoot to bring back an old DS favorite, TBA. So save the date: Saturday, March 8, 5-8pm, with the opening running until 10pm (art, munchies, etc.) More info to come.

My Sketchy Valentine: DS15 this Thursday night!!

Hi Sketchers,

Sorry for the long stretch of time since our last session, but hopefully things are back on track here at Detroit Dr Sketchy HQ.

First: We are ON for our next sketch session at the Belmont THIS THURSDAY, Feb. 14 - Valentine's Day, 7-10pm! Bring a date! The model(s?) is still TBA but I'm working on some V-Day goodies and prizes, so it'll be a good time as usual.

Next up: Dr. Sketchy returns to Café 1923 in Hamtramck for the opening reception of HATCHBACK, the art collective Hatch's second annual juried exhibition. The opening is Saturday, March 8, with DS happening from 5-8 and the reception continuing from 7-10pm. That's the weekend of the Hamtramck Blowout too, with music and other stuff happening all over town, so plan to make an evening of it!

Dates for April and May are in the works. in the meantime, here are some samples from December's session from Matt Feazell and Jim Anderson.



See you this Thursday!

Sean

The cure for post-holiday bummers

Just a reminder that the last Dr. Sketchy of 2007 is set to happen Thursday, Dec. 27 (that'd be TONIGHT!) from 7-10pm at the good ol' Belmont. Huzzah! See you there!


(There, I posted something. Now I have an excuse to show you these sweet pastel drawings by Brian Ciupka!)

December Dr. Sketchy - This Time For Sure!

Nothing up my sleeve - presto! After much delay, Dr. Sketchy's Post-Christmas/Pre-New Year's burlesque art happenin' is finally scheduled for:

Thursday, December 27
7-10pm
The Belmont, Hamtramck

Slated to model are members of the celebrated Torch With A Twist cabaret troupe (as seen on the cover of Detroit's weekly Metro Times). Attention ophidiophobes: this evening may contain snakes!


We'll have a wealth of cool goodies to hand out too, and maybe some holiday music if you're not sick of it by then. Be sure to wear all your new scarves and sweaters so we can see what Santa/Aunt Whatsername got you this year, and we'll see you there! -Sean

(Photos by Ryan Keberly for Detroit Metro Times)

DS13: Hoop Screams

Thanks as always to everyone who came out for the Dr. Sketchy Halloween session last Thursday, especially the zombified remains of the Motor City Rah-Rahs! It was a packed house, and with four models trying to cheer and hoola-hoop on stage, quarters were close. But it looks like folks got a lot of good sketching in. Here's a couple by Matt Feazell:




And two more from Jim Anderson:




All sketchers were entered into a raffle for a foam core casket full of cool stuff - a book on vampires, a Jeffrey Brown graphic novel, a hairy styrofoam rat, a skeleton-hand chalice thingee, some rubber spiders, candy bars and best of all, a $50 gift certificate to Blick art supplies. Late in the evening some folks stopped by the Belmont in costume after attending a party. One was dressed as a blind hunter, complete with rifle and white cane - the perfect impartial name-drawer for the raffle! The winner: Agnes Domanska, our faithful photographer! (These pictures are from her.)





Added bonus for the night: Jim put together some sweet vinyl stickers featuring a poo-flinging art monkey and we distributed them liberally around the bar. The design was such a hit that t-shirts are in the works now too.



More art and photos as I get them. November's DS is in the works, though it probably won't happen until after Thanksgiving. Stay tuned!

Dr. Sketchy No.13: Drawin' of the Dead!

Hello again boys and ghouls! Just a last-minute reminder that the October Dr. Sketchy is happening...

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25
7-10PM
@ THE BELMONT
10215 Jos. Campau (conveniently located just a few doors north of the Pope statue!)

ON STAGE: We got members of the fabulous MOTOR CITY RAH-RAHS, official cheerleading squad for the Detroit Derby Girls, posin' and cheerin' and hoola-hoopin' and, um... well, slowly decaying and becoming members of the living dead, I'm afraid. (Something about a radioactive meteor falling into the rink at the last derby event, I forget the details. In any case, you might want to wear a helmet. A mind is a terrible thing to taste. Er, waste.)

PLUS: we'll have Halloween treats (Good stuff! Chocolate!! Not raisins or some crap! Dr. Sketchy wouldn't do that to you!), scary-ass tunes and a chance for you to win a casketful of cool prizes, including a $50 gift certificate from Blick Art Supplies in Dearborn!! Costumes are welcome if you're so inclined (no pressure), and of course we'll have the usual cozy Belmont atmosphere (and booze) to enjoy.

Hold onto yer brains, folks, this is gonna be a wild one!

Shh! Secret Sketchy!

Well, what with all the art festivals and whatnot that needed tending to this last month, September almost got away from me. ALMOST. At the last minute, we wrangled together a stealth Sketchy session at Hamtramck's beloved Cafe 1923. It was a quieter, more Sunday brunchy sort of Sketchy, with the bunch of us assembled in the front room, nibbling Trader Joe's mini-quiches, digging the natural lighting and otherwise chilling out. We even had a purty autumn-colored bouquet to set the mood. Aww!



Also dig-worthy was Sophia, a veteran art-school model (I almost said art-school poser, but that's something else...) with a bottomless selection of costumes for us to draw. She went from fishnetted '60s Amazon to parasol-toting '50s-ish picnicker to mandolin-plucking cowgirl to full-on Renaissance wench over the course of the three hours. Her dramatic Greek features and consummate posing skillz make her a pleasure to sketch. (And, ohyeahshe'salsomywife...! Biased much?) Photos here from Agnes Domanska, who's pretty much our official photographer at his point - thanks again, Agnes!



Next up: A spooky Sketchy back at the Belmont on Thursday, October 25, featuring (if all goes according to evil plan) some zombified cheerleaders! If you're thinking... of missing... the next Dr. Sketchy... DON'T!!

One last look...

...before we move on, of Dr. Sketchy #11, from sketcher Kathy Bailey (sorry to sit on these for so long, Kathy!)

More from DS11

More art and photos. First, some great, moody shots of geisha Muana, bathed in red light, from Charlene Gilbert.





Next, more beautiful sketchbook pages from Doug Blanchard.






Thanks, you two!