Monthly Archives: November 2017

November 2017 Unterwegs: the Leopard Print Backpack.

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leopard backpack by Suzanne Forbes Nov 16 2017I made this entire drawing to showcase this fellow’s on-trend leopard print backpack.

black and white unterwegs seated november 2017 Suzanne ForbesOf course, it is also a technical exercise on multiple levels. First of all, it is the drawing without any black ink line I said I might ultimately challenge myself with last month.

Second, it is an exercise in defying the classic light and dark value principle that lights come forward and darks recede.

black and white unterwegs seated november 2017 Suzanne ForbesAnd third, it is a chance to try and get some of the value rather than line based effects I’ve been working on with the pastel drawings in an ink drawing. I am very pleased with it.

It looks a bit like a sepia ink wash drawing. It was definitely influenced by seeing the ink wash drawings of comics artist Nicola Scott on Instagram.

black and white unterwegs arm november 2017 Suzanne ForbesI’ve also been making little white pencil drawings on black paper.

Just for fun, as a way to see what happens with my brain when drawing in reverse. When I get home I add a bit of white conte crayon to punch up the contrast.

black and white unterwegs ladies november 2017 Suzanne ForbesAnd here’s another sepia tone marker drawing, from the top deck of the M29.

I did most of this one a week before the one at the top, and you can see I had a quantum leap of understanding of about using tonal marker values between the two.

M29 upper deck by Suzanne Forbes Nov 16 2017black and white unterwegs hat november 2017 Suzanne ForbesBut they have the same date of signature, because they were both finished at home this week.

I am trying to stick to ink mostly for a bit, both to see how the insights I got from the pastels transfer over and because the pastel drawings take so much finishing work at home.

I’d rather get the drawings mostly or totally done on site and on the u-bahn home. I don’t like having work to finish lying around the house.

I’d rather be working on all my mixed media multidisciplinary crazy insect stuff at home if I don’t have a model to paint!

I’ve never been interested in the process of drawing itself, for its own sake. That is purely work to me.

I’m interested in how drawing allows me to capture real people and tell their stories.

More unterwegs here:

September 2017

July bonus round

July

June

May bonus round

May round one

April

March 2

March

January

December

November

Leathermen and cigars in Schöneberg, at the Pussycat Bar.

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Berlin Cigar Men smokers by Suzanne Forbes Nov 4 2017My friend Miss Natasha Enquist invited me to join her at Berlin Cigar Men, a cigar lounge night at a wonderfully cosy bar called The Pussycat.

The Pussycat is a warm, snug lesbian bar that once a month welcomes a celebration of classic leatherman culture. This evening included head shaving, with a proper razor, and bootblacking.

I could smell the cigar smoke all the way down the block from the Ku’Damm.

Berlin Cigar Men bar scene by Suzanne Forbes Nov 4 2017I knocked on the door and Miss Natasha peered through the speakeasy peephole and let me in out of the cold.

Wow, what an amazing group of great-looking old-school (and young) leathermen and wow so much smoke! I love the smell of cigarette and cigar smoke. I smoked two packs of Marlboro Reds a day from age 13 to age 24, and people smoking freely is one of the things I love about Europe.

And yet even for me it was a lot of smoke! I actually got a tiny bit nauseous from it, like when Tom and Joe and Huck smoke corn-cob pipes on the island.

Bootblack at Berlin Cigar Men by Suzanne Forbes Nov 12 2017I had a fabulous time, and everyone was super friendly and nice.

The crowd was international and relaxed. It was like travelling back in time to the Chelsea of my childhood, the Chelsea and Christopher St of the ’70s and ’80s, and I felt very much at home.

I didn’t know much about bootblack fetish and culture until I worked at Wicked Grounds kink coffee shop in San Francisco in the Oughts. We had a young woman bootblack there who came in to do boot nights, and I saw the passion that people have for boot care and wear. So I was delighted to get a chance to draw Andrew the Bootshiner, above. Sadly, I missed the headshaving this time!

Check out the bottle of Tom of Finland Organic Vodka in the top pic- it has a Tom drawing on the bottle and a percentage of the profit from sales is donated to the wonderful Tom of Finland Foundation!

The Berlin Cigar Men event is produced by Olaf Hartmannsgruber. He is the same gentleman who puts on the MaleSpace main stage at Folsom Europe, which was wonderfully diverse and inclusive despite the name. I am looking forward to the next event!

Drawings from Folsom Europe here and here. It’s the monthly financial support of my Patrons on Patreon that makes it possible for me to document gay life in Berlin and publicly share it. You can help, for a dollar or less than a euro a month!