Tag Archives: drink and draw

More mixed media experiments on some life drawings from Drink and Draw Berlin.

Masked woman by Suzanne Forbes July 30 2017Just playing around, experimenting wildly with mixed media, composition and values.

Well, wildly for me. Since I spent my six-plus years of art school totally focussed on becoming a comic book artist, I never experimented with anything unless they forced me to, as a student.

I had some left over unfinished drawings from when me and Daria and Marina went to Drink and Draw Berlin earlier this year. I thought I’d finish them up by adding some big dark areas and sharp contrasts. I was like, hey, this mixed media stuff is mostly going well, why don’t I add paint to the drawings? Daria adds paint and ink and watercolor sticks and even coffee and tattoo ink to her drawings all the time and they come out absolutely beautiful.

Shhhh girl by Suzanne Forbes July 30 2017Ha ha ha NO. I added some highlights in unbleached titanium, which seems like a pretty innocuous thing to do…

It looked clumsy and awkward and tragic. Oh well! Pastels have some limited additive/subtractive properties so I just covered up the paint! It was on the top and bottom ones, for the curious. I think they look fine now.

Honestly, I think they look terrific. I’m having a blast. An artist I know from Instagram, an extraordinary young French courtroom artist and illustrator named Emilie Oprescu, said nice things about them. Since I have mad enormous respect for her work, I feel good about these playful experiments.

boy drawing by Suzanne Forbes July 30 2017Gonna keep messin around! It’s just art! Nobody’s heart is open on the table!

One of the producers used to say that, when I worked as a production coordinator at a VFX studio. He’d say, “It’s just a movie! Nobody’s heart is open on the table!”. Wise words.

Drawing at the Drink and Draw Berlin Midnight Society Party, May 20 2017.

Kelsey in mask she made at Drink and Draw Berlin by Suzanne Forbes May 2017

Kelsey in mask she made at Drink and Draw Berlin by Suzanne Forbes May 2017

Daria, Marina and I went to the Drink and Draw party.

The theme was “Secret Society”, emphasizing “Eyes Wide Shut” and occult iconography. At Drink and Draw Berlin by Suzanne Forbes May 20 2017

catwomen at drink and draw berlin may 20 2017 by Suzanne Forbesno shirt no hair by Suzanne Forbes May 20 2017

hooded boy by Suzanne Forbes May 20 2017

drink and draw berlin may 20 2017 by Suzanne Forbes red lantern

Kelsey and friend at Drink and Draw Berlin by Suzanne Forbes May 21 2017The organizers had decided not to hire any professional models or performers, so all the models were volunteers.

The only ones I was really intrigued and moved by were those who’d put some work into their costumes. Like illustrator Kelsey Bass, above and in the top image, who made her amazing goat mask completely out of recycled materials (Amazon boxes!).

And corsetiere Emma Caponi, who designed and made her astonishing deco gown out of exquisite eyelash lace she got on a trip to China. Emma at Drink and Draw Berlin by Suzanne Forbes May 20 2017Her pretty boy killed the suspenders-no-shirt look, too.suspenders by Suzanne Forbes May 20 2017

These lovers posing later in the night were especially pretty, even without any effort at costuming.

lovers at drink and draw berlin by Suzanne Forbes May 21 2017

Drawing at Drink and Draw Berlin By Suzanne Forbes Feb 2018

You can see my drawings from the previous Drink and Draw Berlin party here and here.