Five 5 star things on a Friday... 14 FEB 2014 edition

I'm posting this quickly on the Saturday morning after dumping some of the first post I wrote up. I'll have to come back and edit some photos or something into this in a bit.

Dr Sketchy's

We're getting a Dr Sketchy's in Galway! And not just a visit or a session, a permanent "chapter" of our very own. The first session coming up on the 8th of March in Munroe's Live will show us the course for the future, but seeing as Dr Sketchy's is one of my favourite things, this is outstanding news!

Book Club

I joined a book club recently. After years of trying out other ones and/or trying to organise my own, this one probably has staying power seeing as it's organised by one of the local book shops. Getting a range of varied opinions on a book you might not have read otherwise is an experience that can't be beat. That can't just be me, right?

Improv for Humans

Matt Besser's Improv for Humans is an hilarious podcast that just can't be beat. I can't remember why I decided that I should add an improv podcast to my routine, and I can't remember why I settled on this one, but I'm glad I did. There's something about I4H - you learn a lot about the ideas behind improv while listening and you get an awful lot of quality entertainment.

Dark Souls

Oh Dark Souls. I keep messing myself up on this one - I get frustrated and take breaks from Dark Souls, breaks that last way to long and then my skills go rusty. I have to mash my way through the end of the game now, because Dark Souls II is coming very, very soon, and that'll probably be the only game I buy at full retail price this week.

Blendoku

This is a great app - a really great app. I don't normally like having games on my phone, but this is top notch puzzler. You have to sort colours by their hue gradient - sounds easy, but it gets really, really tricky quickly enough to be satisfyingly challenging. And it's free!

23 FEB 2013 - Dr. Sketchy's Dublin

So I went up to Dublin yesterday for a visit to our friends at Dr. Sketchy's Dublin. They were having one of their amazing life drawing/burlesque events - this time in the theme of "Roy Lichtenstein" as part of their "Dr. Sketchy's goes POP!" series.

Needless to say, I had an awesome time, but as always there are caveats (on me, not on them).



As an advance booker, I was allowed to sit in one of the forward seats - and I should have barged right to the front. I keep forgetting how blind I really am (I really am getting more mole-like). But I sat at about the third row, which was a great seat but not close enough for my vision. I can't recommend pre-booking enough.



Also, I am really out of practise on capturing life drawing in short timed poses - this is just a skill you have to keep in gear or it gets rusty. They were (as usual) giving out prizes of cupcakes and tequila for witty word balloons, use of colour etc - but I'm a black and white artist - capturing these great poses quickly AND applying colour were beyond me. They were great poses though - I might work these up into finished pieces. :)



A great night was had by all - I was saying on Facebook that I might post my 20 minute sketch - or I might save it to work up to a more finished piece, I really like the concept behind it. I got to conspire with Scarlett a bit more on the idea of a Galway Session for Dr. Sketchy's and I met a Dublin Sketcher in the wild! We've been corresponding with their group on and off for quite a while now, it's good to put a face to the name(s).

More to come.

donalfall