The Royal Conservatory Orchestra

Last Friday night I joined my Mum and Grandma to see the Royal Conservatory Orchestra play at Koerner Hall. My Mum had bought the tickets as a holiday present, so she made sure the three of us were seated right at the front. This was absolutely perfect for drawing!

            

In the first few minutes before the show I warmed up alongside the musicians. It took a bit of time to get used to drawing from this vantage point because the horizon line was SO low!

The Royal Conservatory has been a musical institution in Canada for over 100 years and has served as a training ground for some of our country's greatest talent. The orchestra is comprised of students from the program, but it sounded unlike any student production I've ever heard!

The first tune was Dream-e-scape by Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer. One of the violinists caught my attention with the way he tucked his shiny black shoes under the seat as he played.

They rolled out the Steinway for Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2 and pianist Minjoo Jo took a seat directly in front of me. What perfect luck! 

I could feel the piano strings reverberate with each pounding keystroke and there was so much energy in the room that you simply could not sit still. Peeking over at my Grandma, I saw her making small conducting motions with her hands.

Nearing the end of the piece I saw how fluid my line had become. Later, my Mum noted that I had been drawing to the beat of the music. I hadn't noticed, but that's a pretty cool observation!

When they called intermission I snuck out to grab us some Soma chocolate bars from the concessions and I also took a moment to draw a bit of the crowd. My, it sure was a packed house!

As Grandma munched on a milk chocolate bar I got in another quick drawing before the show resumed.

Conductor Julian Kuerti introduced Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 as one of his favourite pieces of music. By this point the drawings flew freely from my pen.

I made sure to get in a few of the cello and bass players. When they're all seated together like that you can really feel the power of their instruments.

My line became noticeably wilder as the music went on.

A low horizon line suits orchestra drawing exceptionally well. It helps to achieve a real sense of scale.

In the last few minutes I just went for it and hardly looked down at the paper. My drawings became a series of frantic scribbles that subconsciously mimicked the energy of the song. When drawing and music come together, it's always a liberating experience!

The Royal Conservatory Orchestra

Conducted by Julian Kuerti

At Koerner Hall in Toronto

Khao San Road

Last Friday I found myself craving some good Thai food, so I biked along Adelaide to Khao San Road, a restaurant known for both its long lineups and its superior cooking. I'd been there a few times before, though the wait times can be upwards of an hour. But that's what sketchbooks are for, right?

I squeezed into the last spot on a bench that was already packed with diners waiting to be seated. Across from me, at a set of communal tables, strangers bumped elbows while casually slurping from bowls of curry.

By six o'clock the entrance was flooded with diners. Everyone had an upbeat attitude, considering the circumstances!

When this lady noticed me drawing her she nervously whispered her concerns to a friend. Let's be honest, do I really look that scary?

The guy next to me fussed around with his iPhone as we all continued to wait.

This pair was clearly on a date. Let's hope he made reservations!

When my name was finally called I was led to a seat at the bar. In the back you can see how many people were still waiting, but that's what you get for turning up unannounced on a Friday night. By this point I was pretty hungry! Immediately I ordered the fresh rolls filled with homemade chicken sausage and a tall glass of Thai iced tea.

Everyone else's plates looked so good that I wondered to myself why it had been so long since my last visit. I continued to draw as I waited for my food to arrive.

I love drawing in hectic environments because it forces you to be spontaneous. After a certain point you stop caring about the paper and just get'er done!

Across the bar a friendly pair were chatting over bowls of curry, which inspired me to order a beefy bowl of Khao Soi for myself.

The bartender moved through those drink orders like a flash!

Tables turned over and a new pair of diners took their seat at the bar. Still, the lineup grew ever longer.

Slurping my bowl of noodles, I hum along to Radiohead's "Creep" as it blasts through the speakers. Behind me I notice that one of the servers is doing the same. This is my kind of place!

Khao San Road

326 Adelaide Street West

Toronto, Ontario

Little Nicky's Coffee

Tucked beside a loading dock off of Queen Street, Little Nicky's Coffee injects a welcome shot of personality into a retail strip resembling little more than an outdoor version of the Eaton Centre. Yes, they do serve up a fantastic cup of coffee in a neighbourhood saturated with Second Cups and Starbucks, but the real draw is the tiny homemade doughnuts! Tim Horton better watch his back!

There are loads of offices nearby which explains the surge of customers around 3pm. At the window an older lady gives business advice to her younger co-worker. 

This woman had so many shopping bags. SO many!

Some not-so-secret flirting next to the creme and sugar counter.

Construction worker defies the cliché and chooses Nicky's over Timmy's for his coffee and doughnut fix. 

Lots of people to draw standing in line. With my new pair of glasses, I can actually see them properly! 

Topshop bag? They have those in Canada?

Wicked pose on this girl!

This lady is the owner of the shop. Nicky is her pet chihuahua! 

The only laptop in the whole place, which is amazing.

Joking around behind the counter.

Cute blonde girl snatches a seat at the bar...

Ooh! I see how it is!

Little Nicky's Coffee

375 Queen Street West (on Peter)

Toronto, Ontario

My Longest Relationship Ever

I am a commitment-phobe when it comes to blogging. Since abandoning my first Livejournal back in high school I continued to sign up for, and then neglect, my new accounts for years, making a series of half-hearted attempts at building a proper home for my art online. Many of these sites were borne from a desire to showcase my drawings in a professional way, impress potential clients and hopefully score myself some freelance work. After all, every respectable artist that I knew and admired had an art blog. My problem was that I found the whole business of self-promotional blogging to be tedious and, frankly, boring.


In 2009 I resolved to start a new site made purely for my own enjoyment. Instead of stressing over character rotations and agonizing over the commercial value of my background designs I decided to just stick up whatever I felt like at the time. Sometimes I'd choose drawings, other times paintings and once in a while photos of trips I had taken with friends or beef stews I had cooked from scratch. It was a testing ground for new ideas, completely removed from anything resembling a traditional portfolio site. Like the seeds of any good relationship it was little bit stupid and not the least bit serious.


Organically, the blog has evolved into a true record of the places I've been and the people I've met through the unique medium of drawing. I began Tabitha Draws as a place to share my life with others as filtered through the tip of a pen. My sketchbook has taken me on some fantastic journeys and opened the door to experiences that I could never have imagined. Most importantly, it has kept me honest by allowing me to create drawings purely for art's sake.


I'm eager to see what trouble the sketchbook and I will get up to in the new year, as I'm sure it will be fabulous. I see a real future for us together, and it looks bright. 


My longest relationship has been with a pad of paper. Three years later, I'm still in love.