08 | January | 2012 | sweatpantsandeggplants

Yesterday evening I headed down to Raw Canvas in Yaletown. I got there 30 minutes later than my reso, but I figured they wouldn’t turn me away since I was rolling solo.
I had the choice between 3 canvases: a square, a short rectangle, and a long rectangle. I chose the long rectangle.
I made the reso over 2 months ago, so I have had a modest amount of time to think about what I wanted to create. I knew I wanted to do anatomy. Perhaps a muscular back and bicep; or half skeleton, half flesh. Then I started thinking…a horses anatomy and then finally, after days of pondering, I found an image online that inspired me. I knew it wouldn’t be easy; I haven’t really drawn for about 2 and a half years (since fashion school), but I thought what the heck?! I’m up for a good challenge.
I started sketching the image in pencil, which was the easiest part; I am “good” at drawing but “terrible” at painting. I just don’t have that artist eye for shadows, depth, and colour.

My brother, Zaen, was talking about how he wanted a painting for his room, and he wanted it to be colourful so I started working with that idea in mind. I know he likes reds, so I decided to use that as my starting point.
I started chatting with Yerbe, an artist slash Raw Canvas employee (whose day off it was), and he started giving me advice and tips on how to give my painting more depth.
He showed me how to paint as if there was a light source shining onto the figure – so giving it depth by shading. He made it look so simple! It took me a little bit of trial and error to figure it out but I got the hang off it, and it really started to come together!! I wish i took a picture before I added the shadows!

Yerbe, the artist, and his apprentice, Alyna

I drank a glass on Pinot Gris which got the artistic juices flowing and the tummy grumbling; so in order to satisfy the tummy, I went over to Section (3) for a quick bite. The music was – as usual – fantastic, old school hip hop beats, and the food was terrific! I had the Wild Sockeye Salmon with Crisp Risotto and Asparagus Cakes. They weren’t kidding when they meant crisp risotto…it was soooo delicious and crunchy; and best part was that it wasn’t a gigantic dish. The portion size was perfect and it wasn’t soaked in sauce. Definitely recommend it!

I looked at my watch and it was 10pm!!! I was painting for 3 and half hours!!! Time really just FLEW by! No wonder I was exhausted; I had been standing and concentrating for quite a while.
Raw Canvas doesn’t serve hot drinks, so I went over to Blenz Coffee for a Matcha Latte. The 2 French Canadian baristas were so sweet and helpful, he even gave me the most beautiful froth heart!

Reasons why I LOVE Blenz:
– it is a CANADIAN company (I love anything and everything Canadian)
– they have Almond Milk
– they have a huge variety of hot and cold drinks
– they have a variety of teas
– they have 3 different types of hot chocolate: dark, milk, and white chocolate
– their smoothies are made with REAL fruit puree
– THEY HAVE STEVIA

Blenz Coffee is my FAVORITE coffee shop, hands down!!!

Anyway, I came back and painted for another 2 and a half hours! Can you believe that?! I looked at my watch and it was 12:30 am – that’s when I was like okayyyy time to go Alyna! Time flies when you’re painting – I really had the best time in those 6 hours!
The staff at Raw Canvas is so wonderful! I think that is also one of the reasons my time was so memorable! They are super helpful, genuine, and will go above and beyond to help you out. I heard this song on the their speakers, and I went racing to the bar to find out the name, but noone knew it, and couldn’t find out because it was a mashup set on the satellite radio. One of the serves (who was off her shift) came up to me 5 minutes later, and had found out the name and had written it down on a slip of paper for me. I mean, to me, that is pretty darn cool! It’s those little things that make me happy 😀