Eastbourne House, London, 10 December 2015

My ninth and final booking of the year for Adrian Dutton was at Eastbourne House, where I’d made my début for his groups way back in July 2013. This night was just a fortnight away from Christmas Eve and – it may have been my imagination but – there seemed to be a kind of end-of-term atmosphere. Poses for the first half of the evening proceeded: 10-minutes, 2, 1, 30-seconds, 3-minutes, 5, 10 and 25-minutes.

Whilst I’ve modelled for Adrian many times, this was the first time I’d been booked for a Thursday cheese and wine night. I do like a bit of cheese and wine. As soon as the first half came to a close, I quickly pulled on my robe and made what I hoped seemed not too indecent haste to the table where all the savouries were arranged. I returned to the main hall with a glass and loaded plate to dine in quiet comfort.

As is Adrian’s preferred style, I resumed posing for the second half without any great announcement. I simply upended a long wooden box and perched on top of it. When the artists noticed, they returned to their pads and easels to begin drawing. After my opening 10-minutes, poses were 3-minutes, 2, 1, 30-seconds, 15-minutes and finally 20-minutes – plenty of variety was possible.

Following much appreciated applause at the end of the session, I photographed a few of the artists’ works before departing. During the interval, in addition to my feasting I’d agreed five new dates with Adrian for bookings that would take us through the first five months of 2016. These would start on the first Thursday in January: duo poses with a new model and, of course, more cheese and wine. Bring it on…