Cockpit Arts, London, 18 May 2016

“The long and very lean Steve Ritter will be modelling for us again on Wednesday making for deliciously Schiele-esque studies“

So said the Facebook publicity for my return to the life drawing group run by Ceri Ann Littlechild at Cockpit Arts. I hadn’t been asked beforehand to pose specifically in the Egon Schiele style – indeed, Ceri suggested later that whatever my body did, it would naturally present that style – but I took a little time to remind myself of some classic Schiele poses before leaving home.

Upon arrival I found Ceri preparing easels, and Esther wondering where on Earth I had been. She’d come along to draw me, and had reached the venue from a modelling job in Hammersmith sooner than I imagined possible. Meanwhile I’d been dawdling along, posting one of these blogs on social media – the sinkholes of productive time. When half a dozen artists had joined us, we were ready to begin.

Ceri started her mellow playlist, and I started my opening short poses: 1-minute, 2, 3, 5 and 5-minutes to begin. Schiele’s poses are particularly angular, taut and unnatural so I attempted a couple of the trickier ones during this quick-fire sequence. The next two poses of 10-minutes and 20-minutes were favourites from my own repertoire, and took us to our break for wine.

Two poses of 20-minutes closed the evening session. For the first, I sat upon the arm of a sofa and made Schiele-esque shapes with my limbs. I asked the group what they would like for the last pose, and Ceri suggested simply sitting facing forwards. To mix it up, I held one knee crooked, which possibly undermined her required foreshortening effect but I felt it made the pose more interesting from multiple angles.

I had been a lot of fun – or rather, as much fun as it’s possible to have whilst entirely motionless, silent, and devoid of interpersonal engagement. I love the pose space at Cockpit Arts, it’s one of the best, and I love working when Esther is present. When I had dressed and she’d packed away her drawings we toddled off together for a meal at nearby L’Osteria 57. Now, it’s about time I drew Esther again…