83a Geffrye Street, London, 11 October 2016

Fourteen poses in two hours. Upon commencing a session it’s common for me not to know the number of poses, or of what length, I’ll be asked to present. On this evening in Hoxton, I knew my first pose would be 10-minutes and those immediately following were likely to be shorter but after that anything could be possible. I stepped out of my robe to stand naked and slender, one foot tilted upon the other, with arms angled high and hands wrapped behind my head.

I occupied a small, square space at the centre of a well-lit room with a lone ferocious heater for company. Empty chairs around me gradually filled up during that first pose until eventually I was being drawn by 20 to 25 artists seated round the four walls. My opening pose was followed by dynamic standing and kneeling poses of 3-minutes, 2, 2, and 1-minute. As always, I alternated my direction to ensure variety was available to everyone on all sides.

The first half closed on 5-minutes, 10, 10, and 15-minutes. I’d been offered the use of pillows and a small step as posing aids throughout, but I waited until the first pose of the second half to sit upon the step for 10-minutes. About halfway through, I asked if the heater could be turned as I was being delicately roasted in its firing line. 2-minute and 1-minute poses followed, after which I finished up with 20-minutes in a crouching squat, and 22-minutes reclining.

I rarely plan more than one specific pose ahead, yet usually have an idea of how I will spread standing, kneeling, sitting and reclining throughout the session. The danger is that I get wedded to the idea of a particular pose, and then stick with it even when the pose length called for is much longer than I had anticipated. By the end of 20-minutes squatting I had firey tendons, numb calves and purple fingertips. On balance, however, it was another comfortable session for an appreciative London Life Drawing group.