The Conservatoire, Blackheath, 24 April 2017

Having modelled on the final day of last term for Monday evening life drawing class at The Conservatoire, I wasn’t expecting to be back for the first session of their new term. Another model’s late cancellation meant I got the offer, however. As soon as the ten artists had prepared at their easels, I began with three standing poses of 1-minute each, followed by one of 5-minutes, and a ‘reverse Christine Keeler‘ for 10-minutes.

Tutor Victoria Rance called the latter a Spice Girls pose, but her reference was lost on me. My eyebrows raised when she explained I would have to straddle a chair – its open back would have made my version significantly more revealing than the portrait of Christine by Lewis Morley. Finally, the penny dropped when she said I should be facing the wall; it was to be a tasteful study of the back and sides.

The rest of this session was given to a single seated pose, with two 5-minute breaks at 25-minute intervals. Once again the position was arranged for me: facing forwards, open-legged (thus, revealing after all), and with a curved spine of the very kind I try to avoid when working all day at a computer. It was pretty comfortable though, and two ferocious heaters did a grand job of warding off the late April chill.

I look forward to returning one more time before this term ends.