The Sun, London, 15 May 2017

I’d never before seen so many artists crammed into The Sun. Word had gone out that The Moon and Nude was presenting a couple life drawing session, and the good folk of Clapham had turned up in big numbers. At least 30 people were surrounding Esther and me, mostly shoulder to shoulder along the walls, with a few seeking other vantage points wherever they could.

We opened with a 10-minute pose standing side-by-side facing in opposite directions with arms out. Next for 15-minutes Esther was standing while I sat embracing her left leg – it’s a pose we’ve used several times as it switches our relative heights. The last pose of the first half saw us seated face-to-face on the floor. There was some contact between our limbs, but this one was more about eye contact and emotional contact.

After a break for refreshments, we curled together in a reclining spooning embrace of 40-minutes. It may seem self-indulgently lazy, to lay down half-asleep for what would be our longest pose of the evening, but actually we chose this as it guaranteed every artist would have a clear view of both bodies and the composition provided. Plus, this was indeed a ‘couple’ pose – more than a duo pose.

There was time at the end for one final pose of 10-minutes. We stood again, now with slightly wobblier limbs that put complicated balancing beyond reach, so we got into a repositioned variation of our opening stances. Applause at the end. It had been a very nice session, harmonious, warm, intimate at the heart of a crowd, interesting playlist; always a pleasure to be back with The Moon and Nude.