Exhibit B, London, 27 November 2017

Standing in a stride for 7-minutes with right arm held high, torso twisted round and left hand pointing backwards – this was the first ever pose for Life Drawing at Exhibit B, and I had great honour model for it. The session was organised by a friend, artist, and fellow life model, Lily Holder, whom I first met in 2015 as co-model for Art Macabre’s Watercolour Revolutionaries. I made sure to arrive at the Exhibit B bar a half-hour before our 7:30pm start to help ease any opening night nerves Lily might have.

If there were any nerves, it would not be for want of preparation. A curtained-off space at the far end of the bar had been exquisitely prepared, with all-new drawing materials placed out in labelled containers, chairs with boards and drawing paper arranged in a tight horseshoe, music connected to the in-house sound system, plus a notepad that held the names of everyone who had bought an advance ticket. Crucially, the notepad also contained prompts for all the challenges Lily would be giving her artists.

After the opening 7-minute pose we continued with short poses for the rest of the first half: three of 2-minutes, three of 1-minute, then 3-minutes, 5, 5, 7 and 5-minutes. The exercises included: drawing with the unfavoured hand, drawing with both hands, start with four geometric shapes, continuous line, shading only, and more. Lily’s approach throughout was to provide strong clear inspiration for the whole group rather than give individual tuition or critique; and the group responded well.

Poses after the break were a mathematically-pleasing sequence of 9-minutes, 16 and 25-minutes. The first two were timed to accompany single pieces of music, which Lily hoped would bring fresh stylistic interpretations. After standing and sitting on the floor, for the final pose I reclined with a twist – not least to be sure all fourteen artists would have a rewarding line of sight. Generous applause rang out at the end. Let’s hope the success of this inaugural evening continues in the group’s regular Tuesday slot.