Garrett Centre, London, 16 November 2018
Evidently the room used for life drawing at the Garrett Centre had received a modest makeover since I was last there in June. Most notably the carpet had gone and been replaced with a hard surface. It worried me slightly as, purely at a psychological level, the impression was of a starkly colder space. I needn’t have been concerned, though, as a hefty gym mat, a cushion, my sheet and two heaters kept me very cosy.
Another difference for this long pose session is that I would be modelling in the round rather than with my back to a wall. The circle of chairs filled to capacity in time for us to begin with four shortish warm-up poses: three of 5-minutes and one of 8-minutes. I made sure that for all of these I was facing the side of the room that was fated to see mostly my back for the remainder of the evening.
I settled down to the main pose with around 40-minutes of the first half still remaining, and felt sufficiently comfortable to decline the offer of a stretch break at the 20-minute mark. During the interval, I partook of the finest all-included food selection to be found anywhere on the London life art scene: delicious hot garlic bread and pizza, assorted nibbles, biscuits, teas, wine and jelly babies – classic Adrian Dutton life drawing.
The second half lasted a bit over an hour so, after resuming in the same position, I did feel more inclined to accept the offers to stretch; but only twice. Mainly I concentrated on shaking out my left wrist, which was bent back just enough to become increasingly achy. That one minor irritation aside, this was a pleasant session made more pleasing by the high quality of inspired works revealed at the end.
