National Maritime Museum, London, 28 January 2019

My modelling debut at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich was not for a nautical-themed spectacular amidst briny curios, but rather a pleasant little after-hours session for staff. I was escorted to a large-ish generic conference room with its central space cleared of all furniture, and there got myself ready for our 5:30pm start.

A good worthwhile number of employees arrived for this workers’ playtime and settled down to encircle the white sheet I’d placed on the floor. We opened with four 1-minute poses then continued with two of 5-minutes, two of 10-minutes and one of 15-minutes to complete the first half.

During the break I talked with a few of the artists. One woman said it was her first time life drawing, and that right until the last moment she assumed she would be sketching “a bowl of fruit or some flowers“. In fairness, she responded to the sudden unexpected appearance of a naked man, with composure and an increasingly confident line.

We concluded the evening with two poses of 20-minutes. First, I lay down with twisted hips and fingertips touching across my chest. Then finally I sat upright leaning forward with both hands on the floor. More good natured conversation followed when we were all finished and packing away. Nice people, nice approach, well organised.