Mall Galleries, London, 11 March 2019

Best laid plans were unravelling at Mall Galleries. First the portrait model pulled out, so a late replacement – Maria Alexe – was brought in. Then the model for 15-minute poses dropped out too, so literally at the last moment Lily Holder was moved across from the long-pose room; ergo, no long pose this evening. Meanwhile, in the midst of all this I seemed to be an unwitting pillar of stability on 30-minute poses. I duly struck a dramatic upright stance and felt pleased with myself.

Artwork by Anthony Roe.

Artwork by Simon Whittle.

Upon arrival I had found artists already about two rows deep encircling the 15-minute pose space, whereas those awaiting me could be counted upon one hand. Come the 6pm start, however, with a decision on Lily’s transfer still not made, I began to notice more chairs being turned around and easels angled my way. How nice! I followed my standing pose with a seated posture of many angles. This took us to the interval and an opportunity to binge on tea and dark chocolate digestives, which I seized.

Artwork by Simon Whittle.

Artwork by Simon Whittle.

Artwork by Anthony Roe.

Earlier that day with time to kill in London, I’d popped into the National Gallery shop and leafed idly through some art books in search of pose ideas. An image that caught my eye and inspired me next was ‘La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans‘ by Edgar Degas – albeit I was a 6’4″, 40-something male version. Lastly, I semi-reclined on my front for what turned out to be the least comfortable half-hour of this session. All in all, however, I was happy with my evening’s work and loved the resultant art.