The Bull, London, 3 September 2019

Upstairs at The Bull in Highgate, I realised something wasn’t right as we settled into our third pose of the session. Whilst I lay on my back, Esther stood over me with one foot on my chest, yet I could see her face clearly. That meant… I was still wearing my glasses. Quickly I snatched them from my face and tossed them aside.

I cannot recall when I last forgot to remove my glasses – maybe this was the first time ever. It’s symptomatic of a duo modelling pitfall, however; mindfulness of one’s partner but not of oneself. I was surprised no-one said anything it. Perhaps like me, the artists were too engrossed in the poses.

This was the second of two back-to-back evenings we’d posed for Jolly Sketcher life drawing groups run by Tanja Hassel. Twenty-four hours before we were at Common House in Muswell Hill. Here at The Bull we had a few more artists, glasses of wine, a good pub playlist of mainstream indie, and even enjoyed fish and chips at the break.

Before our hefty meal, while still fairly sleek, we’d opened with two poses of 5-minutes (me bespectacled), two of 10-minutes, then 15-minutes (a bit painful with me standing in a slightly leaning twist) and 14-minutes. Comfort was vital for the second half as we would be in pose for up to 60-minutes. Esther lay down and I sat beside her.

Damage was minimal: I managed to get a numb left hand and Esther had an achy left leg. Tanja offered us the chance to get up and stretch halfway through but we decided simply to shake-out our troubled limbs and carry on. Ultimately it was a lovely session with a very friendly gathering. Thank you, Jolly Sketcher, and all your jolly artists.