Arts Theatre, London, 24 February 2023

This evening’s ‘Portrait Drawing’ class was the second of my three bookings in seven days for City Academy at Arts Theatre. It was the first class of a three-week course, so I took a back seat while tutor Stephen Nicholas amiably went through formalities, background, group introductions and a bit of theory. We then jumped straight into the long pose that would occupy most of the students’ time at their easels.

Almost all the artists declared they had little or no previous experience – certainly not portrait experience – yet the standard was extraordinarily high around the studio. As I sat at the centre of scrutiny however, it was amusing to hear Stephen tell each one in turn that they’d made my nose too big. As if it needs any extra enlargement! This isn’t suitable employment for those of a sensitive self-conscious disposition…

It’s not unusual for classes to start with warm-up exercises, but this one ended with a few warm-downs: quirky quick work, drawing in pairs, drawing each other. They were still drawing each other when I left! I was sorry to go as it had been a real pleasure to pose for the group. This had much to do with the light disarming tone set by Stephen, but also the artists being open and actively engaged throughout. An ideal session.