Arts Theatre, London, 17 August 2023

Returning as model for a City Academy portrait drawing class at Arts Theatre in the West End of London, my opening ‘warm-up’ pose was to last 20 minutes. Not really a warm-up for me but for the half-a-dozen artists who were asked to capture me in four rapid sketches. Either inadvertently or tactically, however, the whole lot of them failed to grasp the requirement; with the tutor absorbed in conversation, they undertook just one leisurely rendering each.

So we moved on to a long pose that would occupy the remainder of this session. You might think that pose variations are limited for a portrait model, and indeed you would be correct – it’s hard to maintain a gurning, grinning or grotesque expression if it’s not one’s natural countenance – but if a prop or another body part is permitted to intrude, the possibilities multiply. In this instance I was asked to pose with my head resting on my right hand. No problem.

The first and only challenge was to build a platform at a suitable height for supporting my right elbow. A swift improvisation with stacked stools solved that conundrum, after which it was art all the way. I reckon I sat in pose for about 1 hour 20 minutes in total, with a solitary stretch around two-thirds of the way through. Nothing uncomfortable in this posture beyond the gentle gradual seizing-up that afflicts any prolonged stillness. Meanwhile, the artists did some great work. I hope they were suitably happy with it.