The Conservatoire, Blackheath, 5 February 2024

At the end of a not-uncomfortable, yet nonetheless perched-upright seated long pose for my last visit to The Conservatoire, tutor Victoria Rance gave notice that I could expect a reclining pose for my next booking. Lovely. And so it came to pass.

After three warm-up poses of 1 minute, and one each of 5 and 10 minutes, we set-up the 2-hour long pose. At first we considered a reprise of me lying flat and straight with arms at my sides. It’s better than it sounds, but we’ve done it twice before, so…

…I tweaked it. This time I put my left fingers on my chest, folded my left leg under my right thigh, and allowed right leg and right arm to drape limp from my raised platform. Sorted. It was comfortable enough for me not to need a stretch during the first hour.

I’d planned to take just one break throughout the entire duration, but numbness crept into my hanging limbs during the second hour so a little shake-out was necessary. By the end, great drawings emerged with foreshortening handled superbly. Good work!