The Prince Regent, Herne Hill, 30 April 2025

3 May 2025

Almost a year to the day from my last visit, I returned to The Prince Regent in Herne Hill as life model for SketchPad Drawing. Pleasingly, I found business was booming to the extent that artists had to be split between two rooms whilst I made poses in the double-size doorway connecting them.

The majority of artists worked at easels. These had been arranged in semi-circles on both sides of the doorway, so in essence it was similar to posing in the round, except the thickness of the dividing wall meant those closest to it would experience a slightly restricted view if I wasn’t careful.

As this was most likely to occur if I was either sitting or reclining, I remained standing throughout the first half of the session. After an extended interval for socialising there was time a single pose of 20 minutes, which I felt might work with me laying down if I sprawled upon a table in the doorway and raised my feet up high on the door frame.

And indeed it did work… aside from the ache of having insufficient padding to support the bony points of my pelvis (all my own negligence), and my elevated right leg going completely numb. It was the only pose I miscalculated, however. Generally, I enjoyed the unique challenges of working as one model for two rooms simultaneously.