The Conservatoire, Blackheath, 3 November 2025

15 Nov 2025

It’s not unknown that when I arrive at The Conservatoire the nature of my long pose for the evening is wholly undecided, and only resolved after some light brainstorming between me and tutor Victoria Rance. This evening, however, Victoria arrived with a clear vision in mind…

I was to recline with knees raised, head slightly propped forward, one forearm raised, the other arm down but slightly out from my torso. No problem, although it might be a tad full-on – like a birthing position – from certain vantage points. There was room for artists to move about and choose their perspective, however, so it wasn’t a concern.

Victoria did ask if the palm of my raised arm could be flexed back, facing the ceiling. I would have loved to oblige, but it would have been hard to maintain for 100 seconds, let alone 100 minutes. After warm-ups I got into position and remained there for a full hour, then had a break before resuming for a further 40 minutes to the end.

I was offered stretch-breaks every 20 minutes, as is standard, but for a pose like this, where no part of me is strained, I prefer to keep going for as long as I can rather than having the rigmarole of repeatedly getting back into the precise same position. Plus it works out better for the artists. As these excellent drawings demonstrate…