Framestore, London, 25 August 2026

23 Sep 2026

This post should be all about the joy of another life modelling session at Framestore, or the pleasant surprise of finding the Cosy Life Drawing London group has literally doubled in size. Nothing satisfies me more than two-to-three hours of dynamic poses for nice talented people who together are going from strength to strength.

Alas, whilst all was superb with the people, the process, the environment and the art, there was trouble within me. I’ve had discomfort brewing around my left shoulder and upper arm for several months but this was the first session where I have found poses or gestures – previously considered routine – are becoming nastily painful.

As of now I have no problem raising the arm to, say, Nazi-salute level (which is never going to happen, obviously) but to raise it to full vertical or angle it behind my back or even simply put my hand on my head or fold my arms can be anything from dull achy to excruciatingly painful, both in the moment and for some time afterwards.

I’d originally hoped it was simply a strain that would naturally heal within a few weeks but if anything it seems to be getting worse. I’m currently out of the UK but when I get back I shall have to seek an audience with my GP, hopefully to discover the nature of the problem and, even more hopefully, to get it fixed (if that’s even possible).

I’m not optimistic, however. There is a bound to be a cumulative cost when years of a severely sedentary lifestyle and poor body maintenance are punctuated by weird and wonderful poses sustained for sometimes ludicrous luck-pushing durations. So I shall get my shoulder checked out… and in the meantime try to modify my modelling.