With happy symmetry, my 2023 year of life modelling was bookended by sessions for ever-wonderful The Art of Isolation. Even better was to finish the year at the group’s Christmas party event. It was to be life drawing first, party later. Artists filled the room to capacity, either seated or standing at easels, as we started with a 10-minute pose.
Artwork by Elin
After our warm-up opener, we got even warmer with a series of short quickfire poses. Three poses of 1 minute each were followed by four poses of 2 minutes each. Group organiser Rod Kitson embodied the looseness, energy and spontaneity artists need for this rapid practice as he darted to and fro, sharing ideas and encouragement.
Artwork by Zoe
Artwork by Elin
As so often here, but especially in this instance, I could feel the inspirational positivity emanating from all sides – all the more so for there being many familiar friendly faces amongst the creatives scrutinising and capturing my shapes. Several have drawn me on numerous occasions and are attuned to what I do. They get me in every sense.
Artwork by Elin
Artwork by Helen
Artwork by Zoe
The next pose of 5 minutes felt like a slowdown. Well, for me anyway as I sat for this one. Nevertheless, 5 minutes can fly by so it was probably far less relaxing for artists confronted by an array of angled limbs presenting multiple foreshortening challenges. One 15-minute standing pose, Egon Schiele-style, completed the first half.
Artwork by Sophia
Artwork by Elin
Artwork by James
With a party to follow, Rod announced that the life drawing and its interval would both be shorter than usual. Of course, when he fetched out mulled wine and mince pies at the break we were at risk of premature festiveness, but there was still art to be made! As neither time nor chatter were slowing, Rod suggested I simply get into pose.
Artwork by Raphael Elizabeth
Artwork by Elin
Artwork by Elin
Artwork by Helen
Artwork by James
Artwork by Zoe
I sat for 25 minutes; my final pose for this session and for 2023. Arms went sideways (left arm up, right arm down), legs went forwards (left knee up, right knee down), and within mere moments a hush had descended as artists resumed toiling at their posts. At the end, gratitude was shared, art was admired, and refreshments were served.
What began as a pandemic project has become a creative community. It’s a beautiful thing. By the time I eventually found my way out of the now-deserted shopping centre in which The Art of Isolation is based, I was merrily full of pizza, mince pies, wine and Baileys. Huge gratitude to Rod Kitson, love to the artists, and Merry Christmas to all!
More than 30 million people passed through London Euston station during 2022/23. I wonder how many knew that a detour of just 110m on Thursday evenings would lead them to the welcoming world of life drawing? Few would ever notice the venue if they weren’t actively looking: the hall of St Pancras Church House on Lancing Street.
London Drawing holds weekly life drawing classes at different venues on different days. I’d been warned that Thursday is usually the least busy day, and pre-Christmas is often the quietest period, so we weren’t expecting a vast crowd of artists. Happily a late influx during the 10-minute warm-up pose gave us a respectable gathering.
As per my previous session for London Drawing, at Waterloo Action Centre the week before, my opening warm-up was followed by some 2-minute poses. I improvised my way through seven in total, then slowed back down with three more 10-minute poses. First I stood, then perched on a piano stool for the next two, taking us to our break.
When legs had been stretched, teas sipped, and Celebrations chocolates consumed, we completed the session with two poses of 20 minutes each. I remained seated, but at the suggestion of an artist I exchanged the piano stool for a chair with a back. This assisted me to turn away for one pose and forward for the next. Variation, you see.
It had been a simple yet satisfying evening’s work. Unusually for a church hall venue, the ambient temperature – by December standards – stayed warm throughout, aided by ubiquitous little workhorse fan heaters. After dressing and loitering a while to chat, it was time for me to depart; one of this year’s 30 million drifting through Euston.
A huge thank you to artist Mark Woods for sharing all his drawings from the session, below. Such a rare treat to see a complete colourful set!
A fortnight after we’d first modelled for Avidyā as a couple, Esther and I returned to Avidyā’s studio to form new poses. Music was playing as before, but this time livelier. Of course, Esther began dancing so I began ‘dancing’ too, and before we knew it our starter had become a spontaneous movement pose.
Avidyā likes to focus on the energy of her life models as much, if not more, than their literal form. The colours around us are as important as those within. When the dance was done we embraced for two quick standing poses. None of these warm-ups were timed. Everything was done intuitively, and it all felt right.
For our main pose, Esther directed me to sit upon the paper-covered cushioned floor and lean against the wall while she nestled between my legs, resting upon my chest, and once more we formed an embrace. Avidyā prepared a fresh canvas, readied her paints and set to work…
Two weeks ago our reclining pose seemed almost criminally comfortable, whereas in this position there were a few more pressure points that needed attention. Even so, it was the very best of circumstances. Pressure was solely within the pose; in the room there was only laughter, love and light – inspirational in so many ways. 😊💓🌈
I’d modelled at Waterloo Action Centre three times in the past, but this booking was my first time solo here. In 2013 and 2014 I had made duo poses with Ursula Troche, whereas in 2018 I formed a trio with Esther Bunting and Valentina Rock, posing for Mexican TV news.
Similarly, after all these years, this was also my first time solo for London Drawing. I had modelled as part of their multi-model extravaganza events with Spirited Bodies, and of course there was the Mexican TV piece, but now it was just me. I opened with one warm-up pose of 10-minutes, then cycled through six of 2 minutes each.
London Drawing organiser, Anne Noble-Partridge led proceedings, offering ideas and suggestions for how to approach every pose. After we’d warmed-up, the remainder of our two hours was devoted to chair work. Specifically, four poses wherein I presented various postures whilst sitting on a chair. First: 10 minutes with one knee raised.
For the second seated pose – 15 minutes – I kept my legs straight, feet crossed, and arms to one side with fingers of each hand interlinked. Anne recommended artists try continuous line drawing for this and the previous pose. Several rose to her challenge. Having been awake since 3:30am, for me the challenge was keeping my eyes open.
We took a welcome break at this point. I walked around the space, feeling my energy rekindled at the sight of many pleasing drawings. That’s all it takes sometimes. When we resumed, the third seated pose was due to last 15 minutes, but by agreement ran on for an extra five. The final seated pose was to be 20 minutes from the outset.
As temperatures outside plummeted, two little fan heaters ensured I was comfortable throughout. Indeed, every aspect had been pleasant. This sort of work appeals to the life drawing purist within me: a guided session for a mix of abilities, no gimmicks, just the pleasure of artistic practice. It was good to be back.
Now this was a rare treat. My recent bookings with Hesketh Hubbard Art Society at Mall Galleries have been for portraits or single long poses but on this occasion – the first of its kind for more than 3 years – I was invited to the short pose platform.
Artwork by Simon Whittle.
In advance of the session, I gave consideration to my choice of four 15-minute poses and two 30-minute poses. It’s almost unknown for me to prepare a full ‘pose plan’ but intuition told me this was the right time. On the evening itself I felt positively serene.
Artwork by Yuxuan Zhou.
It was nice to see so many familiar friendly faces amongst the artists around all three pose spaces. In particular, it was great to meet Jana Williams at last – model for the long pose, organiser of life art groups, and a smart no-nonsense presence online.
Artwork by Simon Whittle.
So anyway, there I was with my pose plan. I’d stood tilting for 15-minutes (a tad achy, that one), I’d stood with one arm over my head and the other behind my back, and I’d sat with a knee and an arm raised. One more pose till tea and chocolate digestives.
Even the pose before the break – standing with arms shaped like a twisted square at my back, which I’d never previously attempted for longer than 5 minutes – felt good. I treated myself to a bonus custard cream. Just two half-hour poses remained.
Artwork by Simon Whittle.
Artwork by Yuxuan Zhou.
Artwork by Simon Whittle.
I stood and I sat, well-balanced and comfortable; I didn’t even notice my lightly purple numb left hand until the very end. But I thoroughly enjoyed the evening, meeting new people and catching-up with those I’d known for years. My spirits lifted. Thank you.
Movember, the month formerly known as ‘November’, is a moustache-growing charity event that raises funds and awareness for men’s health.
Movember participants sign-up on movember.com and then choose to Grow a moustache, Move by walking or running 60km throughout the month, Host a Mo-ment by gathering friends, or create their own challenge with Mo Your Own Way.
So I grew a moustache…
lifedrawing.art marked Movember with a ‘Month of Men‘ at Homerton library. Five Thursdays, five life drawing sessions, five male models; I was life model number five. Four weeks before my date, with due commitment I began cultivating a beard. Come the day itself, the beard dwindled to a moustache. My first ever moustache!
Fleetingly I feared my face fuzz feat had been futile. A broken rail on the Overground to Homerton and a failed train on the Jubilee line thwarted my route for getting to the venue. By rapidly switching to DLR, Central line and bus, I was ‘only’ 15 minutes late. It happens extremely rarely, but I hate being anything other than comfortably early.
I was grateful that organiser Bruce and the artists were so laid-back about it. I wasn’t the only one affected. Simple solution: we let the session overrun by 15 minutes. For the first half we began with a 5-minute pose, then followed it with four of 90 seconds, two more of 5 minutes, a 10-minute pose and a 15-minute pose up to the break.
I’d indulged in some prop use: standing with two lengths of material – one black, one white – draped over my shoulders. To begin the second half I indulged some more: a seated pose clutching a long bamboo cane for 20 minutes. One final 20-minute pose reclining on a desperately-needed electric blanket concluded our evening’s work.
It was gratifying to see so many artworks had captured the ‘tache. They will probably be the only evidence of me ever having had one. After a protracted sub-zero journey home, I took my beard-trimmer to the bathroom and bade it farewell, never to return. Or will it? There will be other Novembers… maybe there will be other Movembers.
Maybe I’m kidding myself, but I don’t feel I post on social media for self-promotion. To me, when I post about my life modelling work it’s simply sharing what I love to do and sending out positivity to the groups and artists for whom I work. Sometimes, however, it earns me a new job. As in this case, when Cleo of Art in the Village reached out.
Evidently my Instagram account gave the right Egon Schiele vibes, so I was kindly invited to pose for end-of-month life drawing at The Birchwood Centre, Muswell Hill. The warmth of Cleo’s welcome more than made up for the centre’s under-performing radiators. I felt care and appreciation even before I started my opening ‘guru’ poses.
Posing in the round, I was asked for one 5-minute seated guru pose then three more variations turning 90° for 2 minutes each time. Cleo provided advice to artists before, during and after every change, with discussion, engagement and sharing throughout. Clearly I had entered a close, characterful community. Next: the long pose.
To support the planned tuition, I was asked specifically to lay down for the long pose. No problem! But more than that, to lay as if collapsed like a murder victim, with head lolling down to the floor from the cushions beneath me. I slumped into position with a few Schiele-esque angles in my limbs, and then remained in situ for 40 minutes.
I was offered a break after we’d gone halfway but as this pose was at the shorter end of the long pose scale, I gallantly declined. Aside from anything else, intuition told me that returning to the exact same position could be a bit of a palaver. So I continued to lay back and think of England… or muse on Muswell Hill, at least.
At the end of the session, everybody shared their drawings by placing them upon the floor, and everyone was invited to speak about one they really liked. Even me, but as I’m fickle I couldn’t help choosing four or five. Cleo made sure nobody missed getting their fair share of praise, and hopefully all departed feeling happy. Certainly I did.
steve ritter 