South East London Life Drawing at The Art of Isolation, Surrey Quays is steadily becoming a favourite place to model. It’s not a large space, it has no pretensions, yet everything is done simply, thoroughly, naturally and well. Best of all, there is always a positive energy from the artists; enthusiasm, appreciation, focus and enjoyment. Just one drawback on this occasion: it was a glorious day and we were head-to-head with the FA Cup Final. Ergo, not the biggest turn-out ever.
Artwork by Elin.
Artwork by Toniteatime.
Artwork by Elin.
Artwork by Toniteatime.
Artwork by Elin.
Usual rules: it doesn’t matter to me whether the number of artists present is 1 or 100, they will get the best I can do. All the more reason when the number includes familiar faces whom I know respond well to my shape. We opened with a 10-minute standing pose, then went quickly through three poses of 1 minute, three of 2 minutes, and one of 3 minutes. Poses of 5, 10 and 15 minutes took us to our break for tea and biscuits, after which a single seated pose of 40 minutes completed the session.
Artwork by Elin.
Artwork by Helen.
Artwork by Toniteatime.
Artwork by Rod Kitson.
Artwork by Ned.
Even amongst a low turn-out there was variety. We had a first-timer and experienced hands. We had gregarious encouragers and private practitioners. We had artists who favour portraits and others who draw the complete figure but leave the face a blank. I am happy to serve them all. Oh, and one last commendation for the simplest ideas: a finger bowl of soapy water for those working with charcoal. It seems such an obvious thing to provide, yet I’d never seen it done before. Some places just have the knack.
For many a moon Bruce Thomas has supported Adrian Dutton’s groups both as a life drawing artist and, for want of a better way to say it, technical assistant. Now he’s applying his skills to a project of his own: lifedrawing.art. This includes Thursday life drawing sessions in-person and via Zoom at Homerton library. I was his model #14.
The first floor space in the library is ideal, with plenty of room for all. Bruce sets up an array of lamps, even using a red filter where low-level lighting would otherwise be too bright for artists when in their line of sight. We began with a 10-minute standing pose, followed by four poses of 90 seconds each, then poses of 5, 5, 10 and 15 minutes.
Bruce is keen on my idiosyncratic hand gestures when posing so I tried to keep them interesting throughout. At the half-time break those same hands harvested crisps and chocolates from the complimentary buffet, washed down by a mug of tea made using the library’s on-tap boiling water. We finished with poses of 20 and 25 minutes.
This group is quite new so artist numbers are relatively low, but its potential is high. It was nice to see some familiar faces from Adrian’s group (no conflict of timing), plus a few first-timers. Book your ticket at the summertime special rate – £10 in-person, or £5 via Zoom – and tell all your friends you were there in the early days! 🙂
Of course, this being Bruce’s project he’s made an Instagram Reel of my efforts…
‘Hands and feet‘ was the theme of this class at Brockley Adult Education Centre. I always tend to be gestural with my hands when modelling, but what comes naturally when given no thought is quite another matter when closely scrutinised. We opened with poses of 5, 6 and 7 minutes before devoting 8 minutes to the study of hands.
Loose lines by Joanna McCormick.
I couldn’t do much about my bitten fingernails before the session, but at least I could trim the nails of my toes. Their time to shine was the next pose of 9 minutes. A break followed, after which we ended our evening’s exertions with a final 35-minute seated pose that once more positioned hands and feet to the fore.
Artwork by Dick Graham.
Hands and feet as subjects are notoriously the arch foes of figurative artists. Many a student at this class engaged with them only reluctantly, favouring the whole body or even portraiture. This was gratifying in a way; nobody likes to imagine they’re posing fully naked and contorted for students who are sketching nothing but appendages!
After Painting the Figure, Portrait Drawing and Portrait Painting classes, plus another Painting the Figure, my fifth booking this year for City Academy at Arts Theatre was straightforward Life Drawing. Tutor Lawrence Crane began the session by sketching me in a 2-minute demo, then requested five more 2-minute poses for his students.
After these quick warm-ups I was asked to reprise my opening demo pose, now for a longer 5-minute demo. And then things got tricky: same pose requested yet again for an altogether more taxing 30 minutes. Poses concocted in haste with a 2-minute limit in mind don’t automatically translate to a static pain-free half-hour.
I succeeded in sustaining a precarious posture with twisted torso and elevated elbow for 18 minutes before seeking merciful release. After pausing to shake sensation into the arm that I’d hooked over my head, I completed the remaining 12 minutes. What a trooper! I recovered during a tuition theory phase, ending with a final 12-minute pose.
During the last pose Lawrence set his students their homework. He asked them each first to name an artwork or artist they found most inspiring, then to put that inspiration into practice before next week’s class. Meanwhile I stood nude, silent and scrutinised amidst all these notions, thinking about art that’s captivated me…
Inspirational artworks
‘The Flagellation of Christ‘ (1607)
‘The Entombment of Christ‘ (1603-1604)
Opportunities for duo life modelling as a couple are thinning out. Prior to this session, Esther and I hadn’t posed together since January 2022. LeNu Life Drawing, run by our friend Natansky, happily ended our barren spell in 2023 by inviting us once more for an evening at Fairkytes Arts Centre. Last time we were both here was 2018!
At 7:30pm we started in the round with poses of 5, 10 and 15 minutes. Artists studied and captured us with quiet concentration. LeNu Life Drawing has matured – gone are the days of constant chatter throughout. Since the COVID-19 lockdowns it has grown both in numbers and seriousness. Now everybody concentrates on their art.
A further 15-minute pose took us to the half-time interval. Whilst the group’s full focus had been on making art during the preceding three-quarters of an hour, at break-time they swiftly relaxed into being as cheerful, social and engaging as ever. After tea and biscuits we resumed with a 20-minute pose sitting side-by-side on a piano seat.
Esther felt she needed to stand for the final 25 minutes, so we reprised the last of our 15-minute poses with me sitting wrapped around one of her legs. For variety, I picked the left leg instead of right, Esther switched gestures and most importantly we rotated ninety degrees. Thus a familiar pose became wholly original from all perspectives.
It’s a shame there is only quarter of an hour between this session ending and the last train running south from nearby Emerson Park station. It means we have just enough time to get dressed and photograph a few drawings before dashing off. We managed to mingle a little but then had to say our fond farewells. Thanks for having us back!
A short-notice booking brought me back to The Plough and Harrow in Leytonstone for the first time since 2017. Not that Life Drawing in Leytonstone neglected me for more than 5 years; venues change, and now this one had switched back. We started with three 3-minute nude poses, and then 5 minutes with my clothes back on.
Artwork by Olga Szynkarczuk.
“Clothes back on?” You heard correct. This was group organiser Jennifer’s concept: I would first pose for 5 minutes clothed, then strip off and hold the exact same pose for 5 minutes naked. Artists would draw me nude each time – first from imagination, next from observation – and compare. Great fun: the art of mentally undressing strangers!
Artwork by Jennifer Wolf.
Artwork by Mark Doherty.
Energised by the originality of our dressed/undressed poses, I became careless with subsequent selections and adopted a needlessly uncomfortable kneeling position for the next 12 minutes. When set free from tearing tightness in tendons and toes, I was kinder to myself in choosing a side-saddle seated pose for 12 minutes to our break.
Artwork by Olga Szynkarczuk.
Artwork by Mark Doherty.
After the interval we would have two 20-minute poses taking us through to the end of the evening. Yet again I got it wrong, adding an unnecessary extra torso tilt to a pose with one arm over my head and the other stretching across my chest. It meant a little too much muscle effort was required to compensate for a slight overbalance.
Artwork by Mark Doherty.
Even with self-inflicted aches and pains, I do love working for this group. Once again my recovery position was sitting down, this time with one knee crooked upwards and both arms reaching forwards. I was feeling happy… and my smile didn’t go unnoticed by keen-eyed artists. 🙂
Artwork by Mark Doherty.
Four sessions in 2023 for City Academy at Arts Theatre, with no two alike. This one was rather spartan – a ‘Painting the figure‘ class led by one stand-in tutor (José), with one model (me) for one student. Without a plethora of people and paints, studios can be cold, cold places; and with just a pair of diminutive floor heaters toiling against the odds, this one certainly was. After ‘warming up’ with poses of 5, 7, and 7 minutes, we set-up the long pose that would occupy most of the evening’s two and a half hours.
My angular short poses had been well received, so I was asked to provide something similar for the long pose. A pose that can be held for 5 minutes cannot necessarily be held for 95, but with a couch and careful consideration we concocted a compromise. I endured a chilly first 40 minutes up to our break, then repositioned the heaters so our next 50 minutes were tolerable enough for me to agree extending by 5 minutes more. It had been a tough, peculiar gig, but a nice painting justified it… just. 🙂
steve ritter 