“Any exciting costumes always very well received…” was the hint given to Esther and me by Lisa – organiser of SketchPad Drawing – when she reconfirmed our booking. I’ve long since run out of original garments to take to The Prince Regent but Esther always comes good. And this time she’d brought enough for both of us…
Artwork by Shiv Grewal
Whilst I’ve never shied away from wearing unlikely outfits in the name of art, I admit I felt rather daft in that dress. I thought it was only to be for the opening 5-minute pose but I was implored to keep it on for a second of 5-10 minutes. With great relief, I then un-dressed and we wore nothing but feather boas for the next four 2-minute poses.
Artwork by artshivinder
Unusually for this venue, we were posing together in the round rather than working in separate adjacent rooms. A handful of artists had given notice they were struck down with the flu so wouldn’t be attending. It meant everyone could fit in a single room, and Esther and I could do our duo thing. We did so next for 15 minutes, still just in boas.
Artwork by artshivinder
And then at last we were completely nude; it was the first and would be the only time this evening. We sat upon the floor facing each other, as close as possible with arms and legs embracing, for fully 20 minutes. In the break that followed, we slipped away to take opportunistic promo photos for Esther’s forthcoming ‘Growing Roots‘ event.
Artwork by artshivinder
Artwork by jorisbaboris
When our artists returned to complete the session, we had time enough left for poses of 20 and 15 minutes. I remained nude, whilst Esther manifested magnificence in just about every other item she’d packed for the occasion. First we were on the floor, then Esther sat on a stool while I – not for the first time – languished beneath her stiletto.
Artwork by jorisbaboris
Artwork by artshivinder
Artwork by jorisbaboris
Artwork by artshivinder
In sessions like this, where we’re indulged and trusted to be playfully self-expressive, it’s particularly important to create strong poses that work for the whole room. We did our best and, whatever the artists may have thought of our shenanigans, their artistic response was superb throughout. I hope I’m right to think a good time was had by all.
Ah, a rotating a mirror ball hanging from the ceiling at The Star by Hackney Downs! In all my years posing for Drawing the Star, I couldn’t recall noticing that before. So for my opening 5-minute pose, I stood at full stretch, reaching up towards it. And then we continued: 4-minutes, 3, 2, three of 1-minute, three of 30-seconds.
Two poses each of 10-minutes would complete the first half. First I sat on a low stool, one leg extended and body tilted back, then I rotated and stood with elbows high and hands curled down on shoulder tops. A reliable playlist and flawless timekeeping took me through comfortably to our drinks break. A large red wine awaited.
It was a busy night, with about seventeen artists seated about the walls of The Star’s upstairs function room. A show-of-hands vote for our second half pose times seemed to have resulted in a tie between three of 10-minutes and two of 15-minutes… that is, until a latecomer returned, one hand holding his pint, the other held aloft for fifteens.
I lay down crookedly, then sat in such a way as to attempt square proportions. Alas, I didn’t succeed with the square, although it was still a nice shape. After the merriment of admiring artworks, I would have loved to stay for another drink but I had a late one the night before and would be late the next night too. Never mind! I’ll be back soon!
This January portrait sitting for The Croydon Art Society started as the offer of a life model booking in September last year. Alas, I wasn’t free for that date; neither could I make their next date in November, but my diary was open for January. It being winter, they thoughtfully reserve this session for clothed posing.
Their venue is a hall attached to Christ Church Methodist Addiscombe. I’ve worked in chilly church halls on many occasions so took the precaution of wearing especially thick clothing. Sod’s Law, however, decreed this to be warmest church hall anywhere in Christendom. I duly sweltered my way through two tropical hours.
We began not long after 7:30pm. Although I was offered some early stretch breaks, I felt comfortable enough to hold my pose till tea and biscuits, at half-eight. After much socialising, we resumed for a further 35-40 minutes, to our finish. Some artists opted to start a new work for the second half, whilst others ploughed on with a single study.
Over the years I’ve been artistically recreated in many styles with diverse media, but this was the first time I’d been fashioned out of papier-mâché. Initially I wasn’t aware what happening and was thus perplexed by sounds of paper tearing and scrunching, but I love my little 3D double – photos at half-time and full-time. Uncannily me!
After two pleasant evenings life modelling for artists at Hutton Community Centre in June and July last year, I was invited by group organiser Stephanie Mills to pose for portraiture at her home studio. Having beheld the astoundingly fine quality of her art, I needed no encouragement to accept. The intended drawing would be developed over multiple sittings, each one lasting 3 hours. Work commenced on 8 August 2019.
At the end of week 1.
That first session set the pattern for all that followed. I stared at my gaze point on the far wall for seven periods of 20 minutes, with five timed breaks of 5-minutes plus one break of 15-minutes giving us the full 3 hours. Measurements and marks were made, some blocking-in began, and then… nearly five months elapsed. Even art has to wait for the right moments on a long journey. We resumed on 3 January 2020.
At the end of week 3.
I wondered whether Stephanie would prefer to start anew after so much time, but she was happy to continue from where we’d left off. We recalibrated the required direction for my gaze and stuck a lump of black putty onto the wall as a marker. That putty held my unwavering attention throughout this session and three that came after. It was just a blurry smudge without my glasses, and hazed-out even more as my mind drifted.
At the end of week 5.
The third, fourth and fifth of our five sessions followed swiftly on 6, 14 and 21 January. While I remained transfixed by putty, Stephanie’s long-nibbed pencils fizzed feverishly upon her paper. The sound seemed so rough, sketchy, haphazard – it was impossible to reconcile it with the extraordinarily fine and precise work of art emerging. Such skill is beyond my comprehension. I felt privileged to be its subject.
Time never dragged; neither did the notorious soporific effects of portrait posing ever take a hold. Weirdly the third of every seven 20-minute pose periods seemed to race by. K+E on Soundcloud played us through till, at the finish, when the last periods of the last session had at last accelerated away, I turned away from my putty, rose from my comfy chair and… gazed upon the most exquisite drawing of me ever made.
Just three weeks short of a year-long absence, I resumed Monday evening modelling at The Conservatoire in Blackheath. Class tutor, Victoria Rance jokingly called me the ‘prodigal son’ but here all accounts are settled and we could enjoy a fresh start to a new year. We warmed-up with three 1-minutes poses, then 5 and 10-minutes.
I stood for both the longer warm-ups: first holding my umbrella, then with hands furled onto the tops of my shoulders. After these I would be laying down for the remainder of the evening; hips rotated sideways, shoulders slightly further back, but really a simple and comfortable pose to sustain.
I would have been granted a break every twenty minutes but there was no need. Only on the hour mark did I ask to get up as my uppermost hip had begun to ache. After a ten minute stretch I was guided back into position to see out the remaining forty or so minutes. All done, with brolly back in hand, I took my leave into rivers of torrential rain.
My first booking with Hesketh Hubbard Art Society at Mall Galleries in 2020 was a portrait sitting. This was the society’s first session of the year and, quite appropriately, had a high turn-out of members. Not too many intent on drawing me it seemed at first, but come 6pm a sudden flurry of chairs were dragged across to my corner.
Artwork by Dmitry Shaklanoff-von Seipt.
Two hours. One complete hour without movement, then a fifteen minute break for tea and digestives before a final fully static hour. The first half was hardest as a tiredness took hold about midway through. The more my mind focused on avoiding drowsiness, the more that very thought became a catalyst for downward flickering eyelids.
Conversations during the interval reinvigorated my brain. At some point in the second half, I became mindfully conscious of every sound in what ought to have been a quiet room. Each scratch and scrape, cough and clatter held my sharp attention till 8:15pm when, bright as a button, I was free at last to appreciate this multitude of myself in art.
Having first posed for Blue Zoo Animation Studio in a clothed session two weeks before Christmas, I returned to them two weeks after Christmas to pose nude. As per my previous visit, the two hours would be devoted entirely to quick-fire dynamic work, only even quicker this time.
The shorter the poses, the more I have to conjure up, so it becomes a workout for my body and my imagination. We started with three of 1 minute, three of 2 minutes, three of 3 minutes, then one each of 4 minutes and 7 minutes. After a break we pressed on: 5-minutes, 5, 7, 7, 7, 7, 8, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 8 and 5 – a mighty 25 poses in total.
Occasionally I made use of a perching stool, and once I posed with my umbrella, but otherwise it was just me and my body. So many extraordinary drawings were crafted, capturing the figure and often playfully suggesting character. Every line seemed right first time. Thank you, Wei Wu, who created all the wonderful artworks in this post.
steve ritter 