5-minutes standing with one ear cupped, 4-minutes on one knee with an elbow raised and its hand upon my head, 3-minutes on both knees with one arm held straight at an angle extended high, 2-minutes, three of 1-minute, three of 30-seconds…
This was the fourth time I had modelled at The Star by Hackney Downs for Drawing the Star in 2019, so I was making a point to try new pose variations that I hadn’t used here before. Next, 10-minutes seated with a straight leg and both hands to one side.
I closed the first half standing upright for 10-minutes with one hand reaching over and onto the rear of my head whilst the other pushed as a fist into the arch of my back. An interval followed; our good crowd of artists filtered downstairs for drinks while I rested.
To begin the second half I lay upon the floor with one arm stretched directly upright for 15-minutes, then concluded the session standing with one knee resting on a stool and a hand behind my neck – both new poses, doubtless destined to be used elsewhere.
A fine session and, as ever, enjoyable as much for its social aspect as the creativity. I stayed for a drink and lively banter with organiser Catherine, artist Franco, latecomer Drew, plus many others. I never tire of returning; never take for granted being invited.
West Wickham Arts Association holds life drawing sessions at Hayes Free Church way down in south-east London, getting towards Kent. It’s a long way from my regular territory, but I warmed to an invitation from one of the association’s members who had seen me modelling several times at Mall Galleries, so decided to take the plunge.
Horrendous railway disruption magically worked in my favour so I got to Hayes earlier than expected. This meant I found myself loitering outside the church hall with crowds of parents waiting to collect their kids from whichever event preceded the life drawing. It seemed to take ages for them to disperse so I suspect we started a little late.
I would be posing in the round for nigh on a dozen association artists – all friendly and welcoming folk. We opened with short dynamic poses: 5-minutes standing followed by 10-minutes down on one knee with my left arm outstretched. Next I was upright again, this time for 25-minutes, taking us to a break. Tea and Bourbons were served.
I’m always concerned to come up with a few poses that are either wholly original or at least appreciable variations when I return to venues that have booked me many times in the past – artists are apt to grumble about models who keep repeating poses. Here, however, I was new to almost everyone so I relaxed into a couple of old favourites.
A 45-minute seated pose took me to the finish, comfortable save for a slight chill after the heater cut out prematurely. Nonetheless, I gladly agreed when asked if I would be willing to return. All that remained was to tackle the trains home – still badly disrupted but, with a nice bag of chips, I simply waited phlegmatically for whatever would be…
Back to Haringey, north London for the first session in a new term of adult life drawing at The Workshop N4. As I passed through its front door, the first thing that struck me was a heady air of sweetly fragrant incense. The group’s organiser, Lisa explained this was to refresh the aroma left by the day’s earlier children’s group…
Multiple misfortunes aligned on my previous visit here to ensure that I was modelling for considerably less than a full house of artists. Happily, we enjoyed a 400% increase in attendance this evening. I started with a 15-minute standing pose and then followed it with sideways and forward-facing seated poses of 20-minutes each.
We had time enough for a last pose of 25-minutes – something of the reclining variety, maybe. I suggested sitting on the floor but resting my arms and head upon a low stool that was draped with cloth. I knew from experience it would ultimately render my arms numb, but also knew the numbness couldn’t last too long in a pose of this length.
In due course I did indeed lose sensation in my arms but only for a few minutes before the end. After a moment or two to recover, I was on my feet and enjoying the drawings that had been crafted. It had been my third time modelling here this year – more than I imagined could be the case at the outset – and each occasion has been a jolly one.
The past week has seen green leaves show tinges of red, evening temperatures start to dwindle and sunrises welcoming the early bird with ever more magnificent displays. Autumn is upon us, and in London’s life drawing world that means it’s time for heaters to be retrieved from storage. This was the first occasion since last winter that one had been needed at The Bolton; I savoured the aromatic burn-off of dust as I stripped out of my warm clothes for another session with Adrian Dutton’s London Life Drawing.
In warm, comfortable surroundings with a good gathering of artists, I found this to be a very enjoyable evening’s work. After opening with a 10-minute standing pose, I rotated through a sequence of five 1-minute poses before completing the first half standing for 5-minutes, then again for 10-minutes and sitting for 20-minutes. During the break, one artist came over and introduced himself as a fellow model who follows this blog – Hey! We had a long chat, really positive, comparing paths and experiences. A real bonus.
The plan for the second half was to have three poses of 15, 20 and 25-minutes. Time, however, is rarely the straight line we imagine it to be. In this relaxed setting it felt OK to run-on while Adrian offered tuition to newbies. I stood for what became 20-minutes, lay on my back for what became 22-minutes, and kneeled for my truncated final pose of 17-minutes. My body isn’t always my friend, yet somehow I felt serene in myself, in my work and within the ambiance of the room. Inexplicable specialness occurs.
Bow Arts Trust opened its Canada Street Studios only last November yet already a community of artists has formed within its rented spaces. As an aid to group bonding, monthly life drawing sessions have been organised on site and I had the great honour of being invited to pose for their September gathering.
It was artist Rosa Beiroa who had booked me and who unlocked the front gate to let me in. I was shown upstairs to a screened-off area of floor space next to their kitchen facility. This was to be my stage, while artists would mostly be sitting upon the floor in an arc around me. We began with a 10-minute pose – time for latecomers to arrive.
Artists numbered five to begin with, and remained five at the end of pose one. Indeed they were still numbering five after four poses of 5-minutes each, plus one more pose of 10-minutes had completed the first half. During a break for tea and crisps, however, a further three rocked-up so we saw out this session as a merry company of eight.
15-minutes seated on the floor, 20-minutes standing and 15-minutes sitting on a chair completed my evening’s work. True to intentions it felt more like a gathering of friends than studio neighbours. This being a monthly event, I do not expect to return any time soon – alas, maybe never – but I wish them every happiness. Lovely people.
Upstairs at The Bull in Highgate, I realised something wasn’t right as we settled into our third pose of the session. Whilst I lay on my back, Esther stood over me with one foot on my chest, yet I could see her face clearly. That meant… I was still wearing my glasses. Quickly I snatched them from my face and tossed them aside.
I cannot recall when I last forgot to remove my glasses – maybe this was the first time ever. It’s symptomatic of a duo modelling pitfall, however; mindfulness of one’s partner but not of oneself. I was surprised no-one said anything it. Perhaps like me, the artists were too engrossed in the poses.
This was the second of two back-to-back evenings we’d posed for Jolly Sketcher life drawing groups run by Tanja Hassel. Twenty-four hours before we were at Common House in Muswell Hill. Here at The Bull we had a few more artists, glasses of wine, a good pub playlist of mainstream indie, and even enjoyed fish and chips at the break.
Before our hefty meal, while still fairly sleek, we’d opened with two poses of 5-minutes (me bespectacled), two of 10-minutes, then 15-minutes (a bit painful with me standing in a slightly leaning twist) and 14-minutes. Comfort was vital for the second half as we would be in pose for up to 60-minutes. Esther lay down and I sat beside her.
Damage was minimal: I managed to get a numb left hand and Esther had an achy left leg. Tanja offered us the chance to get up and stretch halfway through but we decided simply to shake-out our troubled limbs and carry on. Ultimately it was a lovely session with a very friendly gathering. Thank you, Jolly Sketcher, and all your jolly artists.
This was to be the first of two consecutive evenings duo life modelling with Esther for Jolly Sketcher groups in north London. On the Tuesday we would be upstairs at The Bull in Highgate, but for this Monday we convened at the serene setting of Common House in Muswell Hill; surely the most pristine, tranquil venue for life drawing.
The groups’ organiser, artist and fellow model, Tanja Hassel had booked us for these sessions way back in mid-April. Such advance planning mirrors her attention to detail in every aspect: from marketing to music, from cordless lighting to cash-free payment. We started with three 5-minute poses, two of 10-minutes and one of 20-minutes.
Rather than practice our poses, we now take an organic approach in which one of us will whisper a preference for standing, sitting or reclining and the other responds with some form of complimentary entwining. It makes sessions more exciting and intuitive but the responder mustn’t rush or they risk settling into achy positions… like I did.
After a break, we finished with poses of 20 and 25 minutes. For the latter, Esther was reclining and I semi-reclined, propped upon one elbow; a classic example of knowing what would look better as a pose and allowing that to take precedence over personal comfort. So I had an achy left arm for almost half an hour – but, hey, it looked good.
I think some of the artists may have found the challenge more exhausting than we did. So many limbs and lines! Yet they did very well and I felt everyone managed to create something special from the occasion. Esther and I walked away largely unscathed but mindful of a need for greater care when selecting an hour-long pose the next day.
