To my great relief, this Monday night booking with Anerley and Penge Life Drawing was to be a short-pose session. Thirteen poses would be required, with times ranging from 2-minutes to 15-minutes. On my way to Bridge House I decided I would recycle my poses from the previous Monday at The Groucho Club – well, I hadn’t used them in Penge before so why not? What I’d failed to foresee was that one of the artists from the Groucho would be at this session too. Thank you and welcome, Curtis!
Curtis said he would be quite happy for me to reprise poses from the week before, but it didn’t seem fair. Not in their entirety anyway. I used a couple of them – kneeling with both arms angled down diagonally to my right, and standing with arms outstretched at waist level – but apart from that they were all made up in the moment. We started with three of 2-minutes, followed by four of 5-minutes, and ended the first half with three of 10-minutes. Energetic stuff; no need for a heater, even on this cooler evening.
Artwork by Tatiana Moressoni.
The second half’s effort was comprised of three 15-minute poses, then we were done. Group organiser Tatiana Moressoni encouraged all those present to spread a few of their artworks on the floor, and collectively we marvelled at some superb efforts. Best of all was the generous thanks given by so many of the artists present, with one chap even saying I was his favourite model to draw. Repeating those words here must look like terrible vanity, but truly I never imagine myself that well regarded. It’s very special.
The long pose session: a thing to be dreaded or embraced? In all honesty it’s usually the former, but this evening at the Garrett Centre I must have been feeling generous or ambitious or self-destructive, as I was in a mood for standing. First, however, there would be warm-up poses: three of 5-minutes and one of 8-minutes.
Next the long pose. Whatever stance I chose, I would be living with its consequences for around an hour and three-quarters in total, albeit with breaks. I had no preplanned idea for what I would do, so I let my body discover the pose itself – something simple, evenly balanced, legs very slightly bent and arms making subtle gestures.
Group organiser Adrian Dutton subsequently posted the photo above, captioned:
‘A delicate yet challenging standing pose by the brilliant @steveritterlife. It takes a lot of experience to make a seemingly simple pose interesting from all angles! Just check out the hands and fingers, the arched back, the legs and hips.‘
The sketch below was made during the first half – had I really brought my shopping?!?
When my back is arched for a long time it doesn’t feel especially uncomfortable whilst I’m actually in pose, but I have to take due care when relaxing from the position – very slowly does it. In this stance however, it was the slightly angled right arm that became most achy, peaking surprisingly early on, then settling down to a vague discomfort.
I made it to the end and felt genuine appreciation from the artists. The quality of work around the room was special and I was very grateful to be given a couple of drawings to keep. It was also nice to see the session well attended. Numbers have been falling at many life groups this summer, but Friday nights in Bethnal Green remain strong.
My last three times life modelling at Fairkytes Arts Centre were all duo sessions with Esther. So long ago was it that I’d last posed here solo – 18 October 2016, in fact – I had to look-up the date. Time flies, but many of the regular artists at this group remain loyal. I started by giving them two 5-minute standing poses, then 10-minutes seated.
I’d been booked by my friend and fellow model, Natansky, but for this first half it was her sister, Estelle – the group’s co-organiser – who was running the show and calling the pose times. I followed with 15-minutes standing in what the artists christened my “Jesus pose”, and then ended the half with another 10-minutes sitting on the floor.
Natansky arrived at the interval, just in time to take on tea-making duties and lavishly distribute the biscuits. I harvested more than my fair share whilst chatting with artists. When all were ready to resume, the undisputed consensus was to finish with a brace of 20-minute poses. I configured myself into an awkward shape for the first of these.
Artwork by Natansky.
Feeling I’d earned the right to a more comfortable situation for the finale, I pulled up a high stool for cosy sit-down. Needless to say, I then raised, looped, and toe-balanced my limbs, which meant it wasn’t the last word in relaxation, but neither did it ache. My work done, I exchanged appreciations with the artists and left feeling quite upbeat.
For many years, The Groucho Club existed only in my broad social awareness as a members-only establishment and watering-hole of choice for media people. In spring, however, Figuration successfully organised a brace of life drawing events there, and they were returning for a third visit this summer. I was delighted to be their model.
Upon arrival at the main entrance on Dean Street, Soho, I was given a complimentary drinks token and pointed to a door slightly further along the road. From there a warren of corridors and stairs led me to a large, well-lit event room on the second floor, where Figuration’s Leo was preparing the space. We began at 7pm with six 2-minute poses.
After the opening sequence, two 5-minute poses and two 10-minute poses brought us to an interval, at which point I exchanged my token for a tasty white wine. The session was well attended and exuded positive energy; I gave my dynamic best within an oval of seated artists, while Leo offered just the right measure of encouragement and tips.
To finish, I stood for 20-minutes, sat on the floor for 15-minutes, and finally reclined for 15-minutes. I thoroughly enjoyed every detail; not least the intriguing Spotify playlist, which had been carefully crafted for the occasion, as always, by Figuration’s Roy. The Groucho Club proved a great venue of life drawing. I was impressed. Long may it last.
It was set to be the hottest day of the year so far with temperatures higher than 30°C but, before fleeing to the coast for cooling sea breezes, I first had the small matter of three hours’ morning modelling back at Lochaber Hall. We started with, of all things, ‘warm-up’ poses: six of 5-minutes and ten of 1-minute.
For the 1-minute poses I reprised my sequence from the Dellow Centre last Sunday, in which I made as if to be lifting and throwing a heavy weight. I followed this exertion with a 10-minute pose seated on the floor, then arranged myself to commence a long pose that would fill the remainder of the session. I was specifically asked to recline.
I hadn’t slept very well the night before so a chance to lay down was to be welcomed. Nonetheless I always feel guilty, as if lazy, not truly working for my pay. I was told the previous male model had stood, however, hence repose was the preference now. My work ethic had to be satisfied with the maintenance of many angles instead.
This long pose lasted 45-minutes up to a break for tea and digestives, then resumed for a further 45-minutes to the end of our session. Although the day was warming up outside, temperatures stayed surprisingly cool inside the hall. Apart from a numb leg that revealed itself only when I tried to stand, it was a comfy start to a lovely day.
A short-notice message from Lily Holder – group organiser, tutor, artist and fellow life model – lured me over to Peckham to pose for a class at the South London Gallery. We would be working in a light, white room on the second floor of a former fire station that now serves as an annexe to the main gallery, just across Peckham Road.
This was to be session number four of six in a structured course that Lily was leading. The main theme of the session would be hands and feet – had I realised in advance I would have tidied my nails! Lily set the scene with an inspirational message writ large across papers taped to the wall: HANDS + FEET ARE A BLOODY NIGHTMARE!!!
I had undressed but, as we were only focusing on hands and feet to begin with, there was no need to remove my robe; no distractions! We started with three 1-minute, two 2-minute and two 5-minute poses as a warm-up. Lily encouraged techniques such as blind drawing, single-line drawing, looking long before mark-making, and so on.
Given that hands and feet are a ‘bloody nightmare’ to draw at the best of times, there were some outstanding efforts from this quick work – the feet in the image above, for example, were drawn without looking at the paper. The next pose would be full-figure so my robe came off and I sat on the floor for 20-minutes, hands and feet to the fore.
After a break for refreshments, one long pose of 40-minutes brought the session to its close. I sat upon a chair, comfortably wrapped in my own arms, enjoying Lily’s playlist and listening keenly while she offered advice. The group was receptive and the whole evening had a friendly, upbeat vibe. Time passed quickly; no need for a stretch.
In addition to hands and feet, there was a bit of emphasis on portrait study during this last pose – another notoriously tricky skill to master, so the novice artists were getting a solid workout here, but always in an engaging and instructive way. Their theme next week would be ‘simplification’ – I’m betting that’s more complicated than it sounds…
Hutton Community Centre was my destination for a Life Drawing Class in Hutton with The Drawing Hut. It would be my debut modelling in this neck of the woods, not too far from home as the crow flies, but a bit more circuitous by public transport. After a long walk down from Shenfield station, I arrived plenty early for a 7:30pm start.
The curse of the warm evenings struck again. By the time we were due to begin there was still only me and the group’s organiser – Stephanie – in attendance. Unperturbed, we got underway with a 5-minute pose. Another artist, Tony joined us and together we agreed to abandon plans for a lot of short poses, and instead have a single long pose.
I didn’t choose the most comfortable standing pose imaginable but Stephanie timed it in four 20-minute chunks with a 5-minute rest break after each, and a 10-minute finale. By the third chunk my back was feeling the strain, but time flew by as aspiring young cheerleaders in an adjacent room relentlessly counted their beats from 1 to 8.
Although we had just a brace of artists and despite me not picking a comfy pose, this was actually a very pleasant serene session. It was interesting to chat with Stephanie and Tony, who are both experienced as artists and familiar with the life drawing scene, and it felt good being able to give them this unexpected bespoke long-pose evening.
steve ritter 