I’m wondering if you guys would be up for modelling in bright clothing or partly clothed this Wednesday – we could have it as a spring theme – greens yellows if you had any interesting stuff or just something that’s quite sculptural / colourful when worn.
Such was the request Esther and I received from Lisa of SketchPad Drawing on the Monday before our Wednesday booking. Lisa does like a dose of colour and costume from time to time, so that’s exactly what we gave her…
I sported the long orange and leopard-pattern dress – a Monsterlune creation – that I’d worn for Esther’s performance of Girl in Suitcase last year, plus a Venetian-style bird mask and Esther’s shimmery blue wings. Esther herself wore high-heeled boots, green leggings, a red string dress and a radiant sun-pattern top. I think this delivered on the terms of our brief. Opening in separate rooms upstairs at The Prince Regent, we proceeded to alternate with each change of pose during the first half.
Lisa called the changes: a 5-minute pose to begin with, then another 5-minutes, then another 5-minutes, 15-minutes followed, 15-minutes again, and one more 15-minutes. Poses of this length should be a doddle, but when one is wearing wings that insist on being held at arms length, plus a figure-hugging dress down to the ankles, the choice of posture is greatly limited. Swathed in vibrancy and fabulousness, however, it didn’t prevent us inspiring some wonderful artworks.
After a break Esther reclaimed her wings and – at Lisa’s behest – I borrowed Esther’s patchwork dressing gown. We sat back to back in the doorway between rooms for our final pose of 40-minutes… which is when it all started going wrong for me. As I leaned back I’d used my right hand to hold up a fan instead of allowing it to relieve my back’s muscles by bearing some of my bodyweight. A long period of pain followed – the cost of showing-off. It took me a good few minutes to recover. Loved the drawings though!
The Workshop N4 is located a mere three doors west from Harringay station. Alas, my journey was not actually via that track as I looped across from east London to the north, but it seemed convenient in principle. As always for a first time booking, I made sure I arrived comfortably early – a gesture appreciated by life drawing organiser, Lisa who the proceeded to show me around and tell me about the group.
Sessions are from 7:30pm to 9pm and (at present) accommodate a handful of artists. Lisa suggested I stand, then sit on the floor, sit on a chair and lastly sit stretched out along a bench – within that remit I had creative freedom. Poses would be 15-minutes, 20-minutes, 20-minutes, and 20-minutes respectively. We waited for all the expected regulars to arrive before commencing our first pose.
The gathering felt friendly and intimate; no pressure, just smiles. One artist was trying life drawing for the very first time (the honour was mine!) and proved to be a natural. A gentle playlist accompanied our efforts, while all around was colour – during daytimes this is a creative art space for children. It’s a little bit out of my way but truly I enjoyed the evening. Merrily I departed in pursuit of chips, hoping one day to return.
Best laid plans were unravelling at Mall Galleries. First the portrait model pulled out, so a late replacement – Maria Alexe – was brought in. Then the model for 15-minute poses dropped out too, so literally at the last moment Lily Holder was moved across from the long-pose room; ergo, no long pose this evening. Meanwhile, in the midst of all this I seemed to be an unwitting pillar of stability on 30-minute poses. I duly struck a dramatic upright stance and felt pleased with myself.
Artwork by Anthony Roe.
Artwork by Simon Whittle.
Upon arrival I had found artists already about two rows deep encircling the 15-minute pose space, whereas those awaiting me could be counted upon one hand. Come the 6pm start, however, with a decision on Lily’s transfer still not made, I began to notice more chairs being turned around and easels angled my way. How nice! I followed my standing pose with a seated posture of many angles. This took us to the interval and an opportunity to binge on tea and dark chocolate digestives, which I seized.
Artwork by Simon Whittle.
Artwork by Simon Whittle.
Artwork by Anthony Roe.
Earlier that day with time to kill in London, I’d popped into the National Gallery shop and leafed idly through some art books in search of pose ideas. An image that caught my eye and inspired me next was ‘La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans‘ by Edgar Degas – albeit I was a 6’4″, 40-something male version. Lastly, I semi-reclined on my front for what turned out to be the least comfortable half-hour of this session. All in all, however, I was happy with my evening’s work and loved the resultant art.
After a week recharging in Jandía on sunny Fuerteventura, I resumed life modelling with Drawing the Star. It was my first time back at The Star by Hackney Downs in 2019. New brighter lights had been fitted but otherwise all was comfortingly familiar.
We opened with short pose times getting ever-shorter: 5-minutes, 4, 3 and 2-minutes, three of 1-minute, three of 30-seconds. The first half ended with two 10-minute poses starting with a dramatic one-arm-raised, other-arm-pointing stance.
When the pointing was done, I pulled up a low stool and perched upon it with one leg folded beneath me, the other extended and my torso leaning to the right. The primary consideration was to offer variety, both on the night and across all recent visits here.
After the break, organiser Catherine Hall asked the artists whether they would favour one 30-minute pose, two of 15-minutes, three of 10-minutes, or a 10 and a 20. After a little haggling, the consensus settled on 10-minutes and 20-minutes.
I believe the choice of 10 and 20 meant that I’ve now had the complete set of possible second half permutations over various visits… or maybe it happened ages ago and I’d lost track. It doesn’t matter; I hope I’ll get to do them all again many times to come.
The last duo booking of the Valentine’s season for me and Esther was for life drawing at cave in Pimlico. As ever, we were greeted with great warmth by Karen, the owner and driving force behind this artist-led retail space for ‘art, vintage and up-cycling‘. It is truly one of those rare places packed with curios where everything is interesting.
The layout inside cave seems to have altered on each occasion we visit, and this time was no exception. We would be deeper within the shop area with artists around us on three sides. Fortunately there was plenty of seating available as we had succeeded in attracting a record turn-out for the group.
Esther and I had promised ourselves a gentle snuggly session with nothing strenuous or painful. Karen does like her short poses to be very short, however, so straight away we went into dynamic mode, making all manner of spontaneous shapes: five 1-minute poses followed by two of 5-minutes, and ending the first half with two of 10-minutes.
Rewards were immediate. During the interval, Karen offered teas, wines, shortbreads and cakes to everybody present. I plumped for a snifter of red wine plus some apricot Swiss roll; not recognised as a classic combination, but it ticks my bon viveur boxes. After these refreshments we rounded-off the evening with two 25-minute poses.
Throughout this session we were serenaded by long lost sounds from cave’s fantastic CD collection, with vintage Prince getting most prominent play time this evening. The mix is usually eclectic, although Karen has decided that Barry White is wrong for life drawing – there’s always magic and weirdness here… but then that is surely art.
Evenings like this remind me why I often try to arrive at least fifteen minutes early – or sometimes half an hour – for every life model booking. I would prefer to relax and wait, perhaps with a glass of wine, rather than risk being late when an inevitable train delay occurs. The precaution meant that when delays occurred en route to Bridge House, I was still five minutes early rather than ten minutes late…
It was my first time at Anerley and Penge Life Drawing since Tatiana Moressoni had returned from yogic wanderings in India and resumed running the group. Spiritual enlightenment had not inspired her to tamper with the perfection of short pose timings here. Indeed, it was as if she’d never been away. We started with two 2-minute poses and followed with four of 5-minutes and three of 10-minutes.
At first it looked like we might be low on artist numbers, but gradually more and more latecomers joined us. I assumed their plans were affected by the same train troubles as mine, but by about a quarter of an hour into the first half we had a good gathering distributed to all sides of the room. The warmth from so many extra bodies was such that I had to ask for the heater to be switched off. In February. Unprecedented!
Artwork by Tatiana Moressoni.
During the interval, three artists asked Tatiana whether it would be OK to pop out and bring chips back into the room. Of course Tatiana agreed, so off they went leaving art and coats behind… and were never seen again. I like to think this wasn’t a judgement on the likely excellence (or not) of my three 15-minute poses after the break. The lure of chips can be powerful.
At the end there was a generous show of appreciation from those remaining. Artworks were laid out upon the floor for collective appreciation. This booking fell in the midst of some duo sessions so it came as a nice, comfortable yet hard-worked reminder of the art of solo modelling in the round; maintaining dynamism and interesting sight-lines for at least three-quarters of those present for every pose. I still enjoy the challenge.
Esther and I returned to Leytonstone Life Drawing at The Birds for what would be our second Valentine’s duo life modelling session in as many days. We’d posed here together last summer and our first-half pose times, just as then, would be 5-minutes, 10-minutes and 25-minutes. To begin, we stood in an embrace.
This first pose – in which my left hand supported Esther’s raised right knee – echoed an erotic drawing by Gustav Klimt recently exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts. Group organiser, Jennifer had asked us for “intimate” poses so that’s what we served up. For the next 10-minutes Esther straddled me, sitting on my lap.
This wasn’t about ‘sexing-up’ life drawing – we’re professional models and a genuine couple. Intimacy came naturally, but our purpose and practice remained respectful of established life room boundaries. We felt at ease and the artists seemed relaxed too as they focused on their work. Our 25-minute pose saw Esther reclining across me.
We were to finish with an hour-long pose, but the break overran slightly so it became 55-minutes instead. Still bags of time to get very uncomfortable with a poor choice of position, but we’d practised beforehand and got this one right… well, nearly. Esther’s head was tilted back onto my shoulder, which proved to be a pain in her neck.
This evening had been part two of three in our series of Valentine’s duo bookings. We will be at cave in Pimlico on Tuesday 19 February; this year’s final instalment. Each session is different according to the setting, how we interpret the atmosphere, and the way our bodies are moved to respond. The fun is in the discovery (and the intimacy).
steve ritter 