It used to be that I might only get to pose at The Workshop in Geffrye Street, Hoxton once every six months at most. Now, since the loss of his Eastbourne House venue in Bethnal Green, Adrian Dutton has life drawing sessions there twice a week, which in turn meant this Tuesday booking fell within a mere month of my last Monday one.
The pose lengths varied only slightly from my previous visit. First, 10-minutes standing then three poses of 3-minutes each, two of 5-minutes, and two of 15-minutes that took us up to an interval. Artists seemed to be joining us constantly throughout the opening pose until, with about 35 present, we were at capacity. Just as well no more arrived.
During our break, I cleared my pose space in the centre of the room so a trestle table could be brought out and loaded with loaves and dip to feed the multitude. Socialising and eating occupied the next half-hour, after which the room was reset and I resumed with a 30-minute standing pose with my right hand resting on top of a stick.
The most extraordinary aspect of this standing pose was that my hands and both feet went numb. In all my years of life modelling, numbness had never struck me quite like this before. I even wondered if I might collapse when the pose ended and I had to alter position. Fortunately I was able to make a very slow, controlled descent to ground.
A 30-minute seated pose completed the evening’s travails. Artists were encouraged to place their drawings on the floor and I was hugely gratified to discover strong works all around the room. With Esther here to draw me too, and notwithstanding a few tingling extremities, this had been a particularly pleasing session.
With warm sunshine streaming in through The Dellow Centre windows, I took off my robe, entered the round of artists, grasped a wooden stick across both shoulders, and commenced the opening 15-minute standing pose. It is a pose I enjoy and a good one to hold whilst artists are still arriving. We followed it with no fewer than 10 quick poses that began 3-minutes, 2-minutes, 1-minute, decreasing in length down to 7-seconds.
After this frenetic sequence, we completed the first half with two poses of 20-minutes each – back to basics for life drawing traditionalists, and a period of focused study for those who like to exercise their imaginations and draw more than what they see. One artist used this time to represent me as a kind of elf king, resplendent with crown and pencil sceptre; not my usual daywear…
A mug of tea and a couple of digestive biscuits later, we resumed after the break with a 5-minute movement pose. Tim, the life drawing session organiser, called out time checks every 60 seconds while I slowly, slowly, slowly turned 360°, rising, unravelling, stretching, curling, reaching. A couple of artists had murmured low groans on hearing that a movement pose was coming, but others met the challenge magnificently.
The session concluded with a 40-minute long seated pose, side-saddle on a wooden chair, twisting my torso round to the right. A 40-minute body twist is usually good for an ache or two but with a folded sheet under my backside and a cushion beneath an arm that I’d hooked over the chair’s back, I felt comfortable. Lovely feedback from the artists rounded off a nice afternoon.
Mid-August, mid-holiday season, is often a low point for life drawing group attendance numbers yet there was a respectable showing of local artists for my summer return to The Beehive for Tottenham Art Classes. They selected their free drawing materials, then settled down nice and prompt for organiser Taz to begin proceedings at 7pm.
Promptness was critical as we started with the shortest poses: 1-minute, 2, 3, 4, and 5-minutes. Anybody turning up quarter of an hour late would have missed exactly half our evening’s offerings. I finished the first period with two 15-minute poses, and one of 10-minutes. After the break, two 20-minute poses brought the session to a close.
I last attended this venue on the occasion of the group’s fourth birthday, duo modelling with Esther on 18 January. A few works from that session had made it onto the walls of their Two Hours : To Ours exhibition at Craving Coffee in May. Hopefully some of the works I didn’t get a chance to see here this evening will make it to the next one.
An extraordinary day ended at an extraordinary venue for life drawing. A planned jaunt to the Arctic Circle had fallen through when my flight out was delayed for eleven hours at Gatwick airport; thus, instead of beginning the day in north Norway, I woke in south London. Not quite so rare, but the following hours would be special nonetheless. After a panel discussion at Mall Galleries and lunch in St James’s Park, I headed here…
…to Beckenham Place Mansion set in vast grounds between Dulwich and Bromley. This Georgian pile is home to Beckenham life-drawing, led by Jon Long. I’d worked for his other life drawing group at Mycenae House back in March and knew to expect a well-instructed insightful session. I found Jon in the central space of the ground floor, preparing for the arrival of his artists.
The group is relatively new, yet steadily growing in numbers with two more first-timers joining us this evening. There’s still room for all to spread out in this large unfurnished room. We began with three poses of 10-minutes, then added another of 20-minutes to complete the first half. During the first pose, our classical soundtrack was abandoned in favour of Sister Nancy and other summer tunes lilting in from the bar outside.
A single long pose of 50-minutes rounded off the evening. In spite of losing my Nordic adventure, it had been a grand day. The earlier panel discussion, in which Esther had taken part, was especially inspiring – the excerpt below covers how life modelling can be both empowering and liberating, then goes on to examine ways in which the male gaze continues to hinder body equality in the art room. Recommended viewing…
The surface has been scratched and there are many more diverse voices to be heard!
An end was nigh for the long, hot, arid weeks of summer, as under leaden skies I took a meandering walk from Wandsworth Town station to The Cat’s Back pub. Here in an upstairs games and cinema room, I would make my modelling debut for SW15 Social Life Drawing. I relied on memorised maps for direction, so I was relieved to locate it.
I treated myself to a large glass of the house red wine, then headed upstairs in search of Didi, the group organiser. Barely two steps had been ascended when I found myself unexpectedly face to face with Graham Wood – a regular artist at Mall Galleries. The briefest pose he’d hitherto seen me hold was half an hour. This was about to change!
Didi welcomed me to the space and explained her plan for pose times. The emphasis was very much on short work, which is always my preference. Artists stood at easels or took chairs in an L-shape around me – in front and to my right – and we began: five poses of 2-minutes, then 5, 7, 3 (continuous line), 10 and 15-minutes to the break.
During the interval, our artists disappeared to recharge their glasses whilst I continued sipping my large red and admiring some of the striking works they’d left behind. When we resumed, there was time for three more poses: 10, 20 and 15-minutes. Some time midway through these, the heavens opened outside. I contemplated my walk home…
Maybe it was the energetic weather, or maybe the half-time refreshments worked their magic, but it seemed all the drawings inspired by these last poses were strong. I was very happy, and even happier when Graham offered me a lift to the station. All in all, a pleasing first time modelling in Wandsworth. I hope I’ll be back at The Cat’s Back.
In the comfortable warmth of yet another fine summer’s evening, Esther and I ambled down through Alexandra Park and infiltrated The Victoria Stakes in Muswell Hill at ten to seven. This was my second time life modelling here for The Moon and Nude, and my first with Esther drawing. Julia, the group’s organiser, welcomed us warmly. It seemed an age since we had last worked together, yet she remains every bit as kind and engaging. At 7pm, with a good-sized gathering of artists present, we began.
Pose times adhered to a familiar Moon and Nude format: 5-minutes, 4, 3, 2, 1-minute, then increasing to 10-minutes, 15-minutes and 20-minutes. I traversed the oval space offering various new poses and old favourites. As per my first visit, the broad upstairs windows remained entirely unshielded – Julia asked me if this was OK – but whereas last year our electric lighting on a dark autumn night had emblazoned me nude to the outside world, now the late brightness of August guarded our collective privacy.
At the break we all shared in sponge cakes that Julia had generously bought as it was special day for me. Afterwards, I settled down to a single long pose of 40-minutes that concluded a very pleasant session. Right now, whilst I blog these words – exactly one week later – Esther is back at The Victoria Stakes; this time as a life model, and also a photo model for a private project. Alas, disrupted plans mean I’m unable to draw her, so instead here’s a sketch I made at The Garrett Centre on 1 August…
Arriving nice and early at The Star by Hackney Downs on this bright sultry summer evening, I found Drawing the Star group organiser Catherine Hall upstairs finishing her preparations. Seats circled a pile of pillows and sheets, art materials festooned a heavy table by the door, while seductively mellow music lilted across the pose space.
At 7:30pm a steady stream of artists entered, gathered up assorted drawing materials and picked a spot to sit. I felt we had the right number to give the room a good energy without feeling overcrowded. We began: 5-minutes, 4, 3, 2-minutes, three of 1-minute, and three of 30-seconds. Two more poses of 10 and 8-minutes took us to a break.
During the interval, whilst artists ventured downstairs for more drinks, I remained alone with their art. Good work all around the room as is invariably the way here, but striking among them were the freakishly exaggerated pen drawings by Giovanni Forlino – all boggle eyes, stand-out viens, knotty limbs and stupendous studies of foreshortening.
When we resumed, two poses brought the session to a close. First, I sat on the floor with arms arching forwards for 10 minutes, then perched myself on the edge of a high chair for the final 20 minutes. After the early energy of the shorter poses that cloaked me in a glow of sweat, these were comfortable positions for a gently cooling twilight.
At the end, artworks were spread about the floor and I greedily photographed as many as the shadowy red-tinted light allowed. At the bar I bought myself a well-earned large glass of wine, then joined Catherine and several artists at the tables outside for a spot of post-art socialising. Such a lovely evening spent in good company. Always a joy.
