With The Sun in Clapham undergoing refurbishment, Moon and Nude removed their regular Monday evening life drawing group in south London to a very different space a mere 136m up the road, at The Jam Tree. I arrived early and went through to a large back room where metal chairs had been arranged in a double semi-circle on a kind of AstroTurf carpet, facing two heavy wooden tables draped with material. I guessed this would be my stage for the evening, and was keen to give it a go.
The venue had changed but pose times remained the same: 5-minutes, 4, 3, 2, 1, 10, 15 and 20-minutes to a break, then finishing with 30-minutes and 10-minutes. I began by balancing on one leg and placing both hands on the ceiling, then cycled through a sequence of ups and downs, lefts and rights. During the interval I noticed unevenness beneath the sheet on which I posed and, on closer inspection, saw that planks in the table top had started to creak asunder! I would be more cautious in the second half…
Organiser Aless suggested I lay down for the half-hour pose but, doubting how visible this might be, I opted to prop my head on one hand and half twist my body. Needless to say this wasn’t the most comfortable variation I could have picked. I finished facing forward on all fours, gripping the table’s edge. Generous applause was forthcoming at the end, which is always nice. I rather warmed to working this room and wonder what future it has as a life drawing venue when The Sun reopens. It’s worthy of more use.
A return to posing at cave in Pimlico was just the tonic I needed. It had been a busy day, with patchy slumber the night before, so to re-immerse in the life drawing scene among this welcoming community was genuinely uplifting. We started a few minutes late as a couple of regulars had messaged organiser Karen to say they were on their way. No problem, and it suited my train times to add a few minutes extra at the end.
Five poses of 1-minute got us warmed-up. Amongst the plethora of pre-loved items in the cave sales room was a tailor’s dummy hanging upside down from the ceiling – for the next 5-minute pose I balanced on one leg and held its outreached hand. Perhaps redolent of The Creation of Adam on the Sistine Chapel ceiling? Not quite, but a fun connection. Another 5-minute pose, then two of 10-minutes took us to our break.
Two poses of 25-minutes brought the evening to its conclusion. A Simple Minds CD, played during the first half, had been swapped for unspecified material. I recognised it as Jean-Michel Jarre but to the artists it was Space Invaders so between poses we switched to Moloko. All very nice… as were the kind words and compliments offered at the end of the session. This is a cave with a warm heart.
I’d been looking forward to debuting for The Jolly Sketcher group run by friend, artist and fellow life model, Tanja Hassel. Sessions had started at The Boogaloo, Highgate where Esther was their first model on 14 August last year. Since then, they’ve shifted venue a mere mile along Muswell Hill Road to a superb space at Common House on Woodside Square. That’s where I would be making my shapes.
The bygone change of address in no way explains why on the evening itself, my brain charted a course for Hampstead instead of Highgate. By the time I spotted my error, I knew a taxi was the only way I could arrive by 7pm. One expensive corrective journey later, I entered the warm stylish room with five minutes to spare and swiftly readied for the first poses: four of 2-minutes, three 5-minutes, two 10-minutes, one 15-minute.
I had a broad area of floor upon which to work. Artists were seated at tables in front of me, but could just as easily have been seated on sumptuous sofas – although, in fact, when one did eventually break ranks it was to spread out on the floor. A gentle playlist serenaded us and, as with all model-led sessions, heating and timing were perfect. At the break we took teas in an immaculate adjoining kitchen.
We finished with a standing pose of 20-minutes and a seated pose of 25-minutes. The unexpected taxi dash and a prompt start meant I had no time to limber up first – ergo, my back was aching a little by the end, but it had been a lovely evening of life drawing. Common House is surely the most modern setting in which I’ve modelled, and Tanja’s attention to detail is exemplary. Local artists are blessed to have it on their doorstep.
As per the duo pose session with Esther at the end of last year, my first solo work of 2018 for Rhodes Avenue Primary School would be in the main hall instead of an art room. This seems to be the new permanent location, and again opened the possibility of using their gym equipment, but first was short poses: nine of 1-minute, plus a tenth that I was asked to extend into a second minute. Timing here can be fluid.
I was working in the round for seven artists. Whereas some classes have a 15-minute break in the middle, here we go right through from 7pm to 9pm, but with frequent brief interludes where tutor Rosie suggests different techniques or gives short demos while I’m in my robe or a relaxed posture. The next three poses – 3, 3 and 5-minutes – saw artists encouraged to try loose continuous swirling lines.
The last three poses were all 20-minuters, perhaps with overruns of a few minutes. To begin, I finally got my hands on the gym equipment, albeit only to stand crucifix style against a climbing frame. Next I was free-standing in the middle of the room, and last of all I was seated on vaulting horse stool making lots of negative space with one foot stretched down to the floor.
It’s quite a marathon journey across London for me to reach this school but I do enjoy the sessions here. There’s a willingness to engage and experiment with styles, taking feedback from artists, then adapting the evening’s plan to fit the mood and progress of the group. I also appreciate being able to offer my own suggestions and constructively work with their process rather than simply being the object of study. Nicely done.
With fewer life model bookings to be had during school half-term breaks, Esther and I chose the mid-February week for a getaway to Cork, in the Republic of Ireland. It was only after we’d arranged flights and an apartment that I thought to check out the city’s life drawing scene, and had a lucky find.
Visions School of Art holds life drawing meet-ups every Monday evening and was happy to book us for a duo session during the week of our trip. Even better, the venue turned out to be just a 5-minute walk from where we were staying. We arrived in good time for a 7pm start and began with five poses of 2-minutes, then four of 4-minutes.
Two 10-minute poses took us to our break for tea and chocolate digestives. We really warmed to this dynamic first half; each taking turns to strike a position, and the other responding to it in a complimentary way. We’ve done this sort of thing before but here in Cork we seemed to get it working particularly well.
Our closing pose of the session lasted 45-minutes with a stretch break about halfway though. We somehow managed to make this seated embrace rather less comfortable than it ought to have been, but never mind! We were well looked-after, kept warm, and managed to inspire some lovely art.
The main joy in the session was chatting with the artists themselves, both during the interval and at the end. It is worthwhile getting away from London every now and then to appreciate different perspectives. This may prove a one-off, but my first taste of life modelling outside the UK has whet my appetite for more. Thank you, Visions.
Returning to Mall Galleries last Friday evening, I was again challenged with selecting an original 2-hour long pose for Hesketh Hubbard Art Society. I wanted to stand this time, as always I capitulate when faced with what feels like the expectation to adopt a relatively straightforward seated attitude. Tradition is a factor here, and the artists tend to set-up in anticipation of a pose even before the model arrives. The initial absence of a chair seemed to encourage me in my aspiration, but eventually one appeared.
Very well then. I would once more be sitting with my face and body forwards for artists arranged in a semi-circle around me. As per last time, I hooked my left ankle beneath my right buttock, but for variety put a curve in my torso and supported the right side of my face on the knuckles of my right hand. Thus we began. One pleasing aspect of the sameness was that some genuinely lovely people with superb talent would be drawing me, and I could feel assured that strong artworks would be the result of my pains.
The 2-hour long poses are split into two halves, each of one hour. About thirty minutes into the first half, one of the artists asked me if I would like a stretch but, as I felt quite comfortable, I declined. My neck and left side subsequently got a bit achy but nothing unbearable. In the second half, perhaps as a result of my early complacency, no such offer was made, and typically I ended the pose in considerable discomfort. All my own fault of course, as I could ask to stretch at any time. Maybe next time I will stand…
“I’ve had an idea,” said tutor Victoria Rance with a twinkle in her eye. Mild trepidation gripped me as I waited to hear what torturous contortion would be in store this evening as my long pose at The Conservatoire; yet I need not have worried. The requirement was merely that I lay perfectly straight on my back, echoing works such as ‘The dead Christ and three mourners‘ by Andrea Mantegna, and ‘Clay‘ by Jacob Kramer.
I couldn’t quite believe my luck – simply laying down flat-out for almost 2-hours hardly seemed like work, but for the artists it was intended as a serious challenge to sketch the foreshortened figure. We warmed-up with three 1-minute poses, one of 5-minutes, and one of 10-minutes, then began preparing the space for our main work. With snow having fallen earlier in the day, this was a four-heaters situation.
Although the exercise was supposed to concern foreshortening, I sensed a few artists shuffling their easels around for less demanding side views. For me the challenge was initially how to stay awake, but after about half-an-hour I was aided by a chilly draught that circulated at floor level. Slight adjustments to heater positions during our half-time interval ensured I was snugly cocooned in warm air for the remaining 40-minutes.
Most eye-catching amongst all the finished works were felt-pen outlines of me, drawn onto the clear plastic lids of storage boxes. Presumably these had been held at arms’ length and my body profile traced upon them. Having been surrounded by four roaring heaters throughout the session I hadn’t been able to hear whether this technique had been part of Victoria’s tuition, or was the inspired act of a desperate artist. Genius!
When finished, I’d got as far as putting on my T-shirt when the building alarms started blaring. Fire or burglar, we did not know, but immediate evacuation was required. With temperatures below freezing, however, I wasn’t about to dash outside with no trousers or shoes; an extra 30 seconds was all I needed, and we were soon back indoors. Not even this surprise intervention could spoil a very comfortable evening.
steve ritter 