Just like last term at The Conservatoire, I found myself booked for the final Monday evening life drawing class before it broke for the holidays. The day was a pleasant one and I arrived sufficiently early to find exuberant students and parents from a preceding mixed media course still nattering in the main art room. Time was on our side, though. Come 7:30pm, I began with five poses in the round: 1-minute, 1, 1, 5 and 10-minutes.
The shorter poses are a chance to have some fun making semi-random shapes before we start the main work of the session. A slight misjudgement of my positioning for the 10-minute pose – with toes, tendons and arms fully stretched – made that one slightly less fun, but never mind. For the long pose I helped tutor Victoria Rance shift our set against one wall and arrange cushions so I could sit with arms out for about 2-hours.
We started around eight o’clock and continued till ten with two stretch breaks at forty minute intervals. Someone stated early on that I looked like a Roman emperor but by the end it was agreed I seemed more akin to Bill Nighy in Love Actually. For me the most important thing was to endure in comfort; my greatest challenge was to resume with exactness after each break – I think it went pretty well. Bring on the next term!
The four models working for Hesketh Hubbard Art Society this evening were: Esther on 15-minute poses, me on 30-minute poses, Tiziana on the long pose, and Valentina sitting for portraits. I arrived at Mall Galleries almost half an hour early yet there were scores of artists already present; circling Esther’s area in greatest numbers, but I had a good crowd of familiar faces too. My opening posture was upright.
I had begun with arms slightly outstretched but only so far as I knew could be held for 30-minutes. Whilst they’d tired slightly at the end, I still fancied following with another standing pose up to the interval – this time in a modified stance with both arms folded close to my body. After tea, biscuits and mingling, I settled myself for the second half in a seated position with my body leaning forward and both hands firmly planted.
I reckon the third pose went down reasonably well as an artist approached me to ask my name during the few seconds before the next one. To finish I pivoted and reached towards the gold life-size nude male sculpture that had loomed over me in the gallery exhibition space all evening. I don’t think anyone troubled to capture both figures. I’m sure that, like me, they prefer it when my duo poses here are with Esther.
Life at Mycenae House began with an anatomy lesson. It was my first time posing for the artists of Life-drawing at Mycenae House where the session was to start with a study of the leg. I asked tutor Jon Long how he would like me to pose for it; “In the life model style,” was the inevitable reply. I removed my robe and put my best foot forward while he described to the group in exquisite medical detail all the bones, muscles and joints. I was impressed. Four 10-minute poses followed.
Having never modelled here before, I felt safe cycling through some of my old favourite poses, whereas at repeat booking places I’m increasingly at pains to be more diverse. The original plan was to stand for each pose but after struggles with my height for the first two, I was asked to sit on the floor for the third. After standing again for the fourth we had a break then resumed with a single long pose to the end. The request was for a twisting reclining pose. No bother.
‘No bother’ in the first thirty minutes became discomfort nearer the end of our last half hour. Midway through I shook out the arm that I’d bent back under my head and found it to be completely floppily numb. Time was easily passed however, as Jon’s on-going observations, advice and encouragement made for interesting listening. At the interval, he’d debated the nature of perfection as understood from the writing of Spinoza… but this is very much a relaxed, easy-going group with great community spirit. I enjoyed.
A short-notice booking from City Academy sent me to London’s West End where on the top floor of Arts Theatre in its Pigeon Loft studio I found tutor Stephen Nicholas. A splendid chap, he had pre-arranged for heaters to be switched on much earlier, and he gave me licence to time myself for some “very short” opening poses. I started with two of 1-minute, one of 3-minutes and one of 5-minutes.
Stephen was engaging with his small group throughout, providing encouragement and advice, and finding out what challenges would interest them. One said foreshortening, another asked about movement poses. Ah, movement poses! Very well. First I strode four steps towards the artists; a pace, then freeze, a pace, then freeze. Next I walked from side to side across the room, four times in a slow smooth continuous action.
As the act of walking is the act of continually unbalancing oneself, a very slow walking pose – or freezing mid-pace – can be more strenuous than it might seem. No problem though, especially as for the remainder of the evening I would be seated with my heels up on an adjacent chair. Very comfy, and an ideal pose for practising foreshortening. In all, this turned out to be an interesting, interactive, thoroughly enjoyable little session.
The so-called ‘Beast from the East‘ – a weather system bringing heavy snowfall and sub-zero temperatures from Siberia – had blown in a fortnight ago, disrupting national infrastructure and life drawing groups alike. I had a booking cancelled back then, and the same seemed feasible this weekend as a ‘Mini Beast’ was forecast. It duly came with flurries of settling snow, but not enough to deter the artists of Wanstead House.
I’m not one to refuse the offer of an extra heater. With a wall to my back, eight artists in a semi-circle before me and hot air blowing from the left and right, I started my first 10-minutes standing. This was followed by a visually pleasing yet physically troubling 10-minute crouching pose. I was then able to recompose for 40-minutes, seated on a sheet-draped chair with my chin resting on one hand.
After an interval for tea, digestives, and grumbles about the Gas Board (is there still a “Gas Board”?), we returned to our places for a final pose of 35-minutes; seated again, albeit this time on the floor with a varied arrangement of limbs. At least one artist was happy not to have me standing again as they’d had a struggle to fit me on the page! I sat in my bubble of warmth and was simply happy that we’d defied the elements.
I’d last visited The Star by Hackney Downs three weeks before to draw Esther. That session was notable both for its superb poses and the fact that dozens of newcomers had come to draw, filling all available seats. I suspected artist numbers might return to nearer 10 or 12 when I modelled there, but no! We had another completely full house.
With in excess of 20 artists poised to draw, we began with the regular format for short poses: 5-minutes, 4, 3, 2, three of 1-minute, and three each of 30-seconds. I intended that the last of these would be a balance on one leg – normally straightforward, but I’d weakened it during the preceding poses. Note to self: always do the balance first.
Two poses of 10-minutes led us to a break. After my balancing failure I was minded to begin twisted upon the floor, but organiser Catherine Hall asked me to be upright, so instead I became as tall as possible. Democracy reigned at the restart, with a popular vote for either three 10-minute poses, two of 15, a 10 and 20, or one half-hour pose…
It was a close call but two 15-minutes poses carried the day. As ever at Drawing the Star, once the session had ended artists were invited to place their works on the floor for admiration. A carpet of excellence materialised, and I was very happy. We finished our drinks under hot lamps outside. This great group truly deserves all its successes.
Drawing Esther at The Star, 20 February 2018
As ever, it had been pleasure to draw Esther during our previous time here together. I have taken a liking to the use of coloured pencils, and alternating hues for each pose. I’m still no artist, and cannot cope with the really short poses at all, but only practice will make that better. Exceptional model, scratchy drawings, lots of fun.
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.
