After modelling in June at the inaugural session of Hockley Life Drawing and feeling it had gone rather well, I was hopeful for future bookings. Indeed, an offer did come for dates at the end of July but I wasn’t available. With just five days to go before the first Tuesday of the month, however, I received an email saying their model had cancelled, so would I like to step in? It was sooner than expected, but I was free and very happy to return. I arrived early and found The Old Fire Station immaculately prepared.
We would begin with five poses of 2-minutes, which the 12 artists were encouraged to draw with their off hand – if right-handed, use the left, and vice-versa. Thus, I thought it best to make my poses less challenging than I normally do for short work. Two poses of 5-minutes came next, then three of 10-minutes taking us to a break. It was a warm evening, but there was no danger of me overheating as I was squarely in the firing line of a fearsome electric fan that could have powered a light aircraft.
Surely this is a lucky group for me as wine and nibbles have been supplied twice, and I was their model on both occasions – this one celebrated the day before’s birthday of group organiser, Jake. After a generous gulp of merlot, I completed the session sitting on a stool for 15-minutes, and then laying down for a shade under half an hour. Twists were added to both poses, maximising the angles with interesting views. Jake offered tips to those who sought advice, and in all it was another truly pleasant evening.
Oh, the suffering! My four 30-minute poses for Hesketh Hubbard Art Society at Mall Galleries began with me standing. My left hand clutched the back of my neck and its elbow was raised, while my right hand reached out slightly to the side, and my stance was open. My left elbow became sore but was tolerable. I made the mistake, however, of supporting my full upper body weight on it throughout the next half-hour. By the end of that half-hour I was trembling with pain; right pose, wrong sequence.
After the break, my third pose was a repeat of one I first tried on Monday at Anerley and Penge life drawing: sitting with one knee up and a pointing arm rested upon it, whilst the other arm reaches backwards as a balance. It looks potentially tricky but in practice was comfortable enough to tempt me into trying something unduly difficult for my finale… nearly. Professional experience eventually reminded me it would be better to lay down, albeit with a few twists.
I thoroughly enjoyed the challenges of this evening, even if I hadn’t enjoyed the bodily sensations that resulted. Muscles in my side were still achy on the train home, more than an hour after the session had closed. It was also enjoyable to chat with some of the artists before, after, and during the interval. As one of the least glamorous models who pose here, I feel more keenly a duty to keep standards as high as possible; kind words from those who’ve paid to draw are always highly gratifying. Thank you.
It’s been ages since I last planned all of my poses in advance of a life art session, let alone drew diagrams of them. I’d abandoned this approach very early in my modelling career as my intentions would invariably be scuppered by the unexpected requests of group organisers. Here at Bridge House, however, I was confident that timings of five ‘long’ poses would be as per my last visit, and that I would be granted full freedom of expression, working in the round for about a dozen artists.
It meant I could try some new variations. For the first 15-minute pose, it was all about the sustainability of an extended left arm; the second 15-minutes was the first time I’d held a favourite pose that long. A 30-minute reclining pose maintained the usual torso twist but with original arm positions. My gaze point was through a large bright window, and I found myself slipping into a delirium with blurry eyes discovering a running figure outlined in tree branches and leaves. Dreams and hallucinations took me to a break.
In the second half I tried a new 20-minute pose, with one fully extended pointing arm resting on a raised knee, and the other arm on the floor behind me, more for balance than support. I was seated on a high foot-rest for the final 20-minute pose. It was the only pose of the evening that felt a bit messy and achy. In the main, though, it was a positive session for a nice group, and very nice too to catch up with fellow model and organiser of Anerley and Penge Life Drawing, Tatiana….
– she approved of my quaint preparations!
Luisa of London Drawing Group told us this was a life drawing theme she had been wanting to present for a long time. It was a feeling that both Esther and I shared; we’d modelled as a duo for many sessions, yet ‘Art of Love’ would at last give us licence to pose truly as a couple. Luisa sent us images of ten great artworks that she would like us to interpret, so we practised before walking to Buster Mantis in Deptford.
Warming-up and Eternal Springtime
Our pose space was prepared: we had a sofa, stool, chair, and floor on which to work, whilst a sell-out group of a dozen artists occupied seats in a tight semi-circle. Behind us Luisa projected original artworks, but first – before we attempted any of those – we free-styled our own set of three 2-minute standing poses. Next, for 2-minutes we were in homage to the back-bending ‘Eternal Springtime’ by Auguste Rodin.
Eternal Springtime,
Auguste Rodin
Ecstasy and Hell
From here on, our pose times began getting longer, from 5-minutes up to half an hour. We next tackled the dubious Eric Gill, and a work which Tate Britain calls ‘Ecstasy’ but which Gill himself titled ‘Fucking’ – Esther and I embraced intimately but achieved neither state in the time available. Our third inspiration was a return to Rodin, albeit in detail only, taken from his mighty ‘Gates of Hell’ (bottom right corner).
Ecstasy,
Eric Gill
Gates of Hell (detail),
Auguste Rodin
Siren and Spirits
To approximate ‘The Fisherman and the Syren’ by Frederic Leighton, we reclined on the sofa. This was grand for me but somewhat taxing for Esther’s right arm, which had to reach around my neck. The next Rodin – ‘The Evil Spirits’ – is actually a threesome but, in Luisa’s image, it looked like a seated female figure with one male figure leaning from behind to kiss her neck; this was how we played it.
The Fisherman and the Syren,
Frederic Leighton
The Evil Spirits,
Auguste Rodin
Rodin and Claudel
Luisa provided an enthusiastic, engaging, well-paced art history commentary on each work. Her passion was never more warm than when detailing the profoundly complex, tumultuous relationship between Rodin and his lover, the sculptor Camille Claudel. I was on my knees as we replicated similar compositions by each: first kissing Esther, then nuzzling her neck.
The Eternal Idol,
Auguste Rodin
Vertumnus and Pomona,
Camille Claudel
The Kiss
Of course, we couldn’t get through a session themed on the Art of Love with so many sculptures by Rodin, and not provide our own interpretation of ‘The Kiss’. By this time we’d had a break with glasses of wine so were thoroughly at ease in our work. I doubt that I’ve ever kissed for so long before – albeit through a tender yet passive contact of closed lips. I loved how well so many of the artists captured what we tried to convey.
The Kiss,
Auguste Rodin
Being ourselves
With half an hour remaining of our 3-hour session, Luisa gave us the freedom to pose in any way we wanted, up to the 7pm finish. We selected a pose we’d tried just once before, at The Cambria, for which I sat on a chair and Esther sat on my legs, facing me. It’s a lovely pose and I was pleased to give the advantage to artists at either side of us, as for most of the session I felt we’d unavoidably favoured artists at the front.
It had been a wonderful session; comfortable and filled with tenderness. Luisa steered the group with professionalism, knowledge and sensitivity, while the artists responded with boldness, delicacy and style. It was nice too that Lily Holder had come along to draw, as we’d all modelled together the previous night. There had only been time for eight of Luisa’s ten artworks – maybe we can do Schiele and Klimt some other day.
Seventy-five days before A Curious Invitation presented their Masonic Masquerade at the Andaz Hotel in London, a call-out was posted by Art Macabre – “Who wants to pose in a Masonic temple?! Saturday 24 June evening til late? #masonicmidsummer email if interested with photos of your face if I don’t know you already! And if you have any costumes as per the painting 🙂 artmacabre.co.uk” … The theme?
‘The Orgy’ – scene 3 of ‘A Rake’s Progress’ by William Hogarth
I sent an email pitch on behalf of myself and Esther – “a coarse gentleman and bawdy feminist” – alongside dozens of others, and felt hugely lucky and grateful that we were both picked. Working with us would be Lily Holder, model and artist, whom I had last posed with two years before, and helping as volunteer assistants were fellow models Tatiana and Carla. We were to appear in the ‘Hall of the All Seeing Eye’ at 11pm.
Arriving after 10pm, somehow we all miraculously found one another within the sprawl of rooms and foyers. In the main dressing room, Art Macabre director supreme, Nikki, began applying make-up and bits of costume to us. I got a tricorn hat, rouged cheeks and a pursing of red lipstick; Lily was fancified with a feather in her hair; whilst Esther had a powered face, black syphilis spots, and a tangled wig topped with a bonnet.
The previous show had overrun in the ‘Hall of the All Seeing Eye’, so it was with haste that Nikki prepared our stage. Doors were then cast open for immaculately-costumed, if somewhat inebriated, masked guests, with encouragements to draw. When all were settled, Nikki commenced her presentation of ‘A Rake’s Progress‘ – the fictional tale of Tom Rakewell, told in a series of eight paintings by William Hogarth.
I portrayed Tom, whilst Lily and Esther alternated either as his spurned fiancée, Sarah Young, or assorted harlots. First I was solo and preening in new found wealth, then on came Lily with raised ‘put-a-ring-on-it’ finger, and next came a good clean orgy. Poses were all short: 5-minutes, 7, 10 being most frequent; never less than 3-minutes, never more than 15. Onlookers drew complete tableaux, or sometimes just individuals.
Our artists came and went; some stayed absorbed, whilst others shambled, slumped, drew and withdrew. After Nikki was all done creating and narrating A Rake’s Progress in its entirety, we took a pause to reset the stage. The room was cleared, but only for a few minutes. Soon Tatiana and Carla were back among the raucous revellers, luring them towards our domain. The tableaux recommenced.
We were due to be posing until one o’clock in the morning, but I had lost my sense of time and how much of it remained. For the second half, we started from the beginning again, only now with fewer individual tableaux. Each came with an appropriate playlist, yet as we neared the end, Nikki’s music was all but drowned out by the noisy hubbub of socialites sketching. We finished in the Gaming House, Prison and Madhouse…
Nikki herself joined us in the final scene. It was a lovely way to close an extraordinary evening. Afterwards Esther and I got changed and checked out the entertainments on offer in the Masonic Temple, Confession Booth and other glamorous settings. Tatiana, Carla, Lily and Nikki were still lost deep within their midst when eventually we slipped away. Sadly we missed saying goodbyes, but we’d enjoyed great Progress together.
Arriving at The Dellow Centre, life drawing group organiser, Tim was only half-joking when he said it could be just the two of us. With temperatures above 30°C, he’d seen artist numbers had melted away at other groups. Indeed, when I commenced my first 10-minute standing pose, there were two artists drawing me – Tim plus one other. By the time my next 10-minute pose began, the tally was up to four, and when I followed it seated on a chair with arms crooked for 20-minutes, there were six.
At the end of that third pose, the sweat was pouring off me. I closed the first half with another 10-minutes on the chair – now for seven artists – but this time I loosened my body to keep it cooler. A small heater in the room had been reset to blow out cold air, and I’d tilted it slightly in my favour. The price exacted for slouching and leaning back was an unpleasantly stiff neck, but some nice portrait work was the result. My nudity for most artists seemed immaterial at this point.
After tea and Jaffa Cakes, we resumed with a 15-minute standing pose. To conclude the session, I reclined for 35-minutes with one knee raised and both hands upon my torso. All seven artists had started drawing me but, from around the midway point, a succession of mercurial and occasional clattering disappearances meant that by the end there were just three. My limbs had all died on me and it took me a few minutes to stand again. Nonetheless… a pleasant Sunday afternoon.
It was a perfect evening for life drawing. Warm enough for the window upstairs at 83a Geffrye Street, Hoxton to be opened wide for fresh air, yet mellow enough for nature’s temperature control to find its ideal level without irksome draughts. This pleasantness might have tempted some to follow outdoor pursuits, but about two-thirds of the seats were taken by the end of my opening 10-minutes in a standing posture.
After this first pose, I stood for 3-minutes and 2-minutes, knelt for two 1-minute poses and a 5-minute pose then was back on two feet for a further 5-minute pose. It felt nice to be working here in the round for a laid-back crowd of young artists; not overdoing it, but keeping the shapes interesting and diverse. I closed the first half with a 15-minute semi-reclining pose, followed by 15-minutes seated on the floor.
During the interval I removed my white sheet from the central space so a trestle table could be brought forth and spread lavishly with assorted breads and dips. Once these had been consumed, we completed the session with two 30-minute poses. First I sat upon a stool in a manner that utterly numbed my left leg and, having done so, had no choice but to finish in a full recline. Another great London Life Drawing evening.
steve ritter 