Life Drawing 15!
Not one, but TWO models for our final session of the term!
Join us for another wonderful evening @The Old Nun’s Head, 7pm to 9pm. We are lucky enough to have Steve and Esther modelling for us. £8 online or OTD. Basic materials, paper and boards provided. Join us for a drink after in the pub! X
Esther and I were privileged to be booked together for the fifteenth and final evening in this, the very first term of Nunhead Drawing Group. I had been booked for their Life Drawing 8, when sessions were still held in The Green community centre. From the following week, they relocated to a bigger space on the upper floor of The Old Nun’s Head, directly across the road. Esther made her own début appearance for the group there at ‘Life Drawing 10’. Now, as a duo, we opened with six poses of 2-minutes.
Originally, it was suggested that we begin with a sequence of 1-minute poses, but we recommended doubling it for the sake of those in our semi-circle of artists who hadn’t any previous experience at drawing two models. A couple of 5-minute poses followed: one in which Esther stood with a foot on my chest, and another in which I hugged her legs. Then for 10-minutes Esther lay down whilst I kneeled behind, not really thinking in advance about the wisdom of knee-balancing, or how pornographic it might appear.
We finished the first half with a 15-minute pose in which I sat and Esther leaned back onto me. After a break we resumed with a similar pose but with a slight shift in weight distribution as now Esther sat and I leaned forward to hug her for 20-minutes. Next for 25-minutes we lay together in an open spooning arrangement, then to finish we stood for 5-minutes with Esther to the fore. Lots of lovely art resulted, and we felt we’d been well received. Hopefully the group will return in autumn – it has a good thing going.
Ten minutes into the final 55-minute pose, I’d already started to draft a gushing blog in my mind. I would say that Life Drawing in Leytonstone seemed to attract ever more artists; that the new ceiling lights in The Plough and Harrow were perfect for a pose space; that organiser Jennifer was in great spirits, post-LARPing; and how I’d enjoyed creating poses that projected tension, but avoided discomfort. Then, five minutes later, the first bout of cramp bit into my left calf muscle…
I tried to ride it out for a while, just lifting my toes to ease the pain, but it was a bit too much. I asked for permission to move the misbehaving limb while maintaining the rest of the pose. After about a minute of recovery time I resumed, but five minutes later the cramp was back. This time toe-lifting and grim concentration got me through – such a shame though, as apart from these two moments I thoroughly enjoyed this session. It was a bonus too, having only been offered the booking at half-three that afternoon.
I’d started with 5-minutes in my current favourite pose, placing one arm across the top of my head and the other across my belly. I then shifted stance and stood for a further 10-minutes with my left hand held up to my forehead. For 25-minutes I sat on the floor with my right arm resting on my raised right knee – all artists coped marvellously with the foreshortening – and finally I leaned back onto a sofa for 55-minutes with my arms outstretched upon its cushions. It was a perfect summer evening of art. Almost.
Back to school! Not modelling for students – that remains a rarity – but after hours for parents, carers and friends at Rhodes Avenue Primary School in Muswell Hill. I’d arrived early and was greeted by a couple of employees who asked if they could help. “Ah, yes,” they said when I gave them the tutor’s name, and then accompanied me to the correct classroom. This was a relief as nothing is more likely to make a chap feel self-conscious than prolonged waiting around school gates.
Life drawing is new here, and I was to be the fifth model in a term of just six evenings. Eight locals had enrolled, paying up front, and six of them joined the tutor, Rosie, and me for this session. Each artist would be provided with an easel, and had their pick of the school art supplies. Rosie had arranged the easels in a semi-circle around sheets and a seat whilst explaining to me her plan for the evening. With everybody in position and ready to draw, we began with three standing poses of 3, 5 and 5-minutes.
Apparently the first three sessions of term had seen the artists progressing nicely, but particular foreshortening challenges in the fourth session had shaken their confidence. I’d kept foreshortened elements to a minimum during the standing poses, but the next set of reclining or seated poses – all 10 or 15 minutes – was intended to provide more opportunity to tackle this trickiness. For a class with mixed experience, I thought they did very well. The final pose of 40-minutes saw me standing again.
There wasn’t much foreshortening to tackle in this last pose, just the usual trouble of gauging the length of my legs in proportion to the rest of my body. Rosie visited each artist in turn, offering her observations and advice, including tips on measuring. Some were open to learning new techniques, while others preferred to rely on their instincts. The pose was comfortable and I enjoyed listening to the discussion and observations about my body. All in all it was a very pleasant evening; I hope the group prospers.
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.
steve ritter 