Dr Sketchy anti art school

A model I met told us about Dr Sketchy which is life drawing with a twist : the models dress up in burlesque costumes and assume dramatic poses. In Sydney this is held on a fortnightly basis at the Art House Hotel. Intrigued, I managed to gather a few friends and booked us for an evening. Most of us were not artists but were happy to drool not draw. We turn up at the Attic Bar which is like a large gentleman's club, furnished with leather Chesterfields and low mood lighting. There is a stage in the centre around which the regulars and serious artists clustered. There were two models; a busty lady (gender in question) wearing a curly blonde wig and red satin corset, high heels and fishnet stockings. The other was a brunette, slim waisted and moved most diaphanously.


Well the clothes came off slowly like a bit of a strip tease but they were never naked. I loved drawing the brunette and here she is in an exotic costume reminiscent of 'the dance of the seven veils'. The poses were short : 10 min max and it was frantic trying to do colour but oh! How to resist when the costumes were so colourful and over the top. Brunette also did a show where she emerged in a fringed bikini and a cowboy hat. At the end she took off her bikini top but hid her boobs with the hat. The blonde was much harder to draw because of her wig and smile. Here is an attempt where I ignored her face.


Everyone had a good time and we'd do it again. If there was one criticism it is the mood lighting. Very hard to make out what tones and shadows : the models really needed to be in spotlights.

Life Drawings from the Art House Hotel

Art House Hotel The most recent life drawing was with Catherine earlier this year, when we both went to the Art House Hotel, paid our $3 for a life drawing session. The model was a petite lady, but muscular. At the Art House, it appears that the model dictates how long each pose was held. She was obviously not an artist herself because she did something like 20 x 2 minute poses as a warm up. We were not just warmed up, it was too frantic for us to get anywhere. Subsequently, she did some 5 min poses followed by some 10 min poses. These were better for me, although no less intense because of the concentration required to capture something in the very short time. I was quite pleased with the results although I left feeling somewhat exhausted. Some experienced artists did quite well but I will not be going back for this model again!