Buttnekkiddoodles

OK, so I guess we’ve all noticed a little ostentatio vulgaris from time to time on more than a few life drawing sites, mine included. Looking thru my scans from a couple months ago I stumbled across the first pose, the sort of inverted post and lintel, and was reminded of the fluff it caused that night. It has since been referred to as “The Pose” in some of the drawing circles I frequent.

   I’ve been drawing from life, and for the sake of this post I’m referring to nude humans in particular, for 35 years. I don’t have the same blush and fidget response from those early moments, but, hey, I’m paying attention. And not just to the model. One can feel a vibe in the room. Sometimes there’s a lot of distraction. Folks dropping tools, sketchpads sliding off  benches, late arrivals, a coffee cup overturns, early departures, hacking and coughing, moaning and sighing, banter back and forth, irritating music, an antsy and tiring model whose 30 minute pose changes every minute. Other times, the room has a very determined and studied energy. During breaks, people drift about, checking in on others’ efforts, and on a good night maybe the whole room gets fired up.

    Well the night of “The Pose”, the model was accompanied by her pal (third column-first row), who observed for the first couple hours, then doffed his garb and joined in. I dig couples posing, and during the 12 hour drawing marathons the Palette and Chisel holds 3 times a year, you’re assured to get at least a few hours worth of intertwined limbs. Occassionally, the models seem new to the practice or are  uncomfortable with whomever they’re partnered with. Other times it’s a gas, with poses hoisted or woven intimately or  athletically, and, time permitting, if your chops are with you that day, you get great studies of colliding forms.  Alright, alright, there’s a little nakedness going on and, well, parts touch. But hey man, we’re like, scientists. In a way, yeah? Close observation helps. You gotta stare. ( And haven’t we all experienced the model staring right back at us?) Forms, and beautiful forms being no exception, elicit emotions. Then I guess there’s context. Well gosh, I guess all that form and context got the best of one young gentleman at the aforementioned session. He just had to get up off that bench and go plop himself down on a couch in a feverish retreat from all that fleshy architecture.

    Afterwards, in a nearby bar where several attending artists had gone to wash some of that charcoal and graphite dust from our dry and cracked maws, the fainting fellow went on about how he just couldn’t handle that frisky pose. This from a young dude who is trying to develop his illustration portfolio and is clearly enamored with all that Frazetta derived, dragon slaying , spotlit, hormone-surging, sci-fi artwork that there’s just not enuff of. (editor’s note: hold the cards and letters, I do enjoy some of Mr. Frazetta’s stuff.) Lardamercy. You know you’re gonna get those perfectly framed, nose in their business positions, and, well, you just draw the landscape. Larry, a very talented regular with a slicing sense of humor, doesn’t miss the opportunity to keep things loose by quipping, “you got the money shot tonight,” when he spies your perspective.

    The varied responses to what’s before us is part of the fun of drawing in crowds. Some folks like to key in on certain features, articulating every swell and fold. Others might make the slightest notation of details, preferring to work on the overall geometry. I like to anchor the figure to the platform that supports it, preferring not to have pages and pages of levitating souls; but as Hertis Smithey, a famous bartender I used to work with would say,”It takes all kinds of fruits to make a salad.”