All first sittings are memorable, some for the promise of inspirational sessions to come and others for shear frustration. Recently, I have had more than my fair share of the latter.
A first sitting lasts for one hour but only 15 minutes of that time is spent painting or sketching from the model. The remainder is spent explaining how I work with a model and the message that I hope to convey through my paintings.
The opening drawing is of a young lady I had known for years, first as a student at my life classes. I was surprised when she expressed an interest in modelling. At my classes she had always appeared embarrassed at even viewing the nude figure. Other than that, she had all the attributes I need in a model: a lithe figure and natural charms. But on the day she arrived for her first sitting nervousness had crept in and although I did manage the one brief sketch, it was clear that modelling was definitely not her forte.
At my most recent attempt at painting a first sitting, it was not the model's nerves but the frustration of cancellations and a late arrival that threw me. My muse went out of the door and laughed at my painful attempt to capture the subtleties of the nude. The model also laughed, she thought my painting was an hilarious joke.
The painting the model thought was an hilarious joke. Watercolour (15" x 21")
Perhaps in her mind my model was echoing Yvette Guilbert’s response to a painting Toulouse-Lautrec had made of the cabaret performer: “You horrible little man”. But maybe I should be flattered that my work excited ridicule and hilarity, for after all this was the fate of the artists from past that I admire.
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