How to be an Artist

In keeping with Mr. Benchley's "How to Sleep," "How to be a Detective," and his other "How to..." essays and short film subjects, the "We've Come for the Davenport" Chapter of the Robert Benchley Society presented, Sunday, November 24, 2013, "How to be an Artist." This was the fifth such life drawing session, and, once again, space for the event was graciously provided by The Church on the Hill. Due to some unavoidable delays both models arrived late so, in spite of the title, David did not give the participants any tips on How to be an Artist, and we jumped in immediately to sketching.

The Thea had modeled for us before, in September 2012 (http://trumbullofboston.blogspot.com/2012/09/its-okay-to-stare.html), John, also was with us before, in November 2011 (http://trumbullofboston.blogspot.com/2011/11/artists-and-models-11182011.html)

Thea has the curves of a classic art model and excels at formal poses, such as the one above, inspired by the ballet "Swan Lake." John is tall and lean with clearly defined muscles, excellent for teaching the artists anatomy.

The height difference between the models presented challenges in poses such at the one at the right.

As usual there was music, conversation, and drinks throughout the session. Just as the models finished our food order arrive (chicken -- legs and breasts) and the party continued.

For the next life drawing session David plans to explain some of the tools (pencils, crayons, etc.) available to the artists and how they are used.

Barefoot up to Her Chin

The Boston "We've Come for the Davenport" Chapter of the Robert Benchley Society was rounded up Friday, January 18, 2013, for "Barefoot up to Her Chin." The name of this life drawing session was taken from the title of H. Allen Smith's interview with ecdysiast Sally Rand. Smith, a newspaperman and humorist of the mid-20th century, was a friend and great admirer of Robert Benchley.

Alicia, seen above with Mike in a sketch by Alan B., is a beautiful young curvy lady, with a good repertory of classic solo poses for artists of all abilities. In poses with other models of both sexes her comfort with her colleagues results in natural-looking scenes of friendship and affection.

With the lithe figure of a dancer, Natalia, here seated, posing with Alicia, excels at creating fascinating dynamic poses that challenged even the most experienced artists while also offering beginners some classic poses. We recommend Natalia of the beautiful face and twisted torso to artists and I would definitely hire her again. You can see more of Natalia at nataliastwistedtorso.weebly.com

This second time working with Mike was, again, very enjoyable. Posing with the female models he was comfortable and confident, creating poses that delighted the eye and showed off to good advantage his muscular build and the curves of his partners. In solo work on hand gesture studies his causal chatting with the beginning artists put them at ease and he also gave them helpful pointers on sketching.

Reviews of David's Life Drawing Sessions

"Nothing but great things to say about David. He provided a light-hearted and comfortable atmosphere (food! music! conversation!) and was also a true professional. When he had a pose in mind, he was able to articulate what he was looking for in an understandable and non-demanding manner. I had a great time working with David and would absolutely recommend him as a host." --Thea, model.

"David is an amazing host and a great guy, he is absolutely one of the best hosts that I've worked for by far. The venue was nice and clean, refreshments of food and drinks were provided, and he payed very well. I would definitely work with him again and highly recommend all new and experienced models to work with him and his wife. It was a fun and professional environment to work!" --Mike, model.

"Thanks so much for your nice comment, David! It was a pleasure to model for your group yesterday! Please feel free to contact me anytime for modeling :)" --Jim, model (http://www.modelmayhem.com/274097).

"I wanted to follow up and let you know I had a fantastic time yesterday. It was good meeting everyone and I just loved the relaxed feeling of it. Had a lot of fun. :):) I hope to see you again someday." --Shoney, model (http://www.modelmayhem.com/2529375).

It's Okay to Stare

On Saturday, September 15, 2012, the Boston "We've Come for the Davenport" Chapter of the Robert Benchley Society celebrated the anniversary of the birth of Mr. Benchley with an evening of life drawing.

This, the third such session, was directed toward learning how to draw a posed couple. The artists ranged from several beginners to a few advanced students. We had two excellent models, a male and a female. We started with the models doing self-directed solo poses, offering a variety of poses, from simple to more complex, suited to the varying levels of the artists. The young man was handsome, with a fighter's physique, and the artists enjoyed the opportunity to study the muscles as he executed stop-action athletic poses. The artists were fascinated by the young woman model as she combined the classic beauty of the young and shapely female nude with a hint of the exotic in her hair and make-up choices.

In the couples poses, which David created, our models were thoroughly professional, taking direction well. Both stretched themselves to execute physically demanding poses, such as one derived from classical ballet and with good humor got in the spirit of some whimsical poses designed to appeal to the mostly beginner crowd.
Music Selected for the Evening  

   

After sketching, we had chicken dinners delivered -- anyone up for breasts and thighs?

Expose Yourself to Art!

On Sunday, May 13, 2012, the Boston "We've Come for the Davenport" Chapter of the Robert Benchley Society met for an afternoon of life drawing based on the similar successfull Chapter Round-up in November.

This time we had two experienced professional models, each top in his or her field. Jim has posed at many venues in New England and was even chosen to illustrate classic poses for the art reference book Art Models 2, available at http://www.posespace.com/. Shoney's work, both as photographer as well as model, has been displayed in many New England galleries. Unfortunately, the lights on the stage we out of service and had to improvise with a low riser and some portable lights, which explains the constrained poses. We'll have more active poses at the next event.

David gave a few pointers as follows --

1. The human body has no straight lines. Carefully observe the curves of the human figure. Now record those curves on your pad. Try observing a curve and drawing it while not looking at the pad.
   
2. Although there are no straight lines in the body, the posed figure is arranged on lines that tend to connect the hands, feet, head, and joints. Notice how, from the head of the standing male in a classic pose, you can drop a plumb line that will touch the foot of his weight-bearing foot. Note how that creates the sense of groundedness and stability that is one of the characteristics of the classic nude standing male. Now hold out you pencil and use it as a rule along that imaginary line and measure how far it is from foot to knee, to groin, to navel, to nipples, to neck, to face. This will help you with one of the most difficult tasks for the beginning artist, getting the figure into proper proportion.
   
3. The classic nude standing female you will observe naturally falls into a pose arranged along two great arcs that follow the curve of either hip. Observe the actual curves of the model and record them, but use these imaginary arcs to assist you in getting the proper proportions.

Artists and Models - 11/18/2011

On Friday, November 18, 2011, the Boston "We've Come for the Davenport" Chapter of the Robert Benchley Society enjoyed an evening of life drawing.

Above -- David shakes the cocktail of the evening, the aviation. Note the retro-deco rocket cocktail shaker.

Mr. Benchley, prior to his writing career, was first an illustrator at the Harvard Lampoon and in the 1920s hung out with artists in New York City, so we believe he would fit right in.

Nearly all the participants were non-artists and the evening was designed to expose them to something new, sketching from the live model. There was a time, when we were young, when we all drew -- you would have been a very peculiar child if you didn't like to draw -- but then the time comes when you notice that your drawing is not as good as professionals or trained amateurs, and that is when people get the idea that they cannot draw. This has not always been true. In the nineteenth century many educated Americans and Europeans who were not artist did, nonetheless, learn how to sketch. People of means loved to travel -- the "Grand Tour" of Europe, Niagara Falls in America, and so forth -- and not all carrying camera phones, they sketched what they saw.

For the non-artist, the point of sketching is not necessarily to create great "art" but to learn how to observe. I can tell you that of my visits to Rome, the places there I most vividly remember are those I sketched, because sketching requires close observation. That is what this evening of life drawing is about -- learning how to observe. Do not compare you work to others in the room, rather note, how over the course of the evening, your work improves as you learn how to observe the model.

In art school you normally start with sketching from still-lives -- fruit, flowers, and so forth -- and the live model is not introduced until the second semester of the first year or even first semester of the second year (or at least that's how it was when I was in school). However, if I invited you over on a Friday evening to sketch a plate of fruit, I do not believe I'd have gotten nearly as many of you to attend as we have here tonight when we have two nude models, Hannah, 18-year-old female, and John, 20-year-old male, both with perfect bodies. Now, draw, and have fun!

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