It was High Noon (well, actually, it was after 3pm, but who’s counting) when I swaggered back to the Saloon Bar of the Victoria (well, the upstairs function room) in July for the latest Dr. Sketchy’s Birmingham. The theme this time was Wild Wild West, and they didn’t disappoint, with a whole posse ready to perform and pose for our doodling delight. (more…)
The sketchy performance of the title is mine, as I’ve not posted about Dr Sketchy’s Birmingham in over a year now. Well, as I was packing up my kit to head off to another class on Saturday, I thought this would be the ideal time to post a selection of drawings from Sketchy’s past. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I unfortunately missed about half of events, and as ever, my notes from the ones I was at were, er, sketchy as well. As such, this post will be a bit short on the usual waffle, but full of many, many sketches of Sketchy’s.
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Aloha! and welcome to Paradise Island (no, not that one), the setting for the most recent outing for Dr Sketchy’s in Birmingham. As the name implies, this instance of the burlesque anti-art life drawing class had a distinctly tropical theme, so we donned our leis and sharpened our pencils in readiness. (more…)
Back in January (ahem, better late than never) we stepped back in time to the nineteenth century for a taste of Victoriana at Dr Sketchy’s latest outing in Birmingham. Held, appropriately enough, at the Victoria pub, we were treated to an evening of music hall burlesque. My notes for this one were a bit patchy, unfortunately, so if I’ve missed anything out, I do apologise. Cherryfox opened the show with a performance of Wouldn’t It Be Loverly from My Fair Lady (duetting with, in what I believe will be his last appearance as compère, the Decadent Gent), and was followed by Amelie de Soleil performing a ballet-inspired routine (to the tune of a classical piece that I’m afraid I don’t know the name of). In the spirit of the music-hall tradition, our next act was Fanny Divine, sporting a rather impressive handlebar moustache and goatee and appearing as the Bearded Lady (complete with a meerschaum pipe). (more…)
Another late one, but back at the end of October I went along to the press launch of the Bodies Revealed exhibition at the Custard Factory in Birmingham. This show, taking it’s lead from (but not connected with) the Body Worlds exhibitions of Dr Gunther von Hagens, features chemically preserved corpses which have been partially dissected to reveal muscle, organs, bone and tissue for educational study. (more…)
It’s time to don party hats, as Dr Sketchy’s Birmingham is celebrating it’s 1st birthday! As regular readers of this blog will know by now, Dr Sketchy’s Anti-Art School is a movement that combines burlesque cabaret and life-drawing that started in New York by comic artist Molly Crabapple in 2005. (more…)
I have to admit to have been caught napping putting together this post about the recent Dr Sketchy’s, seeing as it happened over a month ago now. My laziness seems appropriate though, as this (ahem, last) month’s theme was the bedroom-inspired ‘Boudoir‘. (more…)
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, or last Saturday to be precise, the anti-art burlesque life-drawing class known as Dr Sketchy’s beamed back down to Birmingham. And boldly going where no life-drawing class has gone before, the theme this time was X-Files. Hosted, as ever, by the Decadent Gent, this time regenerated into the form of the Fourth Doctor, we were treated to a selection of broadly Sci-Fi related routines, starting with Rouge Rum the Murderous Mare, featuring Crazy Horses by the Osmonds, a persuing policeman and, er, a horse’s head. (more…)
Phew! It’s been a busy time for me recently. Over the course of the last month or so I’ve been out and about doing ‘live drawing’ at various events in the Birmingham area, so this post is an attempt to do a brief, illustrated summary of what I’ve been up to. (more…)
Well, following on from my thoughts on the last Dr Sketchy’s Anti-Art School about overcrowding, it seems that they were listening, and set a limit on the number of tickets available for May’s class. This made for a more pleasant atmosphere for the theme this time round – Water World. And, as you’d expect, there was an aquatic or maritime feel to the burlesque performances, starting with performance by host the Decandent Gent of The First Lord’s Song from HMS Pinafore by Gilbert and Sullivan getting things off to a roaring start. The Gent was himself then treated to a surprise dance by Mysti Vine (of whom more later) to celebrate his birthday (in front of his mum, nan and gran, no less). (more…)
Third time out, and I was back again at Dr Sketchy’s in Birmingham on the 21st. It’s clearly getting even more popular round these parts, as was demonstrated by the significantly more cramped conditions this time. The stuffy, full-to-capacity upstairs bar at the Victoria didn’t leave me with much elbow room or space for drawing equipment (or indeed my pint glass – that most vital of drawing equipment), not to mention the view – it was almost impossible to get a good vantage point at times, and I was reduced to leaning this way and that craning to get a good view (or not at all, for one pose). Nevertheless, it was a good afternoon’s drawing, and the girls didn’t dissapoint. (more…)
Phew! I’ve just got back from school… kinda. This afternoon I attended Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School (warning – MySpace page) in an upstairs room at the Victoria pub here in Brum (as blogged by Graphiquillan). For those not in the know, Dr. Sketchy’s is a burlesque life-drawing class, originally founded in New York in 2005 as an attempt to take life-drawing out of the classroom and make it, well, sexy. So for three hours, with a pint of cider in one hand and drawing implements in the other we drew scantily clad ladies in corsets, suspenders and tassles. Each model started out with a burlesque performance, followed by a couple of short poses or so. Prizes were awarded to the best drawings on the night (as judged by the model herself). The theme for the evening was Dr Doodle-a-little, and all the models wore animal-themed costumes – first up was Crimson Skye (fox), followed by Cherry Fox (pink leopard) and Emerald Ace (octopus), and for each we were given a theme (woodland, jungle and under the sea respectively). This was followed by a second set from Crimson Skye (with a wolf theme…) and finally Cherry Fox and Emerald Ace posing together. All in all, a fun evening’s entertainment. (more…)
