Reflections: Posing

I did something brave and adventurous a few days ago. At least it was for me, not to mention completely out of my comfort zone. I agreed to "pose" for a group of artists. Figure drawing artists to be exact. I had no idea what to expect, but it certainly was not what I might have expected. I stood before a group of seven people that each had some form of drawing paper, easel and art medium in front of them. They asked me to strike a pose - just something natural (yeah, right) and stay still for one minute. They set a timer and off they went. I did this three times for one minute each. They called this their warm-ups, though I could not imagine what anyone could draw in one minute. We then progressed to five minutes. I did two five minute poses for them. The secret, or so they told me, was to pick something on the far wall to focus my attention on, and keep looking at it until the timer went off. Long 5 minutes.

Then, small reprieve. I got to sit down. But along with the chair came the 17 minute sessions. Three of these. 17 minutes seemed like hours to me, but at the same time I still couldn't fathom how anyone could draw a picture of a person in 17 minutes. Some of the artists used pencils, others used colored chalk and another was etching. And the "worst" part? Everyone was STARING at me. Well, not staring exactly. It was more like eyes darting back and forth between me and their paper, but still. . . I was definitely the center of attention. If you know me at all, you probably know I do not like to be the center of attention. But actually, I hate to admit it, it was kind of fun. Sort of.

Some of the artists showed me their work. I liked some of the pictures, some not so much, but I admired them ALL. My own artistic ability stops at stick figures, and I'm not really very good at those. What these people did in a matter of minutes was amazing. All sorts of interpretations from looking at the same thing. Me.

My thanks to my friends Erin for inviting me and Debbie for hosting us in her art gallery, even though she couldn't attend this time. I will try to post a few of the drawings below. Remember, these aren't finished portraits, just sketches done in a few minutes. All the more impressive, don't you think?