This is a 1.5 hour study, drawn - as are the others posted here - on 24 x 36 sheets of newsprint using HB conte crayon. (wish they made an `H' grade...)
Earlier in the week, I had been feeling smug, and pontificating a bit about sticking out the session at Artists 25 with a male model, as there is often a noticeable dropoff when guys are working. So I felt a little bit awkward about picking H- over B- to draw on the Sunday morning (B- was working in the adjacent studio) My rationale was that I've drawn B- a few times lately, and haven't drawn H- in a while. ( yeah, right...). Nonetheless, if you've followed this blog then you've noticed the number of men represented is a lot smaller than the number of women, which is reflective of a tendency to book women more frequently. (Even at A25, the ratio is 2 female models to each male, and that's better than most places). I know at times I have perpetuated that bias, though for TSA classes I'm very committed to a 50/50 m/f split.
I had resolved to stay for the afternoon and draw B- . It was a pleasant surprise to discover that for the afternoon session his girlfriend J- was joining him. The juxtaposition of him undressed and her dressed was both striking and thought-provoking, in terms of gender dynamics. Their serious demeanour beside each other, and their both looking out - rather than at each other - reminded me obliquely of Grant Woods' "American Gothic".
It's a challenge to get two people to fit together in the same drawing, but that part worked out fairly well. Later, Z- was telling me that that is a fetish sub-category in its' own right, dressed women with undressed men. This particular afternoon didn't carry a fetish-y charge for me, but I can see how that can be a loaded scenario.
