Tab tries… life drawing

Tasked by the powers that be at The Tab to create greatness and armed with the collective artistic ability of two primary school children (not the prodigies), we headed to East Oxford Community Centre on Princes Street for an evening of sophistication, aesthetic appreciation and personal development.

Some quality journalism ensued.

Arting

The first thing to hit you is the eery silence of 20 budding Picassos carefully pouring over the anatomical features of a stocky bald bloke hung like an ox. There he stood, with the face of  Steven Berkoff  and the penis of Mandingo. His name was Terrance.

Terry in action

His story begins a year ago whilst lounging naked amongst friends in a villa in Tuscany; his talent was scouted by an ‘admiring’ artist who encouraged him to pursue modelling to supplement his to pension. Previously he’d been an executive in medical engineering.  He may even have been a graduate.

We asked him if he had ever felt embarrassed by a room full of people all staring at his naked bod. The answer? No – he seemed unfamiliar with the concept of embarrassment, unsurprisingly.

He told us he’s not in for the money and is just a lover of the arts, but he himself doesn’t draw.

Like Terrance, we had no artistic ability, but we had plenty of ambition and were keen to grab our pencils and get stuck in. See below for some profound interpretations of the male form and its abstract relation to themes of justice, temptation, and pain.

Great art

Our forebears’ work

Here’s one I did earlier

The rope

We got some paper and an easel and sat down. Each pose lasted for 20 minutes, one with Terry hanging from a rope suspended from the ceiling and another with him splayed meditatively on a cushion. Raw.

Just look at that Berkoffian stare

This is what is might look like if you were actually good

The title doesn’t do this one…

Overall, the journey of life [drawing] is one of introspection and discovery. As you can see there are many different approaches one can take and there’s no right answer.

If you want to harness your inner artist and draw some naked people for fun, you can head down to Princes Street with £3 and a bucketful of creative juices every Thursday evening from 6.30pm.

Alternatively, if you don’t want to leave college, get some friends together and randomly select one of you to get your kit off.

The choice… is yours.