This was one of those classes, where everything was up in the air, right up until practically the last minute. It was being held in a private venue and I didn't know where I was going for a long, long time. I couldn't raise the girl who had booked me and couldn't get the address from the agency, so had to keep making 'phone calls and sending texts until I knew what was going on.
Eventually, I got the address - then, just a few hours later, I got another text from the girl who made the booking. The class was scheduled for the Saturday afternoon, but she went into labour on the Friday night. Babies have absolutely no sense of timing. I was impressed and grateful that she had the presence of mind - between contractions, presumably - to send me a message and give me an alternative contact number.
The venue was in Comely Bank. Quite a pleasant part of Edinburgh and one I wouldn't mind living in at all. Nice houses, nice neighbourhood and nice shops. Everything is really nice, there.
I made a wrong turn when I got off the bus, but it wasn't hard to find the way and quickly got back on track. Got onto the street and called up the backup number I had been given. The girl came downstairs, met me, sneaked me into the room and gave me time to set up.
I set up the room, made some minor tweaks to the furniture and got everything ready. It's sad that there was one girl missing, but once all the seating was shifted and adjusted, there was still space for just ten of the eleven girls present. One of them was always going to have to stand. And the space wasn't huge, so if there had been a pregnant girl, we'd have been taking that into account the whole time. It wouldn't have been overly problematic, because the classes are flexible enough to cope with that sort of thing. It would have created a more challenging vibe, though. And one of the drawing challenges would have probably had to be either tweaked or discarded.
We went for the classic introduction - the one that fools absolutely nobody, but is still fun. The only girl who knew what was going on let me introduce the class. Then, when I said I'd forgotten the fruit, she led me into the kitchen on a quest to find some props. As I was stripping, one of the other girls stepped out of the sitting room and - for her, at least - the surprise was blown as she copped an eyeful. She kept quiet about it when she returned to the room, though.
I was given a bowl of fruit and I carried that back into the sitting room. Pretending, as usual, that there was nothing strange about suddenly being naked and carrying on as normal. Waiting for the shock and laughter to subside, then holding up a banana and two limes and talking about taking the dimensions of the banana into account - the length and girth - before drawing it.
When the first actual drawing challenge was introduced - the one where I ask for two volunteers to be the other model and the co-ordinator - I might have pushed the comfort levels of the group a bit too far, for a moment. I produced the canvas bag and the props, but the cheeky nature of those props was a bit misjudged this time. Normally, the suggestive nature of the whip and the ties (which were given to me by a group who were doing a Fifty shades of grey theme) is received with enthusiasm, but this time they were a bit too much. I brought out the Dalek and held it up, but even that was rejected. The Dalek is a great counterpoint to the more suggestive props. As the last one to be introduced, it almost always brings about a few laughs, because it's such a contrast to the others.
The challenge that would have probably needed to be tweaked is the "Musical Chairs" one. If everyone is changing seats in a room with limited space, then it's possible that a pregnant girl might have made that a bit less flexible. I still think it would have been nicer if everyone had been present, though. We could have adapted that one - or simply discarded it if necessary.
When we got to the "Make A Giant Man" pose, we hit on a new tweak - and one that I might use again, in the future. One of the girls - the hen - allocated body parts to individual artists, and they all set out to draw them. The really fun part was one of the girls asking for - and being granted - the penis.
Professionalism slipped a bit towards the end of the class. Not to the same extent as last time, but there was definitely a bit of growth towards the end, as I was posing for photographs with the girls. I'm going to have to be careful about that. I know it's natural and it's inevitable that such things will happen from time to time, but I hate the idea that slips like that might offend anyone or make people uncomfortable. Thankfully, that didn't seem to happen. In fact, when I went into the kitchen to retrieve my clothes and get dressed, I think I saw a couple of the girls laughing about it. That's a better response.
Ultimately, it was a fun event. As always, I really enjoyed myself and I think the girls did, too. And perhaps they might get in touch with me later, to let me know how our missing participant got on. It's a shame she couldn't be there, but I hope she appreciated the pictures and the photographs, at least.
