At the Doodle Bar there was a really good Tuesday evening life drawing session that took place in a deeply hidden location in Battersea. The session seemed to be run by a girl called Jasmin with the advisory help of another girl called Emily. They used to serve wine from a bar, play interesting music and have excellent models. It was during these sessions I was introduced to the practice of drinking and drawing, this was quite a revelation and I remain rather surprised that I had never considered this option earlier, a good glass of wine can encourage a looser approach to the drawing and negates the artists fear of the blank canvas. On several occasions Jasmin modeled for the class and I found her to be one of the most difficult likenesses I have ever tried to capture. It became almost a mission for me to try but somehow her face was too serene, without geography. I made numerous attempts but not one was even close, then she moved to New York and the class shut.
