A nice Southern girl, sporting a pair of cut-off jean-shorts and a flannel tied in a knot, accessorized with a moonshine-filled flask, will get me more verklempt than an auctioneer with a mouth full of peanut butter every time. Elle Devene of Gilded Lily Burlesque was that Southern day-dream made flesh, something that’s all the more beautiful when, if you’re actually from the South, you’re well aware the reality is often marred by an entire can of Aqua Net and enough make-up inexpertly applied to make you wonder if you’re talking to a budding Tammy Faye.
Alexis and I actually spent some our Thanksgiving break with Elle in Asheville, NC, and even hitched a ride back to Baltimore with her. (Though Elle and I are Southern, Alexis, on the other hand, is not. She’s from Long Island and is used to viewing trees as lone, solitary creatures lurking suspiciously around the edges of parking lots. She was quite alarmed to discover that down south they tend to bunch up into groups for safety.)
-Editorial Note from Alexis—Aaron is full of shit. For some reason he thinks the entire state of New York is paved over, even though he’s been there dozens of times now.
We got a bunch of drawings for this session, so let’s get rolling. As always, we started with the 1- and 2-minute poses.
Brian Dugan
Brian Dugan
Brian Dugan
Fred Zeleny
After a five minute beer/cigarette/tinkle break, we plowed ahead into the 5-minute poses, the first of which was the old stand-by opposite hand contest, where [deep breath] if you’re right-handed you draw with your left, if you’re left-handed you draw with your right, and if you’re ambidextrous you lay down your pencil and rely on Jesus or something. Of course, all contests are optional, but if you chose to partake, the two winners secured a mystery shot from Russell at the bar.
Brian Dugan
Brian Dugan
Brian Dugan
John Brewer
Charlotte Bunting Floyd
The first 20 minute contest was the best incorporation of a classic board game, since it happened to be Milton Bradley’s birthday. The prizes were two Bristol pads from Artist & Craftsman Supply, which is right across the street on Howard and North. They’re open till 8, so if you happen to need supplies before a Dr. Sketchy’s, hit ’em up.
Brian Dugan
Brian Dugan
The first 20-minute contest was the best depiction of Barack Obama and Elle as Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe on the President’s birthday—we even played an old scratchy recording of Marilyn singing “Happy Birthday, Mr. President”, which, honestly, I could bare make out a word of. The prize was a vinyl DIY figure of Barack Obama from Atomic Books which is located on the corner of Falls Rd., and the Avenue in Hampden. They were recently named the #1 indy comic book store in the country by Flavorpill—if you haven’t been there yet, you’re missing out.
Brian Dugan
For the last pose of the evening, we did the old random noun contest where somebody in the audience calls out something random—which, err, turned out to be Mr. T on a unicorn.
No, I have no idea either.
The prize for our talented winner was Little Jordan Ray’s Muddy Spud by Gris Grimly from Baby Tattoo Books, who also runs the L.A. branch of Dr. Sketchy’s.
Fred Zeleny
Brian Dugan
John Brewer
And with that, like the eventual fate of all good dreams and benders, the night was at an end.
We’d like to thank Elle Devene of Gilded Lily Burlesque for a rocking good evening (and not to mention playing wheel-man for a surprising pleasant 12 hour road trip, most of which was spent either listening to John Waters recordings or cursing out the traffic), to Russell for the use of his wonderful bar AND slinging drinks AND slinging songs, to Jeff for the beautiful photos you just perused, to Alexis for valiantly manning the bridge, and last of all to all the talented folks who emailed us the drawings above or just plain came down last session to sketch Elle.
Next session, THE ONLY SESSION IN DECEMBER, is Monday, December 13, at the Windup Space with Lauren Marleaux of Gilded Lily Burlesque.
(Amazing photo : © 2010 A.D. Leckemby)
The holiday season is upon us, which means we’re down to only one session a month until we can weather our way through to the other side. If you miss us, it’s going to be six weeks till the next one on January 24. Not only that, but one of the February sessions falls on Valentine’s Day and we have no idea what to do about that yet—it’s going to be a long, cold winter and the Sketchy drought is almost upon us. Do yourself a favor, let Lauren pour you one last cup of Sketchy before you head out into that mess.
Dr. Sketchy's Baltimore 