Gilded Lily – Page 3 – Dr. Sketchy's Baltimore

April 24, 2011April 27, 2011

A night of bombshells and bikes for Moveable Feast!

Last session was our first-ever charity benefit courtesy of Ride for the Feast’s Team Atomic for Moveable Feast, which means everything from the door and all the tips went to help feed Marylanders in need. I’ll let Jules of Team Atomic explain it since I’ll probably just flub it.

I don’t know how we got this lucky two sessions in a row, but Team Atomic showed up meaning serious business. Tons of creatively used props, innovative poses, various facial expressions—take heed, future models. The following photos are a big steel-knuckled gauntlet that just cracked your linoleum floor. Between this session and last session with the Junkyard Dolls, well, I’m worried if we can ever top them.

Oh, we can but let’s not get ahead of ourselves . . . on to the 1- and 2-minute poses!

Brian Dugan

We took a break so folks could get some delicious treats from the lovely ladies of Team Atomic / get a hand-steadying elixir / smoke / tinkle / or go outside and shoot somebody (since apparently that’s what the rest of Baltimore was up to that Monday evening), and then it was time for the 5-minute poses, the first of which was the “best non-dominant appendage drawing” contest.

As always, all contests are optional. The two winners scored fancy shots from Josh at the bar—I don’t know what they were but I did spot cherries in the bottom. That’s good, right?

Brian Dugan

More 5-minute poses.

Brian Dugan

A quick break to shuffle things on stage and it was time for the 10-minute poses. with the first contest being the random noun contest where the audience shouts out drunken nonsense until something strikes Alexis’s fancy, which, this go-around turned out to be “Hemingway”, with the prizes being an issue of Retro Lovely Magazine from Atomic Books in Hampden and a set of Princeton Art & Brush Company brushes from Artist & Craftsman Supply just down the street on North & Howard.

Brian Dugan

Lois Borgenicht

Next up was a 20-minute pose and another contest, this being the best incorporation of space flight since the 50th anniversary of human space flight was the next day. The prizes were Ragnar’s Kings of the Road from Baby Tattoo Books and a pair of stockings from What Katie Did.

Brian Dugan

And, the last 20-minute pose of the evening.

Brian Dugan

Lois Borgenicht

Special thanks to Becky, Jules, Lisa, Crystal, and Holly of Team Atomic for giving Dr. Sketchy’s Baltimore this opportunity to help fellow Marylanders and for having one of the most dynamic sessions we’ve ever, ever had! And thanks to all the generous artists who came out to draw for a cause—with your help, Team Atomic raised $400 for Moveable Feast at this event. Thanks also to Russell and Josh of the Windup Space for slinging tunes and slinging booze; another thanks to Russell for letting us use the Windup to help Moveable Feast; thanks to our illustrious sponsors Atomic Books, Artist & Craftsman Supply, Baby Tattoo Books, and What Katie Did; thanks to Jeff for all the time and acrobatics necessary to get the photos you see above; and last but not least, thanks to Alexis for being our snazzy host.

If you weren’t able to join us for this fabulous night of drawing for a cause, you can still help Moveable Feast feed people, fight disease, and foster hope by making a donation.

Next Dr. Sketchy’s Baltimore is April 25th with Ivory Twinkler of Gilded Lily Burlesque!

Do. Not. Miss. This. One.

You’ve been fairly warned. There’ll be drawin’, drinkin’, and SINGIN’. It’s going to be like you poured a whole bunch of burlesque-y-ness, science-y-ness, geekiness, and a gallon of sexiness in your mouth and touched a match to it!

Bring an extra head, cause the one you got will get blown up.

(Photo of Ivory Twinkler courtesy of Cheryl Fair.)

[post updated with additional sketches on 4/27/11]

March 26, 2011

Grandma, what big eyes you have!

That costume is easily one of my favorite of all time, not to mention the burlesque routine it accompanies. I think the first time I saw it I spit Natty Boh all over the floor of the Ottobar. (Don’t tell them that.) To be honest several of my favorite routines belong to Little Luna of Gilded Lily Burlesque—and trust me, with all of our traveling, I’ve seen a lot of burlesque at this point.

(As an aside, Baltimore, with MAYBE the exception of of Seattle, has some of the most creative burlesque acts anywhere we’ve been. New York is edgier, but for sheer creativity and class, Seattle and Baltimore are the best. Believe me, I’m not an expert—I’m really, really, not—so take it for what you will, still, that’s what we’ve seen.)

Anyway, Little Luna rocks. Let’s get going with the 1- and 2-minute poses.

Brian Dugan

Shawn Adomanis

After that, a breather was called for. When we got back from said breather, it was time for the 5-minute poses, the first of which was the opposite-hand contest. 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 we poke you in the eye with a stick. The two winners got a mystery-something in a glass from Russell, which to date, has only emptied the winners’ stomachs once, maybe twice.

Next were the remaining 5-minute poses.

Brian Dugan

Craig Hankin

Brian Dugan

Everyone took a break to refill their drinks and then it was 10-minute pose time. The first pose had a contest, the best depiction of “Disney Princesses Gone Wild,” with the prize being a Trikky mini vinyl DIY toy from Atomic Books. Atomic Books is located on Falls Road just off the Avenue in Hampden. If you haven’t been there before, you’re honestly missing one of the best indie comic shops in the country.

Brian Dugan

Craig Hankin

A quick break and it was the first 20-minute pose of the evening with the contest being Random Noun, where folks in the audience shout out something until we all hear something amusing. It was ALMOST “Doctor Who”, but a last-minute shout of Charlie Sheen won out, though a sonic screwdriver managed to sneak into Little Luna’s hand anyway. To appease the geeks who were, for once, outnumbered that night, we gave extra points for drawings incorporating both.

It’s not important why we happened to have a sonic screwdriver.

The prize was a 12-pack of Prismacolor colored pencils from Artist & Craftsman Supply, which is across the street on the corner of Howard and North. They’re open late—pretty much perfect for picking up any last-minute art supplies you left at your ex’s last week.

Brian Dugan

Craig Hankin

Zachary Alexander

Lois Borgenicht

Shawn Adomanis

One final break later and it was the last 20-minute pose of the evening with my favorite contest to date. The prize was Rubber Duck by Karen Hsiao from Baby Tattoo Books, who also runs the L.A. branch of Dr. Sketchy’s.

Why was it my favorite contest to date?

Cause it was about my damn cardboard tree, that’s why.

Oh, sit back, pour yourself something bitter, and let me tell you the story of me and this damn tree. (If you have any sense, you’ll skip this nonsense and scroll down.) For a while now I’ve been trying to figure out ways to decorate the stage in more and more elaborate ways. Though ostensibly an easy task, it’s made a lot more trying by the fact that neither Alexis nor I own a car. Why do we not own a car, you ask? Cause we’re dirty hippies.

Okay, Alexis says we’re not dirty hippies.

Well, the whole benefit of living downtown in a city and putting up with the shootings, the peeings (someone tried to pee on Sabrina Chap when she was here, I mean, honestly, what the hell?), the parades, the marathons that bring the entire city to its knees, the more shootings, the stabbings, the people shooting people who are stabbing people who are shooting at people, ALL THAT STUFF—is that you don’t need a car. You can walk everywhere, save thousands of dollars doing so, and, well, stay somewhat in shape from all the running (see above sentence about shootings & stabbings).

Unfortunately this doesn’t work too well when you’re trying to dress a stage twice a month. Yes, there are always friends, bad-ass cool-as-hell friends, who will pitch in with their cars—but in the end, you can’t expect them to do that twice a month, it’s just not fair to ’em. So I’ve been looking for “collapsible” stage dressing which can be stored compactly.

Cue the cardboard tree. I first noticed it at a Halloween store when we were planning the zombie session with Viola Van Wilde. It was love at first sight. I ended up traveling to the store (somewhere outside the city) twice to eyeball the thing, driven by two different sets of kind people, and each time I chickened out, not sure if this tree and I were true love or if our love was just a trick of desperation and hormones. Finally I stiffened my resolve and took the light rail out to acquire the tree, hauled it all the way back to the apartment (during which a transit cop mauled it on the light rail, even though it wasn’t in anyone’s way and there wasn’t anyone on the light rail ANYWAY).

And when I got the poor mangled thing home I discovered the store had only given me half of it. It was horrible. It was like building up the courage to ask out the checkout girl, and the moment you do, and she says yes, somebody a-hole runs up and chops her in half.

Well, maybe it wasn’t quite like that.

Anyway, I then had to trek out to the store for a FOURTH time and acquire an all new second tree. Four trips – that’s, like, a week of my life where I could have been writing sonnets, hunting the Buffalo Man (a.k.a. “The Phantom Pee-er of Mt. Vernon”), or God knows what.

In the end, it was worth it though. Look at these amazing drawings of a cardboard tree and marvel.

Brian Dugan

Catherine Evans

Zachary Alexander

Shawn Adomanis

Many thanks to Little Luna of Gilded Lily Burlesque for doing a smashing job; thanks as well to our sponsors Atomic Books (especially to Ben for dropping off the prize at the last minute when we ended up not being able to go pick it up), Artist & Craftsman Supply, Baby Tattoo Books, and What Katie Did; lots of thanks to Gilded Lily Burlesque for donating to free tickets to their show to give away; thanks also to Russell of the Windup Space for slinging drinks and songs, Jeff for the ninja-camera-work, Alexis for manning the microphone, and last but not least, to Viola Van Wilde, Brian K., and Scott for multiple trips to get that damn tree.

Our next session is Monday, March 28th with the Junkyard Dolls roller derby team. Wait, did you say “team”? Why yes, we most certainly did.

Doors open at 6, drawing kicks off at 7. If you show up before 7 you get two drink tickets good for a dollar off a drink, and you might want to get there early too—the Junkyard Dolls have some rabid fans, so who knows how quickly seats might fill up.

March 13, 2011

A (Sketchy) Ode to Apollo

Last session with Tony Apollo? Holy Moly, hands down Tony has to be one of the best dynamic models we’ve ever had. The audience knew it too – I haven’t seen a crowd get that rowdy in awhile, and oh, they knew what they wanted. We had a minor communication mishap/traffic issue at the beginning of the night that caused Tony to be a few minutes late through no fault of his own—so Alexis jumped on stage to pose while Tony got ready.

Usually the crowd is tickled pink by this (the two times it’s happened), but not this time. I must have gotten asked at the door 3 times in 5 minutes,

“Where’s Tony?”

“Oh, we’re just running a few minutes late. Alexis is doing a 5-minute pose while he gets ready in back.”

“Are you lying? I came here to draw Tony.”

“I’m not lying! He’s here! Why does everyone think I’m lying?!!”

I’m telling you, I thought I was going to get shivved.

Brian Dugan

Five minutes later, Tony jumped up on stage and we dived into 1- and 2-minute poses.

Brian Dugan

Then we took a ten-minute break. Here’s a couple tweets folks were sending during the breaks—

I’m at @drsketchysbmore and seriously this model is almost to hot to draw. It’s redonculous (@ The Windup Space) http://4sq.com/gGXCqP -annatagonist

The model at @drsketchysbmore is Tony Apollo, who is ridiculously built – it’s like drawing a Street Fighter character. (In a good way.) #fb – fizzbang

When everyone got back from the tinkle break, it was time for the first contest of the evening, the opposite hand contest where, 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 we hate your guts.

As always, the contests are optional. The prize for the two winners was a mystery shot from Russell at the bar, as long as you’re 21, of course.

Brian Dugan

By the way, we’ve been recording video for a bit now to make a Dr. Sketchy’s Baltimore documentary at one point—we’re going to post a tiny clip here to see how WordPress handles it. This bit cracked me up, so it sounds like a good candidate.

After that there were three more 5-minute poses.

A quick break followed so folks could get a drink and Tony could get a breather. Next up were the 10-minute poses and the first contest of the evening—Alexis made a few “best incorporation” suggestions from celebrity birthdays and historic events that happened on or around Feb. 28. Justin Bieber’s birthday was the next day but, to our relief, there wasn’t a single Belieber in the audience. Texas was annexed by the U.S., but no one was feeling a Texas-themed contest, either. Finally, Alexis gave up on Wikipedia, channeled her inner dork (which is always a better source of inspiration), and won them over with Battlestar Galactica—since, you know, the whole Apollo thing.

The winners got a gift pack of issues of the zine Smile Hon, You’re in Baltimore from Atomic Books in Hampden, and a 18 x 24 pad of vellum from Artist & Craftsman Supply across the street on the corner of North and Howard, with the first place winner taking their pick. Both of these businesses are part of why we’re able to run Dr. Sketchy’s— without them it would be a lot, lot more difficult. So, if you’re looking for art supplies or books of one sort or another, pay them a visit, they’re awesome.

Brian Dugan

Another break and we’re on to the first 20-minute pose and the next contest where folks wrote the most maddening sentence they could imagine, traded it with a neighbor’s, and then attempted to draw whatever their neighbor had written. The prize was a pair of sexy-as-hell, vintage-style backseamed stockings from our brand new sponsor What Katie Did.

Brian Dugan

Seeing how we’d finally figured out what the crowd wanted, we said screw it and went with the best incorporation of Firefly for final contest of evening. (If you don’t know what it is, go watch it on Netflix’s instant download.) The prize was Miss Mindy’s Sassy Paper Doll Bonanza by Miss Mindy from Baby Tattoo Books, who, if you didn’t know, also runs the LA branch of Dr. Sketchy.

Angelica Temoche

Brian Dugan

Special thanks to Tony Apollo for being one of the best models we’ve ever had! And thanks to our sponsors Atomic Books, Artist & Craftsman Supply, Baby Tattoo Books, and What Katie Did for donating all the prizes for folks to win, thanks to Russell for the space and for slinging drinks and booze and for so many other things that would be impossible to list them all, thanks to Jeff to the snazzy photos above, and thanks as well to Alexis for posing a little bit and hosting all this bedlam.

Thank you as well Viola Van Wilde and Roma Mafia who, with no notice, emptied the contents of their closets on the floor in order to rush down and pose for all of you in case Tony wasn’t going to be able to make it. I cannot possibly express how much it means to us they were willing to dump dinner in the trash, grab something sparkly, and ride like hell for the Windup. That’s what cool looks like.

Next session is Monday, March 14th with Little Luna of Gilded Lily Burlesque! Fairy tale theme! One of my favorite costumes of all time! Doors are at 6, start is at 7! Drink tickets for a dollar off a drink if you get there before 7! Little Luna always blows the doors off, so get a good seat! I use lots of exclamation marks!