life-drawing – Page 3 – Dr. Sketchy's Baltimore

February 7, 2013February 18, 2013

Let’s have a KiKi.

KiKi Allure was the last model of 2012 and she was absolutely amazing. I’d never heard “Let’s Have A KiKi” by the Scissor Sisters before, but it might be one of my favorite songs now. Well, this month anyway. I wanted to use it in the video below, but figured it wasn’t worth getting us sued out of existence.

We had contests with prizes from our sponsors Atomic Books and Dupenny. I don’t know if you know this, but Atomic Books has been our sponsor for four years, which is almost from the very beginning. This was their last session sponsoring Dr. Sketchy’s and I just wanted to say it’s been an honor working with them, not only because they’re amazing people, but because we consider it a feather in our cap to be sponsored by what, in our opinion, might very well be the best indie bookstore in the country. If you haven’t visited them yet (they’re on the corner of Falls Rd and the Avenue in Hampden), you should. It’s like a toy store for grown-ups and is about as addictive as heroin.

Dupenny was a new sponsor for this session, and donated a snazzy burlesque-themed plate for us to give away as a prize. They design and produce exquisite wallpaper, beautiful homewares and fine ceramics with a refreshing twist. You should check them out. I think we’re going to get some coffee mugs. 🙂

This was also our last Saturday session for the foreseeable future. For most of our 4 1/2 years of doing Sketchy’s, we’ve traditionally had our sessions on Monday evening, the thinking being that there weren’t many other events to compete with and folks were often free. Over the years, a lot of interest was expressed in doing a Saturday afternoon session, so we gave it a shot for a few months. Unfortunately, the attendance just wasn’t as good as Monday with all the various interesting things going on in Baltimore on a Saturday afternoon, like, umm, hangovers and whatnot. Not only that, but Sketchy’s take so much time to set up and take down, that in the end, it basically equated to everyone involved only getting one day off that week, which made pastimes like going to the bookie, finding misplaced cars from Friday’s late night shenanigans, and hunting rabid nutria along backstreets of Fells with .357’s and a bottle of Jack EXTREMELY difficult.

Not impossible, but difficult.

Also, no more Saturday sessions unless there’s a special event going on that calls for it. We’re also reducing our sessions to once a month in 2013, versus the previous twice a month format. An individual session requires a lot of work on the front and backends to put on, to the point where we were finding it impossible to find time to improve things. Basically, our time was going to keeping the machine running with nothing to spare to make each individual session better and better. Plus, Alexis & I are getting married this year, and we need time to plan that monster out. 🙂

So, no more Saturdays, and only once a month from here on out, unless something special comes along (it always does).

Thanks to Kimberly Keyes Stark, Daniel Govar, Stephanie Burgee, Christian Tribastone, and Brandon Peavey for sending in the sketches below.

Special thanks to KiKi Allure for being our artistic muse of the evening, thanks to our sponsors Atomic Books & Dupenny, Zack & Russell of the Windup Space, Maeve for holding down the door and helping set up and take down, Alexis for hosting; and to all you folks who showed up to draw.

January 9, 2013January 9, 2013

Death-defying drawing with the Junkyard Dolls

The only way this session could have gotten any better was if Russell had gotten hip-checked through the front window.

Actually, you can say that for every session.

Or even going out for dinner and a movie.

The Junkyard Dolls roller derby team didn’t just bring “It”, they brought all the “Its”. They brought every pronoun that had even been seen in public with “It”, was in “It’s” little black book, or “It” had ever listed as a reference on a resume.

Watch the video, you’ll see. Really, watch it. If you don’t, I don’t even understand why you’re reading this.

Wow. I don’t even want to contemplate what various aches and pains haunted them for the next 3 days. I get back pains when I put too much mac & cheese on my plate, much less from HOLDING SOMEONE UP IN THE AIR FOR WHAT WAS PROBABLY FOREVER.

Atomic Books and the Junkyard Dolls provided amazing prizes for folks to compete for–you can actually see one of the contests starting to derail in the stinger clip at the end of the credits. If you don’t know Atomic Books, it’s a cool indy comic shop in Hampden on Falls Rd right off the Avenue. You should check them out. If you don’t know who the Junkyard Dolls are, well, I’m really confused at this point. They’ll have matches starting up soon. You should go watch one.

Thanks to Christian Tribastone, Craig Hankin, John Schloman, Kathleen Parker, Kimberly Keyes Stark, Omandi Consolloy, and Stewart White for sending in the drawings you see below. (If someone has a website I’m missing linking to, just let me know.)

And LOTS of thanks to the Junkyard Dolls, specifically. . .

Adrenaline Junkie
Quickshot Kitty
Federal Kill
Canadian Bacon
Holly Gohardly
Smearinoff Ice
Xena Paradox
Bellatrips LaSmashya
Trixy Von Doom
Brawltimore Hon
Red Pepper
Free Radical
Hal
Slack Kerowack
Natty Bones

If I missed someone, for God’s sake let me know. 🙂

Thanks as well to our sponsors Atomic Books; thanks to Jeff Schock and Alexis for taking the photos you see below; thanks to Russell of the Windup Space for slinging booze and tunes; thanks to Maeve for not only holding down the door, helping set up everything up and take it down, BUT also dealing with someone acting shifty at the door that evening; and of course thank you to Alexis for emceeing.

Kathleen Parker

December 22, 2012December 25, 2012

I’m never hanging out with Maria Bella again.

Maria Bella of Gilded Lily Burlesque is not only one of our best models and performers, she’s one of the best out there in our opinion. At any one time, she’s got more heart for her craft, and the world in general, than most folks have in a lifetime of striving. She’s clever, kind, funny, and strip-the-paint-off-the-walls sexy.

Here’s a dollop of advice with your Dr. Sketchy’s blog, though. Don’t talk to her.

“What?” you say. Let me tell you how it’ll go. You’ll talk to her, and because of how cool she is, you’ll become friends (if you’re not an ass, mind you)–and once you become friends, then the calls will start. It’ll be, say, 1 am in the morning, and your phone will ring.

“Hey, what are the two of you doing?”

“Umm, going to bed?”

“You should come have a beer with me. It won’t be too bad, the bars close in an hour.”

“We can’t. By the time we get a cab and get wherever, it’ll be 2 o’clock.”

“I’m outside your door.”

Sonuvabitch.

And so you go, and you think, “Oh, this couldn’t go too badly…” and [wiggles fingers and makes the Wayne’s World ‘twiddley dooo! twiddley dooo!” sound]….and you suddenly come to, butt-ass naked, covered in glitter and someone else’s blood, wearing Maria’s pasties, standing in a wheat field in the middle of Georgia surrounded by an ATF SWAT team with a helicopter circling overhead.

And no Maria.

That’s how she rolls, folks, that’s how she rolls.

While you dwell on that thought, let’s watch Maria do her thing.

Was that a bulldog? IT WAS. That was the friendly and eternally sleepy Preston the Bulldog, favored ward of one Beth Rainier, a good friend of ours (who you should never drink with either, btw). Doesn’t he clean up nicely? I don’t even think I have a tie that nice. Though it turned out doggies don’t do too well at sitting still for ten-minute poses, Beth gets mad props for bringing Preston by so we could give it a shot.

One of our sponsors this session was Canine Clique, Baltimore’s leading positive reinforcement dog trainers, run by Debbie Shepardson and our good friend Kiely Kyte (Don’t hang out with her either. Actually, don’t ever bend an elbow with ANYONE (past, present, or future—especially any of those shady mf-ers on the door—associated with Dr. Sketchy’s Baltimore. They’re all a bad lot, to the core. Well, that’s not entirely true. I’m a fairly good egg, I’ll keep you on the straight and narrow.) In any case, the amazing Canine Clique donated a gift basket for one lucky soul who won one of our weird contests.

Our other sponsor for this session was Atomic Books, probably the best independent bookstore on the planet (and we’ve been to a lot of them). If you live here and you haven’t checked them out up in Hampden on Falls Road just off the Avenue, you’re doing one of those “Oh, I live in Baltimore but I’ve never watched The Wire” things.

Thank you to Tim Kelly and Craig Hankin who sent in the drawings below (which in my opinion the videos would suck without) .

Special thanks to Baltimore’s Sicilian Princess, the spectacular Maria Bella of Gilded Lily Burlesque, for being an awesome model and muse; thanks to Preston the Bulldog and his super-cool owner Beth Rainier; thanks to our generous sponsors Canine Clique and Atomic Books; thanks to Holly of the Windup Space for slinging drinks for our merry artists; thanks to Jeff Schock for taking some of the pretty pics you see below; thanks to our hula-hooping helper Maeve for holding down the door and helping with the hellish of all Dr. Sketchy tasks, the setup and takedown; thank you to my perty fiancée Alexis for being our emcee; and last but not least, thank you to all the folks who came out that night and bent an elbow (drawing or otherwise) with us.