Holy Moly. I really need to try harder to do some drawing myself at Sketchy’s once the door slows down and the poses get longer. You don’t get opportunities to draw folks like Dahlia Derriere, or any of our other models, that often. If Dahlia doesn’t inspire your pencil, well, maybe you should put your time into something else. I honestly can’t think of anything else to say besides that, so let’s just jump right into the 1- and 2-minute poses brought to you not by one, but TWO photographers, Jen Swanson and Jeff Schock. Dahlia’s first look for this desert-themed evening: a Vegas showgirl.
A quick break for folks to empty their bladders and fill their glasses (pints of Flying Dog Beer for 3 bucks!) and then Dahlia took the stage again, this time as a cowgirl, for the 5-minute poses. As always, the first of these was the infamous opposite hand contest, where if you’re right handed you draw with your left, if you’re left handed you have to draw with your right, and if you’re ambidextrous, you have to do it with a beer balanced on your head. The two winners got a mystery shot from Russell at the bar.
Another break and it was time for the 10-minute poses and another contest, this time a tribute to Johnny Cash, since it was the anniversary of his death. The prize was Rubber Duck by Karen Hsiao from Baby Tattoo Books. No photos for this these two poses, but here are some sketches.
Next was a pair of 20-minute poses, another contest, and a seriously ambitious pose from Dahlia, who wore a heavy shamadan on her head as part of her belly dancer look. Since it was the day before Molly Crabapple’s birthday, we went with a birthday theme for this last contest. The prize was Viva’s Pinups: Bullet Bras and Backseat Betties, a stunning collection of pinup photography by Viva Van Story, who contributed the photo for the flyer for this session. This absolutely amazing prize was generously donated by Atomic Books, which was recently confirmed as Baltimore’s “Best Independent Bookstore” by both City Paper and the CP Readers Poll.
Special thanks to Dahlia Derriere for being our fantastic model; thanks to our sponsors: Atomic Books, Flying Dog Brewery, and Baby Tattoo Books; thanks to Jen Swanson and Jeff Schock for the photos above; thanks to Russell for slinging songs and booze; and thanks to Alexis for driving the microphone.
Next session is Monday, September 26th with Valeria Voxx!
As I write this, we sit in the midst of the great Dr. Sketchy’s drought of 2011. Our last session, which seems a lifetime ago on July 25th, with Femme 6, was our last hurrah before we entered these dark times, and unfortunately it’s still over a week before Dahlia Derriere brings back the rain on September 12th. I don’t know what you’re doing to pass the time—keying paddle boats in the Inner Harbor? Attacking vicars with long-tailed cats? Watching Weeds on Netflix?
I don’t know. (I’m hoping it’s better than what we’re up to—we’re somewhere off the coast of Newfoundland, the wireless is spotty at best, and Alexis just killed a narwhal with a 12-gauge and it’s a MESS.)
Whatever nightmare is going on with you, block it out, pop a Quaalude, stick a chair under the door handle and let’s reminisce on that last day before screeching cats and before Alexis went all fucking Ahab.
Now, if you were in Baltimore and had a lick of sense, you attended Femme 6’s Poetry and Pasties at Mobtown Theater on August 14th. Apparently the thirsty horde who showed up drank ’em out of beer before the intermission started, forcing a late-Sunday-night beer run—which to me sounds like the definition of a rousing success if there ever was one.
If you want to know a little bit more about the multi-talented Femme 6, especially why she’s called that, check out her art manifesto here.
Anyway, after a quick break that night we rolled into the 5-minute poses, the first of which was the illustrious 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 you . . . uh . . . ummm . . . damnit.
The two winners received a mystery shot from Russell at the bar—FYI, he no longer empties the beer mats into them. We put our foot down. Don’t worry, we got your back.
We took a quick break, and hot diggity damn, it was time for Femme 6’s performance, which you can see an itty-bitty bit of here. If you want to see more, you’ll have to go to one of her shows.
Here’re a few stills . . .
Ten-minute pose time, the first of which was a “best incorporation of an ’80’s cartoon.” The winner’s reward for remembering obscure kids’ shows from twenty years ago? A copy of Mark Schultz: Various Drawings Vol. 5 from Atomic Books in Hampden. BTW, seriously, click the link and check out this book; it’s full of some really fantastic pulp-style sketches. It hurt so bad to give that book away, we ended up going back to Atomic and picking up a copy for ourselves.
Another break for folks to fill up on Flying Dog beer specials, smoke, call someone on the phone and argue—whatever it is they needed to do—and then it was time for the 20-minute poses.
For this pose, we asked the crowd to incorporate a Stanley Kubrick film into their drawings, since the next day would have been the director’s birthday.
The winner took home a copy of Miss Mindy’s Sassy Paper Doll Bonanza, courtesy of Baby Tattoo Books, who also runs the L.A. Dr. Sketchy’s, so if there’s a trip out there in your future, definitely check them out. The second 20-minute pose was simply stunning, and simply a contest-free pose.
And that was a wrap, and unfortunately the start of the horrible dark period we are in now.
Thanks to Femme 6 for a jaw-dropping session and performance; thanks to our generous sponsors Atomic Books, Flying Dog Brewery, and Baby Tattoo Books; thanks to Russell for slinging drinks and songs; thanks to Jeff for the eye-popping photos above; thanks to Stiger for helping set up and man the door so I don’t go whole-hog crazy; and thanks to Alexis for hosting the whole shebang.
We’ll be back on September 12th, when lovely pin-up model/belly dancer Dahlia Derriere returns to Dr. Sketchy’s to pose for your drawing pleasure in a desert-themed evening. Doors open at 6, and drawing starts at 7, but really, show up early for a good seat. A drink or three before we get started will make those first post-break drawings not look too bad, too.
“Oh, Aaron, I don’t know how I’ll survive until the next Dr. Sketchy’s! What do I do now??”
I’m glad you asked, for there are a few oases before Dahlia Derriere rescues us. First off, there’s the Gilded Lily School of Burlesque Showcase at The Windup Space this Saturday (which, sppppptttt, we’ll be celebrating Alexis’s birthday at as well). Then, on Friday the 9th, Sticky Buns Burlesque presents an Evening of Variety at Illusions, a gorgeous magic bar that is itself well worth a trip to [gasp] Federal Hill.
That should help ya. What else? Well, somewhere in there, there’s, umm, some sort of race car thing, and then, uh…
Oh, you’re screwed, you’re never going to make it to the 12th.
Another week, another Dr. Sketchy’s Baltimore —wait, no it wasn’t, we had beautiful belly dancer Rio and a father-humping snake! It was a night of mind-numbing, bone-calcifying sketching horror!
Well, Rabbi Loew to the Ground, the snake in question here, did yawn at Alexis once. We think it was a yawn anyway. A menace-filled “If I wasn’t sleepy I’d snack on your entrails” yawn.
Also, you can apparently use snakes as hats. I. Did. Not. Know. That. The next time I visit my folks in the mountains of North Carolina, I’m adding that to my to-do list.
1) Eat at 12 Bones BBQ.
2) Have a beer with friends.
3) Grab that stupid snake sunning on the porch and wear it as a hat.
Oh, and forget the snake, Rio was stunning. She had some gorgeous poses, and treated us to a fantastic belly dance performance—we’ll give you a little sample of that later on in the blog, so keep reading.
A quick break later it was time for the 5-minute poses, the first of which was 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 you draw with your snake.
[cough]
The two winners received mystery shots from Russell at the bar—I have no idea what they were but they looked tasty and no one fell over, so I think it was a win.
Then, it was belly-dancing time. I’m not going to post the full video of her belly-dancing here, you’ll have to go to one of her shows for that, but it was jaw-dropping. Here’s a sneak peak Alexis caught with the 8 mm app on her iPhone.
God, I love that app.
After Rio had a second to catch her breath, we started back up with the two ten-minute poses. The first ten-minute pose of the evening was a contest sponsored by our brand new sponsor Flying Dog Brewery! Yeah, they sponsored our anniversary session with Marla Meringue, but that was a one time deal then—now they’re sponsoring us for the foreseeable future! Hot damn! Not only were there specials on Flying Dog beer, but they brought a hand-bottled bottle of Raging Bitch for the winner that was bigger than my head.
Umm, well, all the winners to-date have been bigger than my head. The bottle was bigger than my head.
Rio may or may not have taken the bus down to Baltimore earlier in the day, so appropriately enough, the contest theme was “Snakes on a Bus”.
Meanwhile, as we all sketched merrily away, a storm was a brewin’. Literally. Russell and I stepped outside to discover the Nothing was bearing down the Windup Space like an out-of-control Michael Bay explosion. Oh, and when it hit, it hit. Smokers scattered in gibbering terror, thunder drowned out the music, and Russell plunged head-long into a play list of nothing but “Blame it on the Rain”, “Purple Rain”, and the like. If I could have lashed a steering wheel and myself to the door stand and screamed challenging obscenities at Mother Nature, I would have.
Instead, Russell cut me off.
And then it was time for the twenty-minute poses. The first was a random noun contest, with the noun being Pandora’s Box. The winner received Ricky Jay’s Celebrations of Curious People from Atomic Books, which is located at the corner of the Avenue and Falls Rd. in Hampden. Be careful—if you like books, walking in that place is like a crack addict getting locked in the evidence room at Central Booking.
Does Central Booking even have an evidence room? I dunno, I haven’t been there. (Momma gifted me with quick feet.)
At this point the monsoon outside had subsided and everyone outside wanting a cigarette or a quarter had been washed away to better shores. A five-minute break for Rio (who HAD to be in pain at that point), and it was time for the last 20-minute pose of the evening.
Since it was the day before Bill Cosby’s birthday, the contest was the best incorporation of pudding pops with the winner receiving Karen Hsiao’s Rubber Duck from Baby Tattoo Books, who, besides being an amazing publisher, run the Dr. Sketchy’s in LA, which is pretty awe-inspiring. Apparently only ONE person was inspired by pudding pops, so they automatically won. APPARENTLY the rest of the crowd wasted their childhoods. Yeah, I said it. Pudding pops rocked. If Billy Cosby had been there, he probably would have cried. On his birthday.
Many, many, many, many thanks to snake-charming, belly-dancing Rio; many thanks to Rabbi Loew for not bursting through support beams and chewing up any high school principals; thanks to our sponsors Atomic Books, Flying Dog Brewery, and Baby Tattoo books; tons of thanks to Jeff and Alexis for the death-defying nature photography you see above; thanks to Russell for slinging booze and songs; thanks to our brand new Dr. Sketchy’s person Stiger for helping me and my busted-up hand with the set-up before and after and with the timer; thanks to Fred, Kerry, and, err, several other people who helped shove some of the furniture back in place at the end; and last but not least thanks to Alexis for being our host even though she has a phobia of snakes.
What’s next?
It’s our last session of the summer and it’s with burlesque performance artist, Femme 6!
That’s right folks, between some birthday/traveling shenanigans and the Windup being closed for a week in August, there will be no sessions until September! Dum dum duuuuuummmmmmm. Next session, Monday, July 25th with Femme 6 is your last chance to attend a Dr. Sketchy’s before the, umm, cold winds of September blast through Baltimore!
(Photo by Jen Swanson)
(Photo by Jeff Schock)
(Photo by Jen Swanson)
(Photo by Jeff Schock)
(Photo by Jen Swanson)
(Photo by Jeff Schock)
(Photo by Jen Swanson)
(Photo by Jeff Schock)
(Photo by Jen Swanson)
(Photo by Jeff Schock)
(Photo by Jeff Schock)
(Photo by Jen Swanson)
(Photo by Jeff Schock)
(Photo by Jeff Schock)
(Photo by Jen Swanson)
Ann Marie Brokmeier
(Photo by Jen Swanson)
(Photo by Jeff Schock)
Fred Zeleny
(Photo by Jeff Schock)
Fred Zeleny
(Photo by Jeff Schock)
(Photo by Jen Swanson)
Charlotte Bunting Floyd
Ann Marie Brokmeier
Photo by Jeff
Photo by Alexis
Gregory Jericho
Gregory Jericho
Gregory Jericho
Dr. Sketchy's Baltimore 