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

Brian Dugan

Brian Dugan

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!

Drawn of the Dead


“I’m not much of a horror fan—in fact, I once had to sleep with all the lights on in the house after watching a particularly scary film one night.  So I would just like to thank everyone involved in planning the theme for this session; I am going to have to edit these photos in a bright, sunlit room while listening to some really happy fucking music . . . followed by several hours of Disney-Channel viewing.” —Jeff Schock, official photographer of Dr. Sketchy’s Baltimore

Viola Van Wilde was bombtastic, folks—hands down, this is the most work that has ever gone into a Dr. Sketchy’s Baltimore session.  All those prosthetics took hours to apply—there’s gluing, then painting, then applying blood, then re-gluing when it falls off, then painting on latex, blending the latex, layering more blood and makeup, etc., etc..

Telling ya, we might as well been shooting a movie or something.

Viola started off looking a bit battered and bruised, but still alive.













Hmmm, things are definitely not looking good for Viola.

By the way, we played the “level start” sound for the zombie co-op levels of Call of Duty: World at War at the beginning of the one-minute poses and not a single person caught it.  [sigh] Total geek fail.  Probably should have gone with Left 4 Dead anyway.  Oh well.

The five-minute poses started with that old standby, the opposite-hand contest, where if you’re right-handed you draw with your left and if you’re left-handed you draw with your right and if you think you’re ambidextrous, you’re probably already drunk.  The two winners got a mystery shot from Holly behind the bar—don’t know what it was, but looked tasty. Viola was probably thinking the same thing, while she was eyeing the audience.

Yup, she’s definitely looking a bit . . . bitey. Hope everyone in the front row has had their shots.

Brian Dugan

Brian Dugan

Brian Dugan

Brian Dugan

With the ten-minute poses came the second contest of the evening, “random celebrity”, where members of the audience call out random celebrities until Alexis hears one amusing enough to incorporate.  The winner this time around was John Waters—appropriate, considering.  Strangely, no one called out Patrick Stewart—we’ll catch them, though; it’s only a matter of time.

The prize was a Bristol drawing pad for each of the two winners from Artist & Craftsman Supply, right across the street at the corner of Howard & North.

Brian Dugan

And then, Viola got our host. Apparently Alexis should’ve done more cardio.


Brian Dugan

Dylan Andrex

After a short bathroom/smoke/drink break, it was time for the 20-minute poses.  First up was a contest for the best incorporation of Twin Peaks and The Walking Dead—you’d THINK that was too obscure, but apparently it wasn’t for a couple folks.

Why Twin Peaks, anyway? Because Viola’s last session was a tribute to that cult TV classic, which ended with her dead, wrapped in plastic. Yes, we noticed this is becoming a trend with Viola.

The winner received from Atomic Books Volume One of The Walking Dead—which, honestly, has to be one of the better comic books ever written.  Also, If you didn’t catch the premiere Halloween night of the AMC show based on the same series, you need to get cracking.

Brian Dugan

Lois Borgenicht

John Brewer

Last pose of the evening was ye old random noun/verb contest with the crowd shouting out “big whiskey bottle/shrivel”, which, surprisingly, generated some good sketches.  Baby Tattoo Books, who also runs the LA Dr. Sketchy’s, provided the prize, Unkle Pigor’s Cryptic Art by Eric Pigors, for the lucky winner.

Brian Dugan

Mike Hasson

Lois Borgenicht

With that, our frankly disturbing evening of intestines and drawing had come to a close—fortunately with everyone’s brains and other vital organs still intact. Well, almost everyone’s.

The living room floor the next morning was covered with dismembered limbs, bones, and plastic shot gun shells.  After a brief hangover-induced panic, this was deemed a good thing.

We’d like to thank Viola Van Wilde for an astounding night—she put a crazy amount of work into this, and is probably still washing spirit gum and fake blood out of her hair.  Many thanks go to Holly, our super-duper bartender of the evening, and to Russell, who rushed over to the Windup when his band finished recording to help out with the music for that last 20-minute pose. A multitude of thanks are owed Jeff Schock, whose quote opened up this blog and whose strong stomach provided the photos you see above.  Thank you to Alexis for not only manning the beach head, but also for offering herself up for some intestinal munching. And last, but not least, thanks to all of you who joined us for this special session—you’re all awesome.

Whew!  Need a unicorn chaser after all that?  Well you’re in luck!  Next Dr. Sketchy’s is this Monday, November 8, at the Windup Space with Elle Devene of Gilded Lily Burlesque!

(Thanks again to Cheryl Fair for letting us use her gorgeous photo of Elle for the flyer!)

Doors at 6, start at 7!  Want a sneak peek at Elle’s last session?

This will be the only session in November because of that chicken holiday thing, so don’t be late!

P.S. – Anyone who came to the zombie session in costume got a dollar off their door price.  This was easily the best costume (certainly better than my handlebar mustache).

Next Dr. Sketchy’s Baltimore is Nov. 8th with Elle Devene!

Do you need a unicorn-chaser after last session?  Are you still having nightmares?  Well, we’ve got just the thing for you!  Elle Devene of Gilded Lily Burlesque will clean thee zombie nightmares of that mean ol’ Viola Van Wilde right out of your head.

At least till the photo recap gets posted.

November 8th, Monday, 7 pm to 10 pm at the Windup Space!  This is the only session in November because of that turkey birhtday party or whatever, so don’t miss it – you’re next session won’t be until December.

Do you remember Elle Devene?  If not, take a look.

(Thanks to the talented Cheryl Fair for letting us use her gorgeous photo of Elle for the flyer!)