I Go to a Bar and Paint Naked Women Every Week (NSFW)

OnTuesday nights, I stuff my watercolors, sketchpad, and a 20-dollar bill into an old tote bag and head to the Madrone Art Bar or the DNA Lounge in San Francisco. For three hours, I sip on wine and scrutinize, squint at, and visually dissect the model onstage. She’s naked except for a flimsy thong — sometimes slim, sometimes curvy, sometimes vulnerably bare or wearing burlesque accessories. Her youth is radiant, displayed in her hair and face, which are exquisitely made up for the audience of 10 to 50 self-identifying artists. Keeping her face impressively expressionless, she comfortably contorts her body into sensual, seductive five-, 10-, and 20-minute poses. During breaks, she huddles in her kimono or bathrobe, quietly sipping a mixed drink while the event organizer navigates between easels and packed chairs with a tip jar. <img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:700/1*WAY1pFqMUCr2s_fs5GnZHA.jpeg" style="height:1308px; width:700px" /> Artwork: Gisella Tan As an avid hobby artist, I’m familiar with figure-drawing classes. Yet the sterile environment of an art studio couldn’t be more different from these sticky, dimly lit bars where men slosh back beers and eat pizza with one hand while holding a grubby pencil in the other. Some venues do not reserve the whole space for these figure-drawing sessions; there are men sitting at the bar watching baseball and occasionally stealing furtive glances at the splayed-out model across the room. <a href="https://thebolditalic.com/i-go-to-a-bar-and-paint-naked-women-every-week-nsfw-b3957b55c22b">Click Here</a>