The Steampunk Circus: Art Gallery Take-over 2014

Fancy Dress Life Drawing

I had a great time at The Steampunk Circus event at Tullie House last night running the fancy dress life drawing. As part of the Museums at Night initiative and following on from last years Art Gallery Takeover Tullie House organised an excellent event which was very well attended. Lots of people came dressed up so there was no shortage of models and there was a great atmosphere.

Getting set up

Costume Rail (but lots of people came dressed up already!)

It was really interesting because the event had quite a different feel to last year but it's hard to put my finger on exactly why. Last year was very full on, I was really busy all evening but it was more ebbs and flows this year. I brought bright marker pens for the event last year to fit with the theme and this year I brought metallic crayons and tea-stained paper. I don't think this worked as well as the markers, partly because the crayons didn't show up that well as it was quite dark and partly because people seemed to think crayons, even shiny ones, were a bit childish (which wasn't a response I had anticipated.) However, there was also charcoal, pens and pencils available so there was a good choice and plenty of people got stuck in and created some beautiful drawings.

Metallic crayons and pens

Some of the drawings

I also tried my hand at tea duelling (I lost, sadly) which was a new experience for me but very entertaining and I got to chat to lots of really interesting people. I think it's a great event because it's quite different to what usually happens in a museum.

Posing and drawing

Posing and drawing

Posing!

There is an article in the local press about the event here.

The Steampunk Circus

Last year Tullie House ran a museums at night event for which I ran a fancy dress life drawing activity. It was really good fun and I had such a good time so I was very pleased when they invited me back to do it again this year. To tie in with their current exhibition, Mechanical Circus (I did lots of automata workshops for this exhibition,) this years theme is the steampunk circus.

Front view

Side view

Back view

I wanted to make a costume for the event but knowing how much running around I did last year I didn't want to make anything too impractical so I decided to make a waistcoat. That way I could enter into the spirit of things but still be free to run the activity without worrying about fancy skirts or anything! I used a basic pattern and replaced the tab at the back with ribbon loops so I could lace it up to give it a more Victorian feel. I also decided not to bother with buttons and am using an old brooch as a fastening instead.

Lacing detail

Front detail

Brooch fastening

Art Gallery Take Over at Tullie House

Fancy Dress Life Drawing

On Thursday evening I ran a fancy dress life drawing session in the art gallery at Tullie House as part of their art gallery takeover for the Museums at Night project. It was such a fun evening; there was a great DJ, a big Minecraft project and other cool activities. The atmosphere was really good, energetic and fun with lots going on (and cocktails!) For my activity Tullie House had got hold of some great costumes, wigs and hats and so I encouraged people to get dressed up and then other people to draw them.

Some of the costumes

Set up and ready for people to start drawing

I was quite nervous beforehand as I wasn't sure whether people would want to get dressed up and draw each other but I need not have worried. People were happy to get stuck in, dressing up in some great costumes, wigs and hats and posing so that other people could draw. It was fun and I liked that people were willing to have a laugh and not take it too seriously!

The admiral jacket was a popular choice!

Because it was a bit different to my usual calm, quiet life drawing sessions I'd taken along lots of marker pens and highlighter pens for people to draw with because I thought they fitted the fun and funky nature of the event better. It was great to see people getting really into the drawing and some fantastic work was produced. Over the course of the evening I stuck the work up on the gallery walls which was great with all the disco lights and at the end of the evening we had a great collection of work.

A few of the drawings

I was very flattered that a couple of people asked if they could have some of the drawings I'd done, it's always exciting when someone wants something you've created. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening; I talked to some great people, saw some beautiful drawings being created and soaked up the atmosphere. I hope Tullie House do more events like this!

The gallery at the end of the night