A new empire named Dr Sketchys

There once was a girl who was desperately bored in life drawing classes, who asked “why do we have to draw such boring poises? They are nudes after all.” This alleged girl decided to start a club where artists would chip in a few bucks and have some burlesque dancers pose for them… this started a revolution that has now spread all across the country. (If you’re wondering if there’s a group near you google Dr. Sketchy’s and your city's name, if your in a big city it’s probably there…somewhere.)

I learned about Dr. Sketchys in Florida about 5 years ago, and quickly discovered they are in my city too, though attending has always been a nervous debate… this is not just a life drawing group with a bunch of nudes, this is life drawing with a bunch of nudes that will make you blush…. And your probably going to get a show too….I was afraid of sitting in bible study some day and blurting out “that reminds me of this burlesque dancer…”… but lately winds of change have struck me, I’ve been rapidly knocking off those things on my list that I’ve trepidaciously set aside for “another day.” So I found a friend would go with me, AND IT WAS AAAAWESOME!

My sketches don’t give it any justice… it’s been a long time since I last drew nudes… and these were just quick 5 minute or less drawings…. But let me paint you a picture:

The address of this group was down in the empty factory district….aka the place where no one goes. When we found the right street with huge ghostly buildings all around we were stopped by a random chintzy train stopping bar…in the middle of nowhere, with no train… yet sure enough, about a minute later a train came blazing through… no horn honking like normal, cause well, we’re in the part of town where no one goes…. But as we’re waiting for the train to pass we see a kid with a sketch book walking around the corner… so we decide to park and follow.

There’s a flyer on the door, indicating this is the place… door was unlocked, but there was no one inside, and there were only a few lights on inside huge factory building…. We happen to spot the kid with the sketch book, who emerges from a dark room filled with who knows what, and he asks “do you know how to get there?”…then suddenly we hear a deep rattle and a few bangs…. And a narcoleptic emo kid emerges out of the corner “You guys need a ride up?”… “um, yeah,…a ride up to the burlesque drawing class?”…no answer, he just turns around and starts walking…. The three of us follow him into the old elevator covered in old Dr. Sketchy flyers…oh good, where in the right place…. We must have gone up 5 stories before the doors opened again… but this is a much different view… music is pulsing from a switch board manned by a DJ… a mixture of indie rock and classics like patsy cline…. Edgy artwork is all over the walls, the place is huge with couches every were, and a bar that looks like its from an old speak easy in the corner… with a bartender that’s all tattooed up, wearing suspenders and bright orange highlights in his bleach blond hair…a dining room table filled with burlesque dancers playing cards while smoking and painting their finger nails…a friendly pitbull weaving around about 50-70 artists, young and old adorned with cameras, sketch pads, markers, etc…. in the back corner is a platform surrounded by chairs, and then surrounded by couches….the place was unreal. As my friend put it “I don’t feel cool enough for this place.”