The Drawing Circus Photo-set: The Rise and Fall of the Drawing Circus (Patreon)

The Rise and Fall of the Drawing Circus was the tale of the assent of the Drawing Circus and it's dramatic decline following the murder of a circus clown. It has been played out in many forms over our decade of events and is an allegory for the creation of the Drawing Circus itself - inescapably self-referential and cyclical. It begins with Francesca Cluney, naked on a bare podium - the platonic life model. Over the course of 6 hours a dozen circus characters join her one at a time, bestowing leadership upon her in the form of an opulent dress built layer by layer. By the interval she is adorned in finery - the ring mistress of a circus of clowns, mermaids, lions and tigers....oh my! The body of a dead clown is found. In the second half a darker chord is struck - the clowns draw their smiles on upside down, painted tears glistening on their cheeks. The corpse of Columbina is borne aloft to a circus funeral. As Francesca daps her crocodile tears with her bloody ruff her murderous deed is revealed (her murder weapon - a released lion) and the Circus turn on her, stripping her of her robes of office and turning away one by one - leaving her once again naked and alone, frozen still on the podium.

This months set of photos comes from the 2017 performance of the Rise and Fall, held at our spiritual home - The Old Market theatre in Brighton, shot by Mary Martin. Please feel free to use the images to make art-work from, following the guidelines below. 

Thanks so much for all of your support,

Jake 

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Guidelines for using the photographs

Please do:

• Download these pictures to your own computers and devices

• Use the pictures to draw, paint, print and sculpt from, being as realistic or creative as you like

• Share the artwork you’ve made with us and the world - in books, in exhibitions, on social media, or on your fridge

• Tag us in work you make (@drawbrighton / #drawbrighton) – you don’t have to, but we love to see what you’ve made!

Please don't:

• Share these pictures with anybody else – they are between you and us

• Share the photos themselves online – thanks for respecting our models’ privacy

• Edit the photo files themselves for artwork – we want to see original work you’ve made