Drawing Circus Photo-set: The Rise (Patreon)

In the old world, we would test out our new drawing shows at the Brighton Fringe before the extravagant national tours of the summer and autumn; we found a fitting venue in the form of the Bosco Theatre, a century-old Dutch circus tent, with a canvas roof, wooden walls and a high painted facade that led to the raked setting arranged 270 degrees around our semi-circular stage. 

We staged the first incarnation of the Rise and Fall of the Drawing Circus on a warm May evening inside the Bosco, blues music drifting over from the nearby Spiegeltent to merge with the sounds of the Drawchestra's accordion and cello. The Rise was the first of a two-part drawing event, telling the tale of the creation of the Drawing Circus with each character emerging from underneath Francesca Cluney's voluminous red dress, itself a tiny stage. As they were birthed from beneath her skirts, each model would strike a short sequence of poses before joining the growing troupe, creating a still tableau on which the Rise ended and from which the Fall would pick up. 

Here are some of the photos from that night, shot by Mary Martin and including a few backstage photographs from the insalubrious greenroom portacabin behind the tents stage door. 

Enjoy, Jake 

--

Guidelines for using the photographs

Please do:

• Download these pictures to your own computers and devices, downloading the Zip files for all images, or saving individual photos. 

• 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!

• Edit the photo files as reference for your own drawings - you can change the contrasts, colours and backgrounds to provide more tailored reference for yourself.

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 

Thanks! Use the Draw Patreon Navigator to search our full archive.