Bubble-gum Bouguereau Photo-set: Clothes Swap (Frankie & Priss) (Patreon)

In Frankie and Priss's dual pose set 'Clothes Swap' we lean heavily into the unconventional briefing of the Bubble-gum Bouguereau shoot - to imagine a high school teen movie directed by the 18th Century French romantic William Adolphe Bouguereau. Where Bouguereau's multi-figure compositions often tackle  grand historical and mythological narratives we have sought to present tableaux of friendship posed with the hyperbolic visual drama of a Bouguereau painting.

The American high school teen movie had its golden age in the 80's, 90's & early 2000's, built on foundational films like the 1978 musical 'Grease'.  While superficial at first glance (and often problematic in retrospect) the coming-of-age dramas explore essential human narratives about the relationships between families, friends and lovers, reframing the narratives of literary classics in relatable form: the 1995 teen movie classic 'Clueless' is a loose adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma, while the 1999 '10 Things I Hate About You' retells Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.

Just as Mount Olympus and the interpersonal dramas of the Ancient Greek gods provided an allegorical stimulus for Western painters like Bouguereau to explore dramatic visual imagery, so the contained stage-set of the American High School and its cast of caricatures allow us to enjoy daily dramas being framed as plot-driving cataclysms. It is that spirit of high drama that informed the highly-posed vignettes of these photo sets, providing a catalyst to help our models find new poses.

This is just a starting point of course - the imagery and combined poses are for you to interpret as you wish and to take in directions far away from the initial narratives. Paint, draw, print or sculpt from these photo sets and we look forward to seeing what you make.

Recommended watching: The Breakfast Club (1985), Heathers (1988), Mean Girls (2004)

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About the models

• You can follow Priss's poetry on Instagram HERE
• Take a look at Priss's Portrait, Life and Clothed photosets and her 'Summoning', 'Float', 'Hands' & 'Back to Front' photosets via the links - spot Priss as 'The Stars' at the Drawing Circus HERE
• Watch Priss' portrait replay HERE and life replay HERE
• Frankie can be found on Instagram HERE
• You can find portrait replays of Frankie HERE and HERE
• You can find Frankie's Magritte themed life drawing replay HERE and her bath themed session HERE
• Find Frankie's clothed, portait, life & Summer Showers photo-sets by following the links.
• Frankie is ringmistress of the Drawing Circus and is in most of our Drawing Circus reference image HERE
• Frankie has more reference photos available on her Patreon HERE

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About the photos

• This photoset was shot by Justyna Neryng - you can buy or commission photosets from her directly HERE
• You can follow Justyna on Instagram HERE
• For the full list of autumn 2023 release dates, have a look at our teaser photo-set HERE

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Use the Draw Patreon Navigator to find any of our past photosets and take a look at our blogs on how to gather, manipulate and translate photo reference.

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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
• Include photos themselves in artwork – we want to see original work you’ve made

Thanks!