by Joey Phoenix
This past Tuesday, Gulu Gulu Café’s Drink-N-Draw went virtual on Zoom – hosted on Creative North Shore’s Zoom Channel. Participants pre-registered to attend the live modeling event from their homes.
As a model for Drink-N-Draw in the past with some tech savvy-ness up my sleeve, I volunteered to model for the first virtual Drink-N-Draw, converting my living room into a model platform using some weird stuff I had lying around my apartment.
Creative Collective President John Andrews also joined as moderator for the first one to help enable artists and Drink-N-Draw organizers Sue Grillo and Beki Ferrari to be able to do this on Tuesday evenings until social distancing guidelines are lifted.
“In the midst of the new normal we are all experiencing, being able to find a virtual platform for our community of artists to still exist, thrive, and even gain new followers has been so transformative on the type of event we had even imagined we could provide,” said Drink-N-Draw Organizer Beki Ferrari.
“It was was so great to do what we do: bringing people out to draw together in the time of physical distancing,” said artist and Drink-N-Draw Organizer Sue Grillo. “The experience with the model translated to a virtual space very well and it was good to see D-N-D regulars tune in as well as a friend from across the country and her son were able to join us!”
Sue Grillo Beki Ferrari Jon Moriarty Chris Murray Jessica Silva Jessica Murdock Jim Vaughey
Attendees registered for the event via a link posted on the Facebook Event Page and, at 7:30, the room opened up. The moderator was able to pin the window featuring the model (me) so that during the poses people could easily see what I was doing on their screens. In between poses, the artist took turns showing off what they drew with the help of the moderator who would spotlight them.
For me, it was especially neat to be able to interact with the artists more directly. Often on the Drink-N-Draw stage at Gulu I don’t get to see some of the art made, and I really enjoyed the experience of seeing the work during my break.
Because the night was well attended and enjoyable for everyone, Gulu Gulu’s Virtual Drink-N-Draw will continue next week on Tuesday evening at 7:30 PM.
“Our network of unfathomably creative models and artists of all styles never ceases to amaze me! The energy and possibly of these types of events have given us so many ideas of how we can continue to bring quality art modeling events to the community,” Beki added, enthusiastically.
Tip: The event is free but each model has a virtual tip bucket on Venmo! So if you don’t have the app and plan to attend, definitely consider downloading. Suggested tip: $5.
Click here for an up to date listing of Virtual Experiences
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