Life Drawing at the Octopus Bar

 

Jen had the right idea -- she kept right on drawing
the rest of us even as she posed!

10/25/26 Life drawing at the Octopus Bar

A new bar has opened in the Wallingford neighborhood with an interesting theme. With lots of “wood, ropes, handwritten letters, portholes, nautical charts, maps, cameras, suitcases, chains, anchors and anything rusty or shiny,” The Octopus Bar has multiple rooms decked out with nautical stuff that would be fun to sketch. The most fun offering, though, is free life drawing every Sunday evening!

I started out using a gray marker for shading,
but I found it to be too dark, so I switched to light blue later.

You won’t find pro models there. Instead, patrons volunteer to pose in return for a drink. Each pose is eight minutes with a short break halfway through – a manageable duration for amateurs. Not that I would know – I didn’t have the nerve to volunteer last Sunday, when I made my first visit there with Jen and Sasha. They both tried modeling for the first time and enjoyed it, which encouraged me to try it sometime!

What I like most about the Octopus Bar (compared to other bars) is that the music isn’t annoying or even overly loud (a very pleasant surprise). In addition, the lighting was bright enough that we could see what we were drawing – also surprising for a bar. I gave the manager positive feedback about both.

Friends Sarah and Kanchan portrayed a horror scene for their partnered pose!

I had a ball and will surely be back again. With good food and beverages to enjoy while sketching, it’s going to be a great wintertime sketching option.

I switched to colored pencils for the second set.
Ahhh... pencils, how I've missed you!