Tag Archives: traditional portraiture for alternative lifestyles

A life drawing session with Suki of the BSC, celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander Showgirls of SF!

Suki in corset for Berlin Strippers Collective by Suzanne Forbes May 26 2021I always love to join a zoom drawing session from the BSC.

The Berlin Strippers’ Collective is a wonderful resource for folks who do life drawing, both remotely and IRL. Although my health has limited my attendance, I had to make this session with co-founder Suki, who created a concept to honor the history of the AAPI showgirls of San Francisco’s Forbidden City Nightclub and Cabaret.

πšƒπš‘πšŽ π™΅πš˜πš›πš‹πš’πšπšπšŽπš— π™²πš’πšπš’ 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 π™²πš‘πš’πš—πšŽπšœπšŽ πš—πš’πšπš‘πšπšŒπš•πšžπš‹ πšŠπš—πš πšŒπšŠπš‹πšŠπš›πšŽπš πš’πš— πš‚πšŠπš— π™΅πš›πšŠπš—πšŒπš’πšœπšŒπš˜, πš πš‘πš’πšŒπš‘ 𝚠𝚊𝚜 πš’πš— πš‹πšžπšœπš’πš—πšŽπšœπšœ πšπš›πš˜πš– 𝟷𝟿𝟹𝟾 𝚝𝚘 𝟷𝟿𝟽𝟢.
π™²πš‘πšŠπš›πš•πš’πšŽ π™»πš˜πš , πšπš‘πšŽ πšœπš˜πš— 𝚘𝚏 πšœπš–πšŠπš•πš• πšœπšπš˜πš›πšŽ πš˜πš πš—πšŽπš›πšœ, πš˜πš™πšŽπš—πšŽπš πšπš‘πšŽ π™΅πš˜πš›πš‹πš’πšπšπšŽπš— π™²πš’πšπš’ πš˜πš— π™³πšŽπšŒπšŽπš–πš‹πšŽπš› 𝟸𝟸, 𝟷𝟿𝟹𝟾.
π™±πšžπšœπš’πš—πšŽπšœπšœ 𝚠𝚊𝚜 πšœπš•πš˜πš  πšžπš—πšπš’πš• 𝟷𝟿𝟺𝟢, πš πš‘πšŽπš— π™»πš˜πš  πš‘πš’πš›πšŽπš π™½πš˜πšŽπš• πšƒπš˜πš’, 𝚊 πš“πš˜πšžπš›πš—πšŠπš•πš’πšœπš– πšœπšπšžπšπšŽπš—πš 𝚊𝚝 πš„πš—πš’πšŸπšŽπš›πšœπš’πšπš’ 𝚘𝚏 π™²πšŠπš•πš’πšπš˜πš›πš—πš’πšŠ, π™±πšŽπš›πš”πšŽπš•πšŽπš’ πš πš‘πš˜ πš‘πšŠπš πš πš˜πš›πš”πšŽπš 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 πš—πšžπšπšŽ πš–πš˜πšπšŽπš• 𝚊𝚝 πšπš‘πšŽ π™Άπš˜πš•πšπšŽπš— π™ΆπšŠπšπšŽ π™Έπš—πšπšŽπš›πš—πšŠπšπš’πš˜πš—πšŠπš• π™΄πš‘πš™πš˜πšœπš’πšπš’πš˜πš— πš’πš— 𝟷𝟿𝟹𝟿. π™°πš π™΅πš˜πš›πš‹πš’πšπšπšŽπš— π™²πš’πšπš’, πšƒπš˜πš’ 𝚠𝚊𝚜 πš–πšŠπš›πš”πšŽπšπšŽπš 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 “π™±πšžπš‹πš‹πš•πšŽ π™³πšŠπš—πšŒπšŽπš›.” πš‚πš‘πšŽ πš™πšŽπš›πšπš˜πš›πš–πšŽπš πš—πšžπšπšŽ πš πš’πšπš‘ 𝚊 πš•πšŠπš›πšπšŽ, πš˜πš™πšŠπššπšžπšŽ πš‹πšžπš‹πš‹πš•πšŽ πšŒπš˜πšŸπšŽπš›πš’πš—πš πš‘πšŽπš› πš‹πš˜πšπš’. πš‚πš‘πšŽ πšŠπš•πšœπš˜ πš™πšŽπš›πšπš˜πš›πš–πšŽπš 𝚊 πš—πšžπšπšŽ πšπšŠπš— πšπšŠπš—πšŒπšŽ πš πš’πšπš‘ πš˜πšœπšπš›πš’πšŒπš‘ πšπšŽπšŠπšπš‘πšŽπš›πšœ. πš†πš’πšπš‘πš’πš— πšπš‘πš›πšŽπšŽ πš–πš˜πš—πšπš‘πšœ, πš‹πšžπšœπš’πš—πšŽπšœπšœ πš›πšŽπšŸπšŽπš—πšžπšŽπšœ πš‘πšŠπš πšπš›πš’πš™πš•πšŽπš.

-from Suki’s post for the event

Suki with red fans for BSC by Suzanne Forbes May 26 2021Such a gorgeous feel to this session!

I love the red fabric fans! Suki’s insta is here.

Suki for BSC by Suzanne Forbes May 26 2021Thank you so much for the history and the inspiration, Suki!

Happy International Sex Worker’s Day to all, and don’t forget to visit the BSC pages to see how Covid has affected strippers, among other sex work industries. You can also visit Suki’s fan site here πŸ™‚

I am incredibly grateful to myΒ Patreon Patrons, whose monthly financial support makes it possible for me work safely at home, documenting Berlin performers and sex workers.

A spooky special from The Croatian Burlesque and Cabaret Festival!

Larlecchino at Croatian Burlesque Festival Autumn Edition by Suzanne Forbes May 17 2021The Croatian Burlesque and Cabaret Festival is deliciously gothic and glamorous.

The Autumn 2020 edition was a mix of online and IRL, at the traditional venue, which is a boat! A three-day special event with three spooky themes, I loved every single act. The drawing above is L’Arlecchino from Venice.

Lady Wildflower for Croatian Burlesque Festival Halloween Edition by Suzanne Forbes May 17 2021This is Lady Wildflower, who danced in her neighbor’s backyard!

Follow Lady Wildflower here and on her fan site here πŸ™‚

Celeste de Moriae is Founder and Producer of the CBaCF and its Insta is here!

I’m working on more drawings from this event –Β it’s going slower than usual, but I will get them up eventually πŸ™‚

I am incredibly grateful to myΒ Patreon Patrons, whose monthly financial support makes it possible for me work safely at home.

As usual these drawingsΒ are licensed Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 InternationalΒ (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)Β for all toΒ share and enjoy!

In addition, I release the copyright on each drawing to the performer shown and they may use the drawings for their own profit and pleeeasssure in any way they choose.