Tag Archives: traditional portraiture for alternative lifestyles

Hostess Thrieza Poke, GodXXX Noirphiles, Gaby Tupper and more at Pansy’s House of Presents!

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Godxxx Noirphiles by Suzanne Forbes Feb 19 2020GodXXX Noirphiles is a performer I have been wanting to draw for AGES!

Godxxx Noirphiles by Suzanne Forbes Feb 19 2020 detailBecause they do very interesting performance work, and amazing makeup, and because this boi is so good-looking! So when I saw he was performing at House of Presents on a damp January night, I headed over to Monster Ronsons. Her look was dazzling!

And her performance was a twist: the audience was primed for serious political performance art by the dramatic intro music, then swept into nervous giggles by the embarrassment of a familiar intimate moment.

By the end everyone was whooping with relief at sharing this awkward feeling they knew all too well!

Upcoming GodXXX events: they are pregnant!

Please check Godxxx’s Drag King Don’t Rush challenge, you will faint. Godxxx aka Adrian Blount is doing a Youtube series on Queer Birthing!

EDIT Jan 2120: GodXXXNoirphiles has a Patreon and you can support their art and the Queer Birthing series, which is a radical and historic project.

More about GodXXX: cool Berlin drag queens interview video here! House of Living Colors’ Insta here.

Gieza Poke as Thrieza by Suzanne Forbes Feb 18 2020Gieza Poke was hosting The House of Presents in lieu of Pansy who was somewhere warm having fun!

And Gieza had an excellent new look involving three heads. This event was the first time I saw Gieza up close in person barefaced – and I almost didn’t recognize her! Gieza was kind enough to arrange disability accommodation for me, reserving a seat with a view. I used to be able to stand up and draw in a crowded club for six hours straight, but those days are long gone!

There was not actually a huge rainbow flag behind Gieza during Auntie’s performance- I just felt inspired to add a lot of color, so I did, which totally violates my normal documentary art protocols but you know what, so what!

Antina Christ and Dunja by Suzanne Forbes Feb 18 2020Before the show started I drew two local beauties chatting at the DJ booth.

Left is goth drag witch MUA Antina Christ, The Daughter of Seitan, and right is Dunja Von K., hula hoop MaÎtress, Creeper and hard-working performer!

Gaby Tupper by Suzanne Forbes Feb 19 2020I loved the 80s styling of Gaby Tubber, who I had never seen perform before.

Did you know Gaby has a fabulous event called TGIF, “Trash Goddess in Film”, a show for film fans and friends of trash?

Please remember that Drag Saves Lives.

I am so grateful to my Patrons on Patreon, who make it possible for me to document Berlin’s queer intersectional performance scene and release the artwork free to all.

 

Color experiments and Weimar Glamour with Kabarett der Namenlosen.

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Le Pustra and Mama Ulita at Dr Sketchys Berlin by Suzanne Forbes Jan 15 2020I found a bunch of unfinished drawings from a Kabarett der Namenlosen session of Dr. Sketchy’s Berlin!

Work in progress Suzanne Forbes drawing of Le Pustra and Mama Ulita 2019I was shocked to find these drawings, hiding in a sketchbook I thought contained nothing of importance. (I also found an unfinished unterwegs that I genuinely don’t remember drawing!)

As you can see to left, the drawing of Le Pustra and Mama Ulita was mostly finished. The others were more scribbly, just pencil. But now that I have actually seen the live performance of the Kabarett, I felt I should try finishing them up.

Why had I abandoned them?Le Pustra at Dr Sketchys Berlin by Suzanne Forbes Jan 15 2020

Mama Ulita at Dr Sketchys Berlin by Suzanne Forbes Jan 15 2020 back viewWas it frustration that I can never really capture the wild glamour of these performers, in their soft silk robes and stockings, with their immaculate white tie and tails?

I feel terrible frustration trying to convey exactly how it feels to see Mama Ulita perform. When she whips off her bob wig to reveal her own seal-slick black cap of hair, the audience gasps. I honestly want to be David Downton, at moments like that. This drawing doesn’t have a fraction of her elegance.

But it is a valid attempt, and it was worth finishing to see where it went, so I don’t know why that didn’t happen. Maybe these drawings just overtaken by events, as they say in the military? It’s been a tough year or two, healthwise.

I’m working hard to figure out how to add color to my drawings, but I am still so unsure. I used markers, pastels and a water reservoir brush to add color to several of them. Color is such an important part of the visual design of the Kabarett, with bright wigs by Nina Budden Hair and pale ostrich boas. I don’t really know how to convey these soft vintage shades alongside the graphic black and white tuxedoes.

I am committed to the process of making color an integral part of my live drawing, and it’s tough!

Mama Ulita at Dr Sketchys Berlin by Suzanne Forbes Jan 15 2020Sometimes hints of color, little accents, are best.

Sometimes I try to do more and don’t feel I succeeded. The trouble is, even terrific photographers can’t capture everything the eye sees at a show like this. There are a thousand moments, each so beautiful, and I can’t show you them all.Le Pustra and Dekolars at Dr Sketchys Berlin by Suzanne Forbes Jan 15 2020

Still, I do my best, and I hope you enjoy this tender moment with Le Pustra and Lars Schwuchow, above.

I am so grateful to my Patrons on Patreon, who make it possible for me to document Berlin’s queer intersectional performance scene and release the artwork free to all.