Lousy experience

[Jimmie Arroyo]

Hope this is the right spot for it, as I did'nt find a 'whining' section in the forum. I had been looking foward for some time to using pastels from a live model for a long time and had been excited about this chance. I finally got the opportunity this past Sunday morning, there were going to be three models posing for six hours, a perfect opportunity for experience. I packed up almost all my pastels; 180 Rembrandts, 36 Unisons, and 50 Giraults, and a banana. Got there early 9:30, it started at 10am. Got a great spot, maybe ten feet away from the models. I was very anxious.

The models arrived late, then had to get dressed. No one seemed to mind, but I thought maybe they'll make up the time at the end. It was done like that in college. We started at 10:38, people were still talking and drinking their coffees and eating their bagels. The lady I'm working on, starts showing fustration that her timer had'nt gone off after 22 minutes instead of 20. So they take their first break. 20 minutes pass, and the models are starting to get back into position. This went on and I noticed at about 12:20, we had only had 1 hour's worth of sitting. So that's an hour and ten minutes of wasted time. Mostly the models, but also some of the ''artist's'' fault. I was so annoyed by this time, that I could not get into the painting and it suffered bad, one of the worst pieces I've ever done.

They went and did their pose until 12:40, took another 10 minute break, then went up there to get another pose in before the big 1pm break. I'm thinking the proper thing to do is do the full 20 minutes to compensate for their tardiness. They get up after 10 minutes for the big break. The worst part is, it seemed like no one cared. I pack up my stuff, which takes me two trips to my car. The lady who put this thing together sees me packing and says "Jimmie, you can't stay for the whole session?" Then she remembers "Did'nt you pay for the whole thing already?" I asked her into the other room and tell her how disappointed I was, the models coming late, how they took their sweet time and no one here cares. There was no way I was staying for the following three hours. She felt terrible and gave me all my money back. I told her I did'nt want the whole thing back, just what I did'nt use. I guess she figured I got nothing out of it when she noticed my picture in the garbage.

Had a headache and was pretty sore for the rest of the day. Getting my money back, I decided to take the family to see Shrek2. Great movie. With popcorn, soda, and candy, it came out to the same amount I almost wasted at the class.

I'm going to try to get people to pose early Sunday between 7-10am. That means I'll lose my 12-4am slot Saturday night-Sunday morning, but I'm hoping I can find people willing to do it. Sorry, I usually don't talk this much, but I had to vent (whine).