Kickstarter

Dr. Sketchy's is what happens when cabaret meets art school.

Each session of Dr. Sketchy's is a life drawing class turned cabaret extravaganza. Artists draw glamorous underground performers, compete in contests, and win booze and prizes. From its humble Brooklyn beginnings, it's spread to 100 cities on five continents- including London, Rome, Tokyo, Paris, Sao Paulo and Melbourne.

All kinds of artists are welcome at our sessions, from the complete amateur to the advanced. Our philosophy? You're a terrible artist? Who cares! Gregarious people just like you have rediscovered their creative talents while busily sketching costumed performers in bars the world over.

In March two thousand eleven, the Austin branch is proud to welcome the founder of Dr. Sketchy's, Molly Crabapple to Texas. To celebrate her visit and South By South West panel, we are hosting a very special drawing session which venerates one of her most powerful illustrations, the Reverse Mermaid.

The Reverse Mermaid is a curious creature, oddly beautiful with a fish's head and shapely human legs. The Reverse Mermaid is often paired with a Mermaid featuring a pink Belle Poule – the infamous hairstyle of Marie Antoinette that is piled mile-high on the head and lined with fruit, flowers and feathers.

Molly Crabapple's Reverse Mermaid has been featured in shop windows in NYC, tshirts and countless illustrations. To bring the Reverse Mermaid scene to life, we at Austin Sketchy turned to local artist Aaron Flynn.

Aaron Flynn creates incredible 3D costumes and sculptures. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, he is responsible for constructing the wolf head for our Dame Darcy drawing session, and the costume for Scampi, the Selfish Shellfish.

Aaron will be creating two costumes for the event, one for the Mermaid and one for the Reverse Mermaid. Artists at the session will have a rare chance to sketch models wearing unique sculptures at the fabulous Swan Dive venue in Austin.

Wearing the Mermaid costume is London based burlesque and cabaret performer Crimson Skye. She has performed all over Europe and this year she's off to America to perform in Texas. Texas has been a dream of hers for a while because her main act is singing Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” in a Hannibal Lecter mask and a straight jacket, in a Texan accent. Dr. Sketchy's is proud to welcome her to Austin.

The money from this kickstarter will be used to create the enormous 3D sculpture costumes worn by the models for the March Dr. Sketchy's session. This money goes directly to the artist as a fund for supplies, creation and labor.

Please help us out by donating today! Our reward offers range from free admission to the March Dr. Sketchy's session, original sketches by Aaron Flynn, and (even cooler!) original art from the guest of honor, Molly Crabapple!

Thanks for your continued support of Dr. Sketchy's, and we hope to see you at a future session!