A Canberra bar is hosting an event with a difference, when Australia’s most alluring burlesque performers, cabaret singers and vintage models hit the stage – just for you to draw them.

It’s cabaret meets art school thanks to Dr Sketchy’s at Polit Bar on Thursday 1 February, a fun-filled evening of extravagant costumes, music and creative entertainment.

Whether you’re in line for next year’s Archibald or have trouble drawing a straight line with a ruler, Dr Sketchy’s life drawing welcomes sketchers one and all.

Dr Sketchy’s is the world’s premier alternative drawing movement. Every month, more than 3,500 artists gather in over a hundred cities – including New York, Hollywood, Sao Paolo, London, Rome, Paris, Tokyo and Melbourne – to sketch glamorous models and compete in drawing contests in an atmosphere of artistic mayhem. Started by Molly Crabapple, an artist and former model, as an alternative to the dull drawing classes she had posed for, Dr. Sketchy’s has exploded into an international phenomenon.

The night features three sets in which the models do increasingly longer poses, using their props and costumes to interact or do solo poses. In each set, the models will also perform and the MC will award a participant prize.

The evening includes a themed live performance, comedy skits and audience participation presided over by an MC.

In Canberra, Dr Sketchy’s is produced by Miss Kitka’s House of Burlesque and following a series of grande events at the National Gallery of Australia, it is now hosted monthly at the intimate salon Polit Bar.

Ticket info here.