Read Online The Tied Man by Tabitha McGowan - Free Book Online Page B

practical.  It means that no matter where I am, I’m always at exactly the same height to the canvas and the sitter.’
    ‘What was it you called your style? ‘Hyperreality’, wasn’t it?’
    ‘Hyper-bullshit, more like.  Some critic needed a snappy phrase for his review, and came up with that.  It’s hung around my neck ever since.’
    Blaine laughed, and settled back into her chair. ‘I imagine you must get to hear some very interesting things while you work.’
    I nodded.  ‘My sittings can end up like secular confessionals.’
    ‘And are you ever tempted to divulge?’
    ‘Never.’ The reply came sharper than I’d planned.
    ‘That was a stupid question.  I’m sorry.’
    ‘No problem.’ 
    I started to sketch, holding the soft pencil with the lightest of grips and letting my hand move where it wanted across the white expanse.
    ‘So, this is where it all starts.’ Blaine fell silent, content
    to watch me work.
    Technically, Blaine was wonderful to draw.  Her classically handsome face translated onto the paper with little effort, and within two hours I had a first sketch that would have pleased any journeyman portrait artist. 
    It didn’t please me.  My thing , the trick I pulled that lifted me from the ranks and let me make up fees for a laugh, was to look behind the mask and find the details that the sitters themselves didn’t know were there.  Right now, on a job I couldn’t risk failing, I was getting fuck all apart from a great deal of hardwired upper class poise. 
    I told myself that I was tired; disorientated, that tomorrow it all might begin to fall into place, but I knew that on my very first day a seed of disquiet had already been planted somewhere deep and unreachable.
    ‘May I see?’ Blaine asked, when I took a break to stretch out.  ‘Or are you one of these artists that likes to present their opus at the very end?’
    ‘Depends on the client.  Some like the big reveal, but I’ve been offering live-streaming while I work for the last year or so.  Sometimes the process is the most interesting element.’
    ‘I’m afraid I’m a little too curious to wait until the end.’ Blaine picked up my pad.  I held my breath, but she shared none of my concerns. ‘Oh Lilith, that’s magnificent.  I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you took up my offer. If this is your first piece, I can’t imagine what the final work will look like.’
    ‘It’s a start.’ 
    ‘Perhaps I’ll send Finn in to take a look and begin his art classes.’
    ‘I’d be happy to show him, as long as I’m not too engrossed – I get kind of snappy.’
    ‘I’ll bear that in mind.’ Blaine glanced up from her examination of my work. ‘Just out of interest, what did you make of my Finn?’
    ‘Probably the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.’  I replaced a pencil in its tin, turning it so that the label faced outwards to match the rest.
    ‘That’s a very honest response.’
    I shrugged.  ‘It’s the truth.  What am I going to say?  That he’s some hideous freak of nature?’
    ‘No, not at all.  I was just a little thrown by your candour.  He was particularly taken with you, I think.’
    Just as I was wondering how to turn the conversation to something rather less candid, Blaine reverentially closed the book and handed it back to me.  ‘Well, it’s been a highly enjoyable morning.  It seems a pity that I need to get back to work, but I’m sure you’ve got enough to be getting on with now.  I’ll leave you in peace.’  She clasped my hand in hers.  ‘It really is so delightful to have you here, Lilith.  I’m sure we’ll be close friends long before the piece is finished.’
    I didn’t mind about anything I’d told her.  There was nothing I felt uncomfortable with, or regretted saying.  What was really biting me was that I had learned nothing in return.  I reopened my sketchpad and wondered what the hell to do next.
     

Finn
    I sat in the corridor outside the