Sexy Sketchy: Molly Crabapple

SOMETIME BETWEEN POSING as art and studying it, Molly Crabapple decided to venture outside the lines. Fed up with art school's "sterile approach" to figure drawing, Crabapple became a dropout and founded Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School. Equipped with "booze and sexy girls," Dr. Sketchy's is a "cabaret-life-drawing" session that grew from a happening thing to do in Brooklyn to an established brand with branches around the world.

Now Crabapple and co-author John Leavitt invite everyone to unleash their artistic inhibitions with "Dr. Sketchy's Official Rainy Day Colouring Book." Based on the popular sessions, it's part activity book, part do-it-yourself guide — sprinkled with a lot of dirty humor and fun for all.

Crabapple spoke with Express before Dr. Sketchy's hits The Palace of Wonders on Tuesday night for a full-on session.

» EXPRESS: How did the idea for the book come along?
» CRABAPPLE: It fell into my lap. A friend of mine was starting an independent publishing house and he was like, "Do you have any ideas for any books based on [the] events?" I was like, "Do I ever." So, we thought about the best way to capture Dr. Sketchy's in a book, and we decided doing a silly, perverted activity book might be the way.

» EXPRESS: Why such a strong burlesque focus?
» CRABAPPLE: One of the things I love about burlesque is that it takes normal women and turns them into stars and divas and personalities, which is partially what I'm trying to do with Dr. Sketchy's.

» EXPRESS: Describe the experience for the uninitiated.
» CRABAPPLE: Here in D.C. it's going to be an amped-up version of it. First, I'm going to read some of the salacious bits in my book. Then Amber Ray, who is a very well known New York City burlesque dancer, is going to do her peacock dance — this dance with this insane costume with tail feathers. After that, she'll pose in her peacock costume for about three hours, in 20-minute segments. In between there's going to be wacky contest with silly prizes — there's even a prize for a shot of liquor.

» EXPRESS: What types of people come through?
» CRABAPPLE: We have a lot of art students, of course; a lot of people who once studied art but now have boring corporate jobs and are trying to get back into the drawing.

» EXPRESS: What about sketchy, shadowy guys?
» CRABAPPLE: If there's a sketchy guy, my comrades and my loyal students take care of him.

» EXPRESS: How do people react to the nudity when all they're liquored up?
» CRABAPPLE: In Dr. Sketchy's, my models keep their bras on, not like in normal-life drawing classes. I think a lot of people don't realize that artists draw naked people, that it's just like a standard thing. Compared to a real-life drawing class, I actually think my thing is kind of tame.

» EXPRESS: You must have a day job?
» CRABAPPLE: I'm a professional illustrator for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and Playgirl. I got my own cartoon for Playgirl that's starting next month. And I'm working on a second book proposal on how not to be a starving artist.

» EXPRESS: Have you had trouble being taken seriously in your artistic career?
» CRABAPPLE: The thing that's cool about illustration, as opposed to fine art, is that people don't really care about you. They only care if you're making a good illustration. But in the fine-art world I did find that a little bit. Now that I have my credentials down, though, that made people take me seriously.

» EXPRESS: Are there any sexy photos of you online from your modeling days?
» CRABAPPLE: I have posed scantily clad for a few magazines. There are photos of me in a bikini in Lowrider magazine next to a vintage auto for instance. I'm rather proud of my Lowrider debut.

» The Palace of Wonders, 1210 H Street NE; Tue., 8 p.m., 21+, $10; 202-398-7469.

Photo by Aeric