Thee Church of Manlove
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churchofmanlove.bsky.social
Thee Church of Manlove
@churchofmanlove.bsky.social
81 followers 63 following 42 posts
Keep your electric eye on me, babe 👁
Not a 501c3 organization
Just a dude drawing dudes (primarily) 🌈
(he/him)
IG: @TheeChurchOfManlove
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churchofmanlove.bsky.social
Happy new year, everyone! I hope your holidays, whatever you celebrate, were merry and gay.
Speaking of the latter, here's @tiddiesdeloser.bsky.social from a session a few weeks ago with @gaymenssketch.bsky.social

What I used:
Brush tip markers and Micron pens
Diluted india ink
Micron pen
January 2, 2026 at 5:22 AM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
The return of Daniel! From a session in mid-November with gaymenssketch.bsky.social

What I used:
Micron pen and chalk pastel pencil on tan tone paper
Oil pastel and chalk pastel
December 8, 2025 at 5:03 AM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
@theoriginalgrant.bsky.social was the model when I finally got to draw in-person with @gaymenssketch.bsky.social during a visit to SF this summer, and I was very excited to draw him again. Here's a drawing and some quick gesture sketches from a session two weeks ago.

Pencil
Oil pastel, chalk pastel
October 2, 2025 at 2:48 AM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
@thiccvirtualboy.bsky.social is another great, new model who posed for @gaymenssketch.bsky.social recently.
From a session two weeks ago.

Pencil & chalk pastel pencil on tan tone paper
Chalk pastel
Oil pastel & chalk pastel
September 17, 2025 at 2:50 AM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
I believe Jason (IG: j_lojo_sf) is pretty new to figurative modeling, and he absolutely nailed it here. From a session at the end of August with @gaymenssketch.bsky.social

Oil pastel and chalk pastel
Oil pastel
Pencil and chalk pastel pencil on tan tone paper
Chalk pastel pencil and color pencil
September 14, 2025 at 4:35 PM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
This was Daniel's first time as a figure drawing model, and he did a beautiful job. Another model that I hope works with us again!
From a session in early Aug with @gaymenssketch.bsky.social

Chalk pastel & chalk pastel pencil on black tone paper
Watercolor and Micron pen
India ink
September 3, 2025 at 4:32 AM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
(Oops, looks like my scheduler failed to post this a while back! Trying again now...)
@justjoon.bsky.social always delivers, especially with the incredible acrobatic poses @gaymenssketch.bsky.social‬ gets him to do for gesture poses.

Chalk pastel
India ink
Micron pen and dying marker
Micron pen
September 2, 2025 at 1:25 AM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
@bmanuel.bsky.social from a session back in January promoting his new book, Hello Stranger.
With @doableguys.bsky.social

Mediums used:
Chalk pastel pencil and color pencil
Pencil and chalk pastel pencil on tan tone paper
Chalk pastel on black tone paper
Micron pen
June 16, 2025 at 2:50 AM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
Oops, I guess it's been a hot minute...! Here are a few of @jrtopdog.bsky.social though, from a session a couple of weeks ago with @gaymenssketch.bky.social. Jerry's new to modeling, and did a fantastic job. I hope to see him back sometime!

Micron pen
Chalk pastel
Brush-tipped markers & Micron pens
June 10, 2025 at 5:42 AM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
Getting ready for #SomervilleOpenStudios tomorrow and Sunday (12 - 6 pm)! I'll be showing the goods* and peddling my wares**, alongside @mirthfulartsandvintage (IG).
If you're in the Boston area, feel free to stop by! See the link in my bio for more.

*(figure drawings)
**(a few prints)
May 2, 2025 at 10:54 PM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
A few drawings of @jessiepegasis.bsky.social, who first modeled for us at the beginning of the year, and who I was very glad to see come back.
These are from a session about two weeks ago with @gaymenssketch.bsky.social

What I used:
Pencil
Chalk pastel
India ink
Pencil drawing of a seated man, with his arm folded across his chest and on the stool in front of him. Only the figure's face and upper body is rendered in detail, as the man stares off to something out of view... Quick and minimal drawing of a standing man in his underwear, with his arms outstretched. The shadows are rendered in a light pink, with pink outlines accenting the parts of the man's contours in shadow. Quick and minimal line drawing in blue ink of a standing man in underwear, with one arm outstretched above, and the other hand on his side.
April 1, 2025 at 5:38 AM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
From a small in-person gathering, with berkguy.bsky.social and Jonathan (IG: @bonnaburn) posing. The poses were the length of a 2 or so songs... took me a bit to get into this different timing, but eventually got into a bit of a Zen state.

Micron pens
Chalk pastel pencils & color pencils
Green line drawing of a nude male, seen from the front, with one leg lifted. Pink line drawing of a nude seated male, showing primarily his torso, and from the side. Green line drawing of a nude male sitting on a chair, seen from a rear three-quarters view angle. Drawing of a nude male, rendered in lavender with some occasional darker purple outlines, the drawing mostly showing the torso and thighs, with part of an arm seen outstretched towards the viewer.
March 30, 2025 at 7:39 PM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
CQ, from a session almost two weeks ago with @gaymenssketch.bsky.social

What I used:
India ink, ink wash, watercolor
Chalk pastel
India ink
Drawing of a seated nude male in blue ink and ink wash, seen from behind, with a splash of pink watercolor over his left shoulder. Quick and simple line drawing in purple of a man squatting, with both arms uplifted. Quick and minimal drawing in red ink of a man standing in a jock strap, from an angle below and to the side of the man. Quick and minimal line drawing, in blue ink, of a man reclining, extending one arm out and below him.
March 22, 2025 at 8:02 PM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
Process post! Well, a little bit of one... I didn't start capturing this until I had pretty much finished up the watercolor/color pencil work and inking, so this really just captures the last home stretch.
The model's @petarious.bsky.social, from a session with @gaymenssketch.bsky.social
Drawing of a nude male, from a rear 3/4 view angle, with his right arm outstretched away from the viewer, towards the unseen. The shadows and mid-tones are in pink and peach-hued color pencil, and outlined in red ink. ...ok, now that color pencil texture is watercolor texture. Surprise! Most of that was watercolor pencil, and I mainly just got it wet and pushed some color around (well, I did mix in a smidge of color from my watercolor set too). Though there are still some color pencil strokes visible, since I did use some regular color pencils as well. The edges of the paper are also taped down with masking tape, to help keep the paper's buckling from the watercolor under control. Ok, now there's a little bit more color pencil work here, adding more values to the shadow to give more depth where the color was a little flat. Also, my brain was thinking I had maybe given Peter anime hair? (On account of it largely being so straight up pink.) So I thought putting down some color pencil strokes here would help with that. Did it help? I suppose. Had it actually ever really looked like anime hair? Probably not, considering everything else was so pink. Voila! The finished piece. Which pretty much looks like everything else described to you, except with a violet watercolor wash over Peter, on part of the page. The wash doesn't actually go all the way to the top of the page, but shhh, don't tell the people on Instagram, they can't see that part there. (That part's where the masking tape was. Oh yeah, the tape's gone now.)
March 4, 2025 at 6:40 AM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
@petarious.bsky.social! 😍
From a @gaymenssketch.bsky.social session a few weeks back.

What I used:
Watercolor pencils, color pencils, watercolor, india ink
Drawing of a nude male, from a rear 3/4 view angle, with his right arm outstretched away from the viewer, towards the unseen. Rendered with pink shadows and peach/tan mid-tones, and outlined in red ink, with a watercolor wash on part of the page above him.
March 1, 2025 at 1:12 AM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
@pixelplayful.bsky.social, from a session last month with @gaymenssketch.bsky.social. This was Leo's first time modeling with us, and IIRC their first time doing figure modeling at all? He did a wonderful job 😍

What I used:
Chalk pastel
Pencil
Brush tip marker and Micron pen
Quick chalk pastel drawing of a man in a blue jockstrap facing to the left, with one arm extended and the other arm pulling back. Shading is in yellow, with orange-red accent outlines. Stylized pencil drawing of a nude man reclining, with one arm behind his head, and the other near his head. Rear-view drawing of a standing nude man, with his left leg raised on an unseen platform in front of him, with lavender shading and minimal, thin outlines in pen.
February 26, 2025 at 5:35 AM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
@ilyaskhanxxx.bsky.social, from a session a few weeks ago. I was really feeling my newly cleaned off calligraphy pen this night...
With @gaymenssketch.bsky.social

What I used:
Diluted India ink (with the calligraphy pen)
Chalk pastel
Brush-tipped marker and Micron pen
Chalk pastel
Seated nude male looking above, drawn in red ink. Quick, high contrast drawing of the back of a man in a jockstrap, with shadows in orange chalk pastel with pink accent outlines. Quick drawing of a man in underwear reclining but with his torso up, and reaching towards the sky, with shadows drawn in light green marker with thin accent lines. Man in underwear with one arm reaching towards the sky. Shadows drawn with light blue chalk pastel, with purple accent outlines.
February 24, 2025 at 7:03 AM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
Ryan posed for @gaymenssketch.bsky.social to raise funds for his AIDS Lifecycle Ride coming up this year, modeling for us at the end of January. Looks like he raised $300 in from class fees and tips from this session. 🙂

Chalk pastel
Diluted india ink
Brush tip marker and micron pen
Chalk pastel
Quick and minimal drawing of a seated man rendered with pink shadows and baby blue chalk pastel outlines, with one arm outstretched. Quick and minimal red ink drawing of a reclining nude man with his upper body falling towards the viewer, and his arm and hand hanging over his face, covering it. Drawing of a nude man standing and holding a pole, from a rear view quarter angle, with strong lighting at his back. Shadows are done with lavender marker, with fine line work in a coral/red color. Quick and minimal drawing of a standing man, from a quarter rear view angle, rendered with pink shadows and light blue chalk pastel outlines.
February 19, 2025 at 6:02 PM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
Alright! Time for something more recent.
...well, I guess the session was a month ago by now, but, well, they're from this year?
Jorge (IG: @mr.corkscrew) from a session hosted by Miguel Angel Reyes (IG: @miguelangelreyesart)

Mediums:
Brush tip marker
Brush tip marker and Micron pen
Chalk pastel
Side profile drawing of a nude man rotating his upper back to the viewer. Man in minimally rendered in two shades of green. Minimal three quarter rear view of a nude male with some shading and contours in coral, and some contours drawn in spare black ink. Man seated on the ground in three quarters profile, facing away but with chest rotated towards the viewer. Quick and energetic drawing in two shades of pink.
February 4, 2025 at 4:14 AM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
@petarious.bsky.social, from an online session with @whoszoomingwho.bsky.social back in September.

Mediums:
Chalk pastel with a dash of color pencil for the first two.
Pencil and chalk pastel pencil on tan tone paper.
Drawing of a seated nude male with legs nearly crossed, rendered in pink and peach flesh tones, with minimal and graceful line work. Ethereal vibe, like light and sunny dreampop. Drawing of a seated nude male with his left hand hanging forward off of his knee. Rendered in pink and peach flesh tones with minimal line work, a little more energetic and a little less mellow dreampop than the other similar drawing here. Drawing of a nude male, seated with one leg up, and with him facing to his right, with strong light coming from his right side. Rendered in pencil with white highlights on light brown paper.
February 1, 2025 at 7:15 AM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
justjoon.bsky.social, from a session run by @sfphotou.bsky.social back in October.

Mediums:
Pencil and chalk pastel pencil on grey tone paper.
Chalk pastel and chalk pastel pencil on black tone paper.
India ink.
Chalk pastel.
Drawing of a seated nude male, with the viewer placed below the model. Drawing done in pencil on gray paper, with highlights and light flesh tone colors. Oh, and the model has a very hairy chest. Quarter side profile drawing of a nude male leaning slightly forward with his left arm resting on an unseen object. Somewhat minimal drawing in grey chalk pastel and chalk pastel pencil on black paper. Quick drawing in red ink of a man in a jock strap facing the sky, with one arm reaching up, and leaning back on his other arm. Quick drawing with two shades of pink of a side view of a man doing a hand stand.
January 28, 2025 at 4:38 AM
churchofmanlove.bsky.social
Hey all! Starting off here with some work that was posted on IG but not Twitter.
@daringandtrue.bsky.social, from a session with @sfphotou.bsky.social back in Oct.

Mediums:
Chalk pastel and chalk pastel pencil on black paper
Chalk pastel pencil and color pencil on black paper
India ink
Chalk pastel
Drawing of a nude reclining man, drawn in turquoise on black paper, with a glowing streak over his abdomen, and several lighter glowing streaks. Faded and smudged handwritten text that says "how i burn for you" appears underneath him. Moody and haunted atmosphere. Drawing of a sitting nude man from a portrait view, showing the side of his back and his face in shadow, lightly backlit. Line work and shading in lavender on black paper. Drawing in red ink of a reclining nude man, buttocks on a raised platform with shoulders and head on the ground, with one arm covering his face. Drawing in peach and light pink chalk pastel of a man in a jock strap leaning back, with his left arm reaching up and to the side, and his right arm reaching back and towards the viewer.
January 25, 2025 at 7:47 PM