Life Drawing

Life Drawing Experiences

Life drawing is a discipline which is invaluable for artists. I have found in the past seven years since turning pro that it is something that many artists, surprisingly, shy away from.

I am guilty of this at times. Working on specific projects and the ease of using your own models together with photography can overtake. This is all well and good but nothing can compare to the actual task of drawing the human form from life.

I tend to avoid the Friday afternoon life drawing session at the WASPS Artists’ Studios where I am based. It is a very successful group and has been running from years. Artists from amateur to professional turn up and there is a breadthe of experience and age, which is fantastic.  My problem in th epast has been space. The group is so successful that there is not much space, even though the room is quite large. As I passed last Friday, I noticed the numbers waiting to go in were quite low, possibly becasue it was the end of the Easter break.

I grabbed my opportunity but by the time I had dashed to the studio to collect my materials, a host of people had turned up and grabbe dall the best spot so to my disappointment, I yet again got squashed in a rotten spot in the corner. The regulars are very protective of their space and none of them move an inch once they have pitched camp to let anyone else get a better view!

My first reaction was to leave but I decided to sit in the crap spot in the corner and see what I could turn around in the space of the afternoon.

There is no instruction at this class, it is simply abou tthe opportunity to have a life dawing model posed for a few hours. The most frustrating aspect for this, slightly perfectionistic artist is that the first three poses are for ten minutes only. A life drawing in ten minutes? Do these people not know how long I sweat over a piece of art? Well, all the better for it, any fussing goes out the window and concentration takes over.

The model was a beautiful Indian girl who after some initial wobbles when she had to sit down and get a glass of water ( I think it may have been her first time), she was excellent at holding her pose as we got longer sitting periods as the afternoon progressed.

Whilst my drawings or sketches as I prefer to see them ar anything but polished, the afternoon was well worthwhile. I think to gain the benefit I would need to keep going back weekly rather than a few times a year but I don’t know if I can commit to the luxury of an afternoon every week.