Okay, I know you were expecting a guest blog post but life has a way of turning things upside down when you least expect it! Suddenly, we had to postpone the post but not to worry, it will appear later this year. Yay!! In the meantime, it was a bit of a scramble to ‘figure’ out what to do to fill the sudden gap. And then it came to me, I’d share my recent experience with life drawing virtually! Yes! Online!
During this COVID-19 time, when we can’t meet in person, one of our local life drawing groups decided to try a virtual session and invited me to participate. I was thrilled and, to tell the truth, a bit anxious.
Why anxious?
Well…. even though I encourage regular life drawing as a way to hone and maintain your observational and drawing skills (even once a month can make a difference!), I myself have been pretty lax in that department so I was feeling a bit rusty. Still, I was excited to attend and am I ever glad I did!
It was certainly different from participating in an in-person session! One immediately noticeable difference is that when working virtually, everyone is working on the same view. This is the opposite to a real-life session when we’re all circled around the model and drawing from different viewpoints.
Life drawing virtually has its pluses and minuses. Mostly though, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
What was good about life drawing virtually
- Because we were on a Zoom call and muted, we could play any music we liked, at any volume we wanted, or we could choose to be in silence
- We could have many choices of materials close by (but I have to say I wasn’t as prepared as I could have been!)
- We could spread out and use whatever set up we wanted (for example a table or an easel) and not worry about encroaching on someone else’s space
- The lighting on the model was good because we were all viewing from one spot which meant we didn’t have to worry about light getting into anyone’s eyes (in a real setting where everyone’s encircling the model, good volume-creating lighting can be tricky to achieve!)
- We didn’t have to worry about how good our work looked
- We could take a break anytime and not disturb others
- We were working from a live-in-the-moment model and we had the group energy of doing it together in real-time
What wasn’t so great about life drawing from a virtual model
- If you were working from a small screen (eg iPad), you’d see a small image
- There’s something very different about drawing a two-dimensional person rather than a three-dimensional one. It does make a difference though to see that person moving around in their space and knowing that there’s a real person taking up physical three-dimensional space as we worked. This is in comparison to say to a photograph – it’s absolutely still and maybe a few years old, and lacks any of the energy that being in three dimensions brings
- Not being able to walk around and see other people’s work. We did show our sketches on the screen but while you’re holding up your own work, it’s difficult to see what other people have done at the same time.
- And you can’t have a quick chat with other artists to comment on their pieces as you might do in the real
Still, these disadvantages are a small price to pay for the ability to continue to do life drawing even in this pandemic situation when we can’t meet in groups.
This virtual session was only one hour so there wasn’t time for a long pose; the longest pose was only 15 minutes. Natasha, our amazing model, has a partially shaved head so we could easily see, for example, how the neck and head connect with each other. Sometimes that’s tricky to determine when the head is covered by hair. She took poses with wonderful hand gestures.
I was sorry we didn’t have time for longer poses as I would have loved to have tried a drawing of this great model in colour!
Drawing regularly is the best way to improve your skills and there’s nothing better than drawing the nude figure. Now with life drawing online options (and some have actually been around for quite a while!), we have no excuses not to attend a life drawing session!
Where to start?
I would suggest you first see if any of your local life drawing options have gone online. They need and will appreciate your support. If you have no local venues, here’s the link to Xchanges which held this life-drawing virtual event. (Note that the fee for the sessions drops to half price if you’re a member so it’s worth purchasing a membership if you plan on attending a number of days. The money collected supports both the model and the group expenses. And because it’s virtual, anyone in the world can join!)
I should also mention that there are a number of FREE resources for life drawing. Croquis Cafe is fabulous and has been around for a while (Updated as of 02 June 2022 – Croquis Cafe is no longer available for free but is still a good alternative. Click here to explore it.). A number of artists have also checked out LoveLifeDrawing as it offers free tutorials. I’m reminded to get in there and draw!!
I recently discovered Line of Action as I was preparing this post. Here, you can choose whether you work from a clothed or nude model. And there are other choices you can make, for example, to focus on hands.
And here’s a great place to start if you haven’t attended a life drawing class before – a Royal Academy class.
You may feel insecure about your drawing skills but in a virtual situation, you can do what the heck you want – experiment, get messy, go big! There’s no one to see or judge your work. Only you. (And yes, I know, you can be the most critical judge! But know we ALL have self-doubt as we face a blank piece of paper and move into drawing mode.)
So no excuses – go get onto life drawing virtually!!
Let me know where you’re at on your life drawing online journey. Do you or don’t you? And if you don’t do life drawing, are you inspired to quietly give it a try? I sure hope so. You’ll find that life drawing will move your skills forward like no other method!
Until next time!
~ Gail
PS. As always, when I get back to life drawing, I’m reminded of Duane Wakeham’s stunning 20-minute pastel pieces. Go read his guest blog here and be blown away!
PPS. I was happy to see IGNITE! member Teri in the virtual life drawing session!
PPPS. You can read about another of my ‘return to life drawing’ experiences here.
18 thoughts on “Life Drawing Virtually – So No Excuses!”
Hi Gail, re your life drawing class…
I have always loved life drawing and began as a nineteen year old when studying fine art at university (decades ago). I don’t get much opportunity to participate these days but recently discovered one of the online resources you mentioned. However I had a real moment of horror when the model disrobed and revealed some pretty extensive tattoos. I was quite taken aback as I felt they destroyed my ability to really see shape and light on the body and limbs. As a student we had a regular professional model, a mature, rounded woman who was a dancer and could hold excellent poses for great lengths of time. She had an instinct for what made a great subject for an artist. I’d hate to think I am being a ‘fuddy duddy’ and a little voice inside my head was telling me to get over it, however I kept thinking I wasn’t planning on drawing someone else’s artwork (tattoos) and trying to ignore them was more than a challenge. I’m not sure if this is a common experience these days in the art world. I’d be interested in your opinion Gail. Cheers – Carol
Ahhhh Carol, I hear you and know EXACTLY what you mean! I remember the first time that happened to me. The tattoos were beautiful but it’s like my brain wasn’t used to this view and had to work extra hard to figure out how to cope. In the end, I focused on contour. As it was in-person, the lighting was dreadful (as if often seems to be working in the round) and so there was no volume to be seen in any case. With online life drawing, I’ll sometimes do vignettes. Other times, I enjoy making the tattoos part of my image. Or I’ll put attention on the head or the hands or even the feet. After you get over the surprise, you can let go and have fun with it 😀
Gail, thank you for this. I’ve been missing my life drawing since we went into lockdown- fortunately it’s going to start up again in a few weeks. I’ve been life drawing off and on for years, but without any instruction – it’s great practice, hard work and fun. I also think drawing is a really important skill for painting/ pastel painting. So I was really pleased that you covered this topic. I had never hear of Croquis Cafe, but had a look after seeing your blog, and I’ll definitely make use of it.
Ohhhh aren’t you lucky that your local life drawing is starting up again soon! And in the meantime, have fun with the virtual options. It is really the best way to improve being able to really ‘see’.
Another good blog, informative and explorative (is that a word?). I bookmarked a drawing site and ‘might’ use it! thanks. Marsha
Hah hah…”might”. I will encourage you Marsha!!
And thanks – glad you found it …exploratory (?).
Thanks for these amazing resources.. just what I needed to get back to drawing practice!
Whoo hoo!!! So glad to hear this Keith 😀
Thank you, Gail! So much useful information! Beautiful drawings, make me want to try again. I did it once and it was funny (especially the results). As a new member, I am very excited about what I see here. Thank you again.
Ohhhh Nora, I hope you’re inspired to have a go again. The nice thing is you can do it without anyone seeing – Draw like no ones watching….because they aren’t!!
And WELCOME!
Thank you Gail. Inspirational!
So happy to hear that Susan!!
Virtual life drawing from the Palette and Chisel in Chicago. Different for sure! The model seemed so small on the laptop. Didn’t like it at first. It felt more like drawing from a photo. But now I’m hooked. It does feed that relentless innate desire to draw. And a virtual class is bigger. Fun to be with even more kindred spirits! Been keeping it simple with charcoal pencil on bristol board, but now you’ve inspired me to drag out my pastels and pretty paper. Your work is fresh and spontaneous and solid. You’ve raised the bar for me. Thank you!
Oh Judy that’s great to hear! I love when in-person operations can find a way to pivot to serve their community! It is strange at first but when you are working live ie there’s no chance to stop the video, it does help create that sense of urgency that comes with in-person sessions. Yes, do drag out the pastels!! Why not experiment 😀
For some reason, I couldn’t find a link to join the sessions but perhaps they are member-only? Perhaps you could drop in the link?
Hi Gail!
Most of my work is from natural. I am a plein air painter and I used to coordinate a weekly life drawing session. Now, both activities had to be put on hold for some time. Like all of us I had to adjust. Coincidentally you have addressed this subject this week.
I started to look for virtual life drawing sessions and I found some very interesting ones. Last Sunday I had fun drawing from SkyTV Portrait Painter of the Week They hold every Sunday 4 hours some celebrity posing for an artist paint his/her portrait. Well, although the model was amazing, perhaps because I am so used to gesture drawing, I was much more attracted by the artist in action than by the sitter.
As their time zone is four hours before mine I had only two hours to paint. So, I wanted the paper to do a good part of the work.
I have posted my work on How to Pastel facebook page
Hi Sandra, Thanks for sharing this other online life drawing possibility. I have added a link to your comment which I hope works!
I saw your painting and thought it was such a lovely loose interpretation of an artist painting. I’m not sure that non-HowToPastel Facebook group members will be able to see it but I know many readers are members and so will enjoy your painting 🙂
I love the ways we are making things work – innovation and change!!
Hi Gail, I love your blog. So many things are possible through the internet and very involved and inspiring people. And you are one of them.
I often draw when I am not in my studio, but for example when I am enjoying the sun. Unfortunately I usually have to it with back of my Staffies
Thank you for the great suggestions
Thank you so much Mathy!!
Good that you draw consistently even when not in the studio. Drawing regularly is such a good practice! I’m not quite sure what you mean about “back of my Staffies” – feel free to explain/clarify 🙂