Keeping Up the Practice
One of the things that has really helped me grow as an artist is weekly life drawing sessions. Drawing from life, whether it’s drawing a still life, a nude model, or a portrait, is a challenging endeavor. It trains your brain to see things objectively, and the skills and techniques acquired from routine life drawing are useful in all kinds of art-making.
Unfortunately, life drawing isn’t quite like riding a bike. Keeping up the practice of drawing on a regular basis can be difficult. If I’m away from it for a while, I find that I need some extra practice to get back to where I was. In my figure drawing class, I see a lot of students coming back to life drawing after 30+ years. After being away from it for so long, they have to practice and relearn concepts and techniques they once grasped.
I’m glad to have the opportunity to draw every week at the Friday afternoon figure drawing session at the Dunedin Fine Art Center. I both monitor the studio and recruit models to pose each week. If you are a local looking to get into figure drawing, Figure Drawing St. Pete is a great resource.
Here’s one of my drawings from a few weeks ago. This pose was a little under 2 hours of drawing time.
More Art
For more of my life drawings, check out the studies page of my website. If you want to see my artwork in person, I currently have 3 pieces at the PAVA member’s show, which is on view through December 28th. You can find the exhibition times here. I also have a drawing on display upstairs in the Teaching Gallery at the Dunedin Fine Art Center.
