As an artist, the study of the human form via regular life drawing class is the most challenging and rewarding experience you will ever undertake.
I have had the pleasure of being both teacher and student, attending life classes and running them, so I have witnessed first hand just how challenging and scary it is for all involved. I can think of no other part of life where one is required to stand in a room with other fully clothed people whilst staring intently at one unclothed person. It really is very bizarre! ...but also extremely necessary if one is to gain a sound understanding of the body and how to accurately translate those proportions onto the paper or canvas. You can only do that by looking...really looking and more importantly SEEING what is actually there, not what you THINK is or should be there.
This is one of the hardest hurdles to get over and why the practice of life drawing is seen as an intrinsic discipline in the practical study of art...or at least, it used to be.
The slideshow here shows just a few of the life drawings I have done in class and from reference photos I took during class.
I like to work as freely as possible, letting the lines flow and intersect and keeping the pencil or charcoal moving on the paper for as long as possible resisting the urge to check my progress and just trusting that my hand is describing what my eye is seeing. I enjoy the immediacy of this approach and am often rewarded with the surprise and pleasure of a particularly well-drawn contour line or patch of tone when I come to review the drawings the next day.
It is a practice I will continue with, both as a student and teacher, and would encourage anyone, to do the same as it has such a lot to teach us in general about ourselves and our bodies and there can be a great strength and a sense of confidence gained from that experience, as well as the confidence and reward there is to be gained in learning how to look, see and respond in a creative and expressive way.
