Life Drawing at a New Old Venue

 

1/11/26 Delia, 20-minute pose

The Sunday Figure Art life-drawing series had been going on in the University of Washington Art Building for many years (apparently decades), but like so many things, the program ended with the pandemic. Although I knew about the series when it was operating, I was happily participating in life drawing at Gage Academy at the time, so I never checked it out. I recently learned that model and organizer Shawna Holman had brought the Sunday series back, and this time, I was eager to try it.

2-minute poses

When I went to a training session for new models last month, Delia was one of the rookies – and definitely one of the better ones. She was the solo model for the Sunday series I attended. Although technically still in training mode, she seemed pro-ready to me: Her graceful, dynamic poses of all durations kept me engaged and drawing.

5-minute poses

My problem had nothing to do with drawing or the model; it was the chair – or the lack thereof. The life-drawing studio was furnished only with artists’ horse benches, which I have never found comfortable. The artist is supposed to lean forward toward a propped-up drawing board, not a small sketchbook, so the bench has no back support. At Gage and Artist & Craftsman Supply (where I’ve also attended life drawing), I could always find a folding chair to sit in. Not so at the UW’s studio. I had to leave after the first half.

I’m not sure what to do about that. I could try standing at an easel, but that can be awkward with a small sketchbook, too. I’d really like to continue attending because the location is convenient.

20-minute pose

5-minute pose

2-minute poses

2-minute poses

2-minute poses

My sketch journal entry complaining about the situation.

Nine Models for Life Drawing

 

12/13/25 varying durations (I used a white Derwent Drawing pencil in an Arteza black sketchbook, which isn't as black as the black paper in Uglybooks, but I brought it because it's larger. I think blacker paper looks better, especially when scanned.)

I’m disappointed that I got out of the life-drawing habit. For many winters, I used to go to Gage Academy’s open life-drawing sessions regularly. Then the pandemic happened, and afterwards, it just wasn’t the same. I enjoyed outdoor sessions at Gas Works Park for a couple of summers, but the organizer eventually ended that. When Gage moved to South Lake Union, I was excited by the new, modern facility (Comfortable heating and cooling! Functioning toilets!), but getting there just isn’t as convenient as Capitol Hill was. Other than Drawing Jam, I have not yet been to the new Gage for life drawing.

Derwent Drawing pencil in Canson XL mixed media sketchbook 

I’ve long been on model Shawna Holman’s mailing list for the various life-drawing events that she either coordinates or models for herself. She’s had a long-standing weekly series in the U-District’s Artist & Craftsman Supply store that I enjoyed once last year, but it didn’t become a habit. On Sunday mornings, the series often conflicts with Urban Sketchers, and somehow I haven’t made time for it on days without USk.

Her latest promotion was for something unusual: In addition to modeling herself (and she continues to be one of the best I’ve ever drawn), she also leads training workshops for new models. Last Saturday Shawna invited artists to draw the trainees following their workshop so that they would have an opportunity to practice. My calendar was clear, the situation was novel (nine models in one session!), and I was in the mood – I had no excuses!

The setup itself was unique and somewhat confusing: To give all nine trainees an opportunity to experience different pose durations, three models were on the platform at a time, each holding a pose for a different length of time. If I wasn’t paying attention to the duration assigned to the model I happened to be drawing, it might be a two-minute pose instead of 10 or vice versa.

At first, that was frustrating, especially because I was feeling very rusty, but I got over it quickly by developing my own plan: I stopped trying to pay attention to the pose duration and began each sketch as if the pose would last for only two minutes. If I had more time, I kept going, correcting proportions and adding shading. Or I simply moved on to a different model. So all the sketches shown here were of varying lengths, sometimes determined by the model and sometimes determined by whenever I decided to stop. It became fun and interesting due to the unpredictable nature.

This and the following sketches were done with Kuretake Brush Writer brush pens containing water-soluble ink.

The most fun were the last two sketches that I made on black paper (top of post). I had brought along a black Arteza sketchbook in case I had an opportunity to use it: A dark-skinned model sat in just the right position with a beautiful sliver of backlighting on his profile and arm. Then he turned his head slightly for the next pose.

Will the life-drawing habit stick again? I dunno . . . but I put a few Sunday sessions on my calendar.

Fuzzy Portraits

 

4/5/25 Ernest Theodore

A recent gathering of friends included Ernest Theodore (whom I have sketched a few times before), one of the gentlest giants I know. He probably weighs more than I do, yet he has never tried to knock me over as other large dogs have. Upon arrival at the brewery’s patio, he just laid down and chilled for the rest of the evening, making this little gesture portrait easy.

Speaking of pet portraits, I think I never got around to sharing the one I made last December of Adorable (below), the lovely cat of a friend. I love drawing animals, from life or from photos.

12/26/24 Adorable (reference photo by Carol Ivan)

A gentle nose kiss from Ernest
(photobomb by Ernest's dad, Ali!)

Shawna in the Jungle

 

5/25/24 Shawna, 3-min. poses

During the worst part of the pandemic when isolation and restlessness were the new normal, and the vaccine was still months away, one of many things I was grateful for was livestream life drawing. In particular, Shawna Holman, one of my favorite Gage models, went freelance when all her live modeling gigs necessarily vanished. Using an improv acting format, Shawna would choose a narrative theme and create dynamic, ultra-short poses of 30 seconds to seven minutes. One of the most memorable was when she enacted scenes from “Die Hard” while wearing a bikini (have you ever visualized Bruce Willis in a bikini?).

1-min. poses

When it became safe to go back to the life-drawing studio, Shawna resumed her improv format at the Artists & Craftsman store in the U-District. Although I’ve known about the series for a long time, I hadn’t gotten around to trying it live until last Saturday. Shawna’s narrative theme for the morning was a jungle explorer engaged with exotic plants, birds and saving them from an unexpected drought.

2-min. poses

Keeping up with her poses (I sketched 43 in two hours!) gave us all a breathtaking challenge while her narrative kept us entertained.

3-min. pose

Inktober, Week 3: Still Mostly Blind

10/20/21 attitude

My Inktober intention is to continue with blind contours. The only exception on Week 3 was the day that I was so excited to be sketching people on public transportation again that I forgot.

The most fun was making a couple of partial blind contour selfies – what a hoot! I liked one so much that I used it as my Facebook profile image. If you have never tried one, I recommend it highly. Not only is it super fun, but it may also reveal attitude you didn’t know you had! 😉

10/15/21 pencil sharpener

10/16/21 slightly less attitude

10/17/21 light rail passenger (the only non-blind contour this week)

10/18/21 parked cars in Maple Leaf

10/19/21 light rail passenger

10/21/21 excavator

At Last, Real Life Drawing

 

7/8/21 Randy (short warm-ups)

Meeting up with USk Seattle was the art-related activity that I missed most during the worst of the pandemic. But the thing I missed second-most was life drawing – real life drawing with a living, breathing model in the same room, not on a Zoom screen. The last time I had done that was December 2019 at Drawing Jam – more than a year and a half ago – so I was excited to find out about a plein air life-drawing opportunity. An informal group meets weekly at Gas Works Park with a clothed model, and I was happy to join them last Thursday on a cool and cloudy morning.

Most of the group’s members are painters, so the format is a single long pose for the entire three-hour session. Randy, whom I have drawn many times at Gage, was our model. Without timing them, I warmed up by making a couple of sketches that I figured were the equivalent of two- and five-minute poses (above). By then, I was already bored with that pose, so I made a larger sketch of all the artists focused on Randy. (Artists are nearly as motionless as the models they are painting, so it was like having lots of models simultaneously!)

The unpaid "models"

Randy (20-min. pose)

For the first of the next two 20-minute sessions, I walked around to the opposite side to draw Randy again (at left). Finally, I moved to the back of the group, where I could include Randy with painter Beatrice’s back (below).

Initially I felt rusty, but it was so good to get back into real life drawing again that I didn’t care. I hope to join this group as often as I can while the weather holds out.

Beatrice painting Randy

The Many Moods of Shawna

 

4/3/21 Shawna, bullfighter, 30-sec. poses

Shawna was at it again – this time as a bullfighter, pixie, carpenter, petting zoo visitor, cook and bowler – and all while dressed in a bikini! I wasn’t feeling my usual groove this time, but Shawna’s imaginative poses are always fun to sketch.

Bullfighter, 30-sec. poses

Pixie, 1-min. poses

Pixie, 1-min. poses

Pixie, 1-min. poses

Carpenter, 2-min. poses

Carpenter, 2-min. poses

Cook, 3-min. poses

At the petting zoo, 5-min. poses

Bowler, 7-min. poses

Distortion

 

3/2/21 Liss, 10-min. pose

One of many frustrations of doing “life” drawing on Zoom is that the close-camera views that models are often forced to use in small rooms create strange distortions. Sometimes I’ve had fun with those distortions, but other times they left me longing for real life drawing when I could focus on the human form instead of distracting views.

Life Drawing+ took advantage of the extreme distortions possible on video to present “Touring the Body,” a fun opportunity to push the medium. Instead of being constrained by its limitations, this session made excellent use of live video.

My favorite pose was the up-close-and-personal view of model Liss’s eyes, which would have been awkward and difficult to do in an actual life-drawing studio (not to mention impossible during these socially distanced times).  

10-min. pose

I also enjoyed drawing Liss’s breasts from the “ant’s eye view” on the floor – another perspective not possible in a studio.

10-min. pose

One of the first programs to bring life drawing to live video when the pandemic began, Life Drawing+ just commemorated its first anniversary of presenting weekly sessions on Zoom. With creative themes and excellent models, the Manchester, UK-based program continues to make life drawing practice as fun and creative as possible for the global community of artists who participate. It’s not always ideal, but it’s cool to be sketching with more than 50 other artists worldwide.

2-min. poses

5- and 10-min. poses

5-min. pose

5-min. pose

10-min. pose