Drag Drink & Draw

 

6/19/26 Sharkie, 20-min. pose

Gage Academy offers occasional evening drink & draw events with models. For Pride month, two costumed drag models would be featured with rainbow-colored lights and backdrop. Who could resist that? Kim, Ching and I knew we couldn’t!

Sharkie, 10-min. pose

As promised, models Sharkie and Indigo gave us dynamic poses in fun costumes (look at Indigo’s boots!). It had been months since I last went to life drawing, so it took me the entire 90-minute session to feel like I was just beginning to warm up, but it was a ton of fun anyway. We’ll be back for more!

Rusty short poses!

Kim, Ching and me after a fun evening!

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.

Out of the Groove at Drawing Jam

9/6/25 Life drawing at Gage Academy's Drawing Jam

Gage Academy’s Drawing Jam has long been one of my favorite art events of the year. I’ve attended every year since 2012, even during the pandemic years when this popular event went virtual. Last year was the first time it was held at Gage’s new facility at South Lake Union, so that gave Drawing Jam an additional air of excitement.

For the first time ever, Gage moved the Jam from its traditional first Saturday in December to September to coincide with the new facility’s anniversary. I’m all for that change: I remember way too many cold (even sub-freezing), rainy drives to Capitol Hill in winter. Like last year, the spacious building felt comfortable instead of over-crowded as the old school often did. The vibe was again relaxed and pleasant.

Despite all that, I just couldn’t get into the groove this year.

After my first life-drawing session, I’m usually so buzzed that I feel like I could sketch all day (and often did). On Saturday, I kept waiting for that feeling, but it never came. By noon, I felt like I had seen and drawn enough. I wasn’t tired; I still had the stamina to draw more. I just didn’t want to.

Maybe the only thing that somewhat excited me about my life drawing attempts (which, admittedly, felt very rusty – I haven’t practiced life drawing in ages) was that I spontaneously tried a different tactic than usual. First, I kept the initial figure sketches tonal with brush pens. Then, before the 15-minute poses were over, I picked one of the two models’ faces to make a small study in black colored pencil. That kept my attempts fresh throughout each 15-minute session rather than belaboring a single sketch for the duration.

When I got tired of drawing models, I stepped back behind the group and sketched the artists, which is always a fun, “urban sketching” perspective to take.

After seeing all the exhibited art and having lunch with Ching, I decided to go home, still feeling frustrated and restless that Drawing Jam just didn’t buzz me like it usually does. 

On my walk back to the light rail station, I spotted an unusual scene (below): A pianist busker, and nearby was a man (part of a large group) who was protesting the Communist Chinese practice of organ harvesting. That’s got to be a unique combo even in downtown Seattle! 

After that, I finally felt satisfied and ready to go home. 

Fourth & Pine, downtown Seattle

New Digs for Drawing Jam

 

12/7/24 I don't often get to draw a bunny in a 
Liberace-inspired tux! So frustrating not to be able 
to see his face or the front of his outfit well.

Except for the pandemic years, I’ve been attending Gage Academy’s Drawing Jam annually since 2012. Last Saturday was the first time the event was held at the school’s new South Lake Union facility, and it was also my first visit since it moved last summer – an exciting first for me!

My personal tradition has always been to arrive at least a half-hour before the opening so I can get a prime seat in the costumed models’ life-drawing studio, one of the most popular attractions. I recall many cold and rainy waits outside Gage’s door and one particularly memorable year when the temp was 20 degrees. Per tradition, it was pouring Saturday morning, but when I arrived around 15 minutes before opening, no one was waiting outside the door – I was the first attendee to arrive! And they let me in early! That set the right tone for the rest of my visit, which was more relaxed and less crowded than all previous Drawing Jams.

Oof... first sketch felt very rusty.

I don’t know if it was actually less attended or if it was just that the new building is so open and spacious that it just felt less crowded. (I’ve heard that the square footage of the new building is actually smaller than the old school.) In any case, I enjoyed the relaxed vibe all day. Even the most popular costumed-model studios didn’t feel uncomfortably packed.

Hallway and gallery lighting is much brighter so that student and instructor art on all the walls is easier to view. The previous facility was a very old building that was either roasting or freezing, and the toilets were scarce, delicate and unreliable at best. Hallelujah – the new school offers a long bank of unisex restroom stalls containing reliably functioning toilets!

When I got frustrated with the poor lighting, I focused
on limbs that had some light on them.

My only complaint (and it’s significant) is that lighting in the life-drawing studios was not directed properly: The backlit models’ faces and fronts were completely in shadow, while the artists had lights glaring in their eyes! Frustrated, I didn’t spend as much time drawing models as I usually do and had more fun sketching the artists and musicians.

Finally I got so annoyed with the lighting that I stepped to the back of the studio and had more fun sketching the other artists. Meanwhile, the model was in the dark. :-(

It was fun sketching Ask Sophie, a band that was familiar from sketches I made at Drawing Jam in 2019.

I’m not sure what’s up with the lighting – Gage has been offering life drawing for all of its years of existence and certainly knows how to light models optimally for drawing. I have given them feedback, and I’m hoping it’s just a fluke of Drawing Jam and not a reflection of typical studio experiences. I would love to return to a regular life-drawing practice again – I have sorely missed it (and I sure felt rusty on Saturday).

Gage Academy's entryway

DJ'd refreshment area offered coffee and pastries during the Jam. That evening, it became a 21+ drink and draw.

Well-lighted hallways for viewing art.

I had the place to myself for a while. . . a leisurely look at all the art.

Lots of pencils among the free art supplies! In the interest of downsizing, I helped myself to only one pencil!

Reliably functioning toilets! Hallelujah!

A rare photo of me at Drawing Jam. . . taken during a break, so I'm looking at my phone! :-0 (Image borrowed from Gage Academy's Instagram)

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