I began attending open figure drawing sessions about a year and a half ago, and the practice has dramatically transformed my creative process. In this blog post, I am going to tell you how I strengthened my illustration skills and reignited my passion for art through figure drawing with live models.

I had a little bit of experience drawing nude models during art class back when I was in school, but I didn’t enjoy it at the time. We were instructed to produce studies that were strictly observational, with the goal of rendering realistic and anatomically accurate human features. I pretended to know what I was doing as I mirrored the other students: I squinted one eye and used a pencil to measure the model’s proportions and angles. We were required to sketch with vine charcoal on 18” x 24” newsprint, which is a medium I can’t imagine ever touching again by my own free will. I have seen some beautiful charcoal art created by others, but I despised the sensation of it in my hands and I could not stand how messy it was. All that black dust, the scraping sounds, and dirty smudges made me want to throw the charcoal into a fire pit and use it to burn my drawings.

Of course it is highly beneficial to practice technical skills, but these classroom restrictions led me to believe there was a “correct” way to approach art. I viewed figure drawing as studying, not something that could be fun and creative.

Fast forward about ten years to December 2021. I was lying in bed binge watching “sketchbook tours” on YouTube. I came across this series of videos created by Julia Rich, also known as Zeke's Lunchbox. I was absolutely mesmerized by her beautiful illustrations and needed to know how she became such an incredible artist. In one video, she showed a sketchbook page filled with beautiful drawings of human figures. It wasn’t like the black and white charcoal sketches I was used to seeing in class. Her drawings were colorful, vibrant, and expressive. She explained that she drew them at an open drawing session with a live model, and I immediately thought, that is the type of activity successful artists do during their free time…I want to become one of them.

So I paused the video and frantically googled “uninstructed life drawing workshops near me.” Within seconds, I found a weekly group that meets every Wednesday night at an art gallery within walking distance from my apartment. The universe made it as convenient as possible for me.

A few days later, I found myself awkwardly wandering into the gallery with a few pencils and a cheap sketchbook covered in cute stickers. I felt nervous and out of place. I worried irrationally that I was not good enough to be there. Thankfully, everyone I met was very kind, welcoming, and nonjudgmental. I sat next to another newcomer and my anxiety melted away. Three hours flew by and by the end of the night, I was at an arcade next door with my new figure drawing friends, laughing and button mashing retro video games. They invited me to join a big group chat full of local artists to keep me in the loop about art events, which led to even more connections and opportunities.

These days I try to attend life drawing sessions at least once a month, but I wish I could go every week. Not only have my drawing skills improved, but I was also introduced to a community of wonderful, supportive artists who motivate and inspire me.

27 sessions, 213 sketchbook pages, and 317 figure drawings later, I am ready to reflect on my progress and share some valuable lessons I have learned so far.

Finding Motivation and Building Good Habits

I recently finished reading the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, which I highly recommend to anyone who is trying to improve a specific skill. In a Chapter 9, the author emphasizes the importance of surrounding yourself with people who support and encourage your ideal lifestyle.

“One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where your desired behavior is the normal behavior. New habits seem achievable when you see others doing them every day. If you’re surrounded by fit people, you’re more likely to consider working out to be a common habit. If you’re surrounded by jazz lovers, you’re more likely to believe it’s reasonable to play jazz every day. Your culture sets your expectation for what is ‘normal.’ Surround yourself with people who have the habits you want to have yourself. You’ll rise together. ” 

— James Clear, Atomic Habits

Fortunately, I found this culture at my local life drawing sessions. I also came across a healthy and inspiring community through pole dancing, but that deserves a whole separate blog post. Living in Los Angeles has exposed me to countless talented and ambitious people, and they’ve had a huge impact on my motivation and personal definition of success. I was not involved in any communities like that in my small suburban hometown. They existed, but I did not actively seek them out. Until I moved across the country, I felt destined to settle for a very average and unexciting life. Now I am in a totally different environment, surrounded by people I admire. Talented performers, celebrities, aspiring stars, accomplished artists…they love to gather here in LA. Seeing my peers work hard and achieve their goals encouraged me to try new things and chase after my own dreams. These people are proof that we can construct the life we want if we are willing to put in the effort. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the competitiveness and constant pressure to be productive, but being in LA has pushed me to be a better version of myself.

In addition to providing a wonderful community and emotional/mental health benefits, life drawing has many perks. Within just a few months, my drawing skills improved significantly. I will discuss some of the benefits below and hopefully by the end of this post, you will be convinced to try life drawing if you haven’t already.

Speed

Perhaps one of the greatest changes I have noticed is that I can draw much faster now. Due to the time limit of each pose, I am forced to make decisions quickly and I can’t afford to overthink. Despite having to race against the clock, I actually feel less pressure. If I make a mistake or the drawing turns out bad, I can just blame it on the lack of time and my ego can remain somewhat intact. Compared to a year and a half ago, my current sketches capture more details. I love illustrating the environment — some things I like to include are the brick walls, the stage, drapery, props, chairs, tables, other people in the background, and imaginary cats. It is a fun challenge to cram in as many details as possible. During my first session, I couldn’t even manage to finish drawing the model, but now I can create a whole scene in a short amount of time.

Focus

Setting a time limit for an activity often increases my focus. The task becomes a game. How much can I achieve in “x” amount of time? Drawing from life requires a lot of problem solving and careful observation. I scrutinize the shapes, lines, and colors that I see in front of me. It is like practicing mindfulness. When I draw, I lose sense of time. I allow my thoughts to wander freely, but I’m unlikely to get distracted enough to stop what I am doing. If I only have five minutes to sketch a pose, every second is precious and I’m forced to concentrate. Once I am in a flow state, it’s hard for me to stop. I put off eating and using the bathroom. I don’t have the urge to check my phone or talk to others. It sounds intense, but it’s intense in a way that feels good. My mind is stimulated but it is not anxious. I enjoy listening to music or an audiobook as I draw, but I’m also comfortable working in silence.

Quantity Over Quality

Life drawing in a group setting forces me to take action and practice instead of wasting my time dwelling and perfecting. I’ve fallen into the trap of spending hours searching for the perfect reference photo and planning out my vision instead of actually drawing. But at figure drawing sessions, I don’t have to think about what to draw because the subject is decided for me. The model always moves onto the next pose whether or not we are finished with our drawing. As kids we are often taught to value “quality over quantity,” but I actually believe that the opposite helps us improve faster. In my opinion, practicing a little bit each day is better than spending months deliberating over one art piece. Repetition builds skill.

Confidence

I used a regular pencil during my first figure drawing session, but I have graduated to colored pencils since then. Graphite pencils are erasable, so it is easy to get caught up in endless revisions. Colored pencils are less forgiving but still flexible enough to alter a little bit. You can sketch lightly if you don’t want to fully commit to the first mark you put down. Drawing with permanent materials such as pens or markers is a great exercise to improve line confidence and to learn how to deal with mistakes. I still struggle to to accept imperfections, but I have never regretted my attempts. I give myself credit for putting in the work even if I am not satisfied with the result.

New Challenges

I love when life drawing sessions have a theme. The hosts at my local gallery incorporate fun props and decorations in the setup, so I end up drawing things that I never would have thought of myself. When I’m on my own, I tend to gravitate towards the same subjects, colors, and materials. Like many artists, I enjoy drawing familiar things because I feel more likely to succeed. I often opt for the easiest, most common poses or angles that I already know how to render. There’s nothing wrong with drawing only what you like, but I find it refreshing to occasionally practice portraying a variety of positions and perspectives that I wouldn’t attempt otherwise.

Several months ago, I attended a life drawing session at a circus school, and I was absolutely blown away by all of the dynamic poses. I have experimented with a few circus apparatuses myself and I can’t imagine holding such difficult poses. I struggle just to sit still for five minutes, yet here are these amazing contortionists and acrobats with superhuman strength, endurance, and flexibility. Not only did we get to draw them, but we got to witness an amazing performance at the same time. It was a unique experience, and I would love to go back there to take some circus classes so I can learn how to do these cool tricks myself.

September 19, 2023