What does life drawing mean to me?

To me, art is a way of expressing myself when words flounder; my emotions, thoughts, and feelings. With every piece of work I produce, I pour myself into the product to create something unique. Over time, I have learnt that while my own art may not compare to the calibre of the great artist such as Leonardo de Vinci or Monet, I now understand that in comparing my own work to others, I lack the capacity to see the uniqueness of my own art. Indeed, while there will always be flaws within my work, I can learn to work on these and improve my own work so that I can build upon my art skills, but it will never be without flaws.  

Moreover, I believe that art should be available for everyone to enjoy and experience, regardless of your educational background. Art should transcend boundaries, to act as a fantastic equalisation, where anyone can enjoy great works of art and the process of making it. Art should bring people together; to discuss their views, thoughts and even their desires, hopes, dreams and impressions, in open discussion. Additionally, it should allow those who gaze upon it to be transported by the artists ambitions.

I believe drawing from the nude human figure is fundamental to developing artistic skills as an artist to accurately see shape while observing human emotion and gesture. Indeed, drawing from life has underpinned the practice of all serious arts, as it enables the artist to capture the world and body as it really is. Life drawing means studying forms, proportions, perspectives and shading, movement weight, balance and tension. Life drawing has allowed me to observe how the model holds their body; where they are putting weight on some muscles as they balance while positioning other muscles to hold a certain pose and over time you will use these skills in all your art work.

However, I believe the true power of art is its capacity to positively benefit mental health and wellbeing. Engaging in art enabled me to deal with my own mental health and emotional wellbeing as I was not only able to express what I couldn’t with words, but I also felt as though I was now part of a like-mined community. Indeed, art and mental health is being increasingly recognised by mental health charities, the NHS and research as provide therapy and treatment. Being in an art environment I feel like the noise in my head has quietened; I feel safe and not judged; and it helps me to make sense of my feeling; giving me a voice.

Nichola.

Drawing from Photos

A quick scroll through social media sites such as Instagram reveals an inundation of hyper-realistic drawings intended to look as realistic as a black and white photograph. To achieve these hyper-realistic drawings, it is usual for photographs to be painstakingly copied in every minute detail. Of course I must give credit to the patience, attention to detail and the skills required in producing such a thorough realistic piece as they do require a great deal of skill to produce. However, I feel some trepidation when viewing these pieces when it appears to be the artists’ main form of drawing. This is because when I view these drawings, I cannot help but wonder where is the representation of the artist? What were their feelings, thoughts, and beliefs? How does this drawing represent their personal artistic style? And what feeling or thoughts is it supposed to elicit in me, the viewer?

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Guide on drawing proportion

As is common knowledge, portraiture is the representation of a human being’s features, such as the face, head and shoulders or the whole body. However it is necessary when representing the features of the human figure to understand how perception plays an important theme in interpretation of figurative drawing.

Although drawing from life remains the main way of exploring techniques such as proportion and perspective, arguably, in order to master them, it may be necessary to put aside our worry about producing aesthetically pleasing images of immediate and impetuous drawing, rather focus on the academic reproduction of reality before you can achieve a freer and more personal style.

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Why did I start a life drawing class?

This is one of the many questions I am asked when people come to my the life drawing class for the first time, or other variants such as, ‘so have you been to art college?’, ‘what made you start a life drawing class?’ ‘can you draw though?’. Although I am never upset by these questions, that would feel ridiculous, I am conscious that these questions carry with them the connotations that only those with formal art training should have the opportunity to provide an untutored life drawing class to those interested in art. And it is this implication that I would like to discuss, because I believe this attitude, or even the perception that this attitude exists, that can prevent someone from following their interest in drawing/art just because they don’t have a background of attending art college.

I believe that art should be available for everyone to enjoy and experience, regardless of your educational background. Art should transcend boundaries, to act as a fantastic equalisation, where anyone can enjoy great works of art and the process of making it. Art should bring people together; to discuss their views, thoughts and even their desires, hopes, dreams and impressions, in open discussion. Moreover, it should allow those who gaze upon it to be transported by the artists ambitions.

When looking to the works of Picasso for instance, his famous painting Guernica was a powerful political statement in response to the Nazi bombing of the Basque town of Guernica during Spanish Civil War. Even in today’s society, art can be used by anyone to express themselves in whatever way they feel, owing to this, art posted on social media sites was used by the masses in response to the fire of Notre Dame.

Art then like classical music should not be viewed as highbrow; to be reserved for those few who have attended art school, or who have cultivated their skills in Florence. Certainly any institution that develops your knowledge and skills in art is without question significant, yet I feel it is also important to ensure that the opportunity for the enjoyment of art is available to everyone, especially those who have not attained formal art credentials. This is because I understand how  an inner interest in art can take secondary position in consequence to educational or career ambitions.

Therefore I believe life drawing is one way to break down any perceived barriers, by demonstrating that snobbery around art does not exist, as it is an opportunity that is available to everyone. In other words, if you are worried about coming to a nude figure drawing class because you feel you lack formal training or credentials, please do not allow this apprehension to hold you back from enjoying the universal experience that is art.

Nichola.