Finding an Open Drawing Session

Finding an open drawing workshop is critical to the development in any artist. There's an infinite number of lessons to be learned from the human figure, and weekly study is a helpful and mandatory upkeep for any artist.

Finding a space where such sessions are held takes some work, but the benefit to both your body of work and your body of friends is enormous.

I remember sitting in a convention hall feeling glum that Saturday afternoon - and the convention wouldn't end until Monday, meaning I had less than a day and a half to scrape up my losses.

The endeavor was poorly conceived on my part, or at least poorly planned - I'd been to conventions before, but this was my first time displaying my work behind a booth. In previous year's visits to artists' booths, I had a distinct memory of the gloom I saw on some faces - perhaps these poor folks faced the same struggles I'd faced during my own convention weekend.

I'd made friends there fast, and got a lot of input and feedback on how to get more attention drawn to my quiet little booth (a banner would have helped - at least I know where to go get one now!).

In retrospect, the highlight of that whole convention weekend would be that afternoon. A man named Aaron walked up to my booth and handed me a card. The illustration on it was lovely - he was a professional illustrator, he told me, and ran a figure drawing session in the city.

I stifled the urge to scream at him (that would be poor business sense), smiled, and took the card, handing over one of my own. He was a perfectly reasonable, affable, and mild-mannered fellow, but that didn't matter - I was already soured to the day, and neither 2 dollar plastic cups of cola nor rubbing shoulder with Lou Ferrigno at the urinal would help.

The card went into my wallet and I forced a smile, but the offer was intriguing. 6 months later, I ended up sitting on a drawing bench in a hole-in-the-wall gallery on Division Street in Chicago.

Turns out Aaron and I had more in common than we thought - we'd both graduated from the American Academy of Art, a small arts college right across the street from the Art Institute of Chicago, and in the next few months I saw a spot on him in an arts magazine I follow. I gave him a call that following year and planned out my trip on the CTA, Chicago's public transit system.

The small studio space was warm and inviting, if smelly (paint solvents smell – gotta get over that). The small room was packed, and the lighting was excellent; I'd never before been to an open drawing session where I could get so close to the model's stand. It was a pleasure to see Aaron, and the room was packed with future friends and acquaintances.

The most important thing you can do to find an open drawing session is to talk to other artists you know. If you aren't attending these sessions already, chances still are that at least some of your artist friends are. The work and research is done for you already.

My own experience with open drawing workshops is that they are held in spaces that serve as studios and gallery spaces for professional artists. Do Google searches for art centers and ateliers in your community. There is of course a charge, as models don't work for free, but I've found prices to be reasonable, and some groups and academies will offer memberships that provide unlimited access to workshops for a set fee. I pay 10$ per session for my Teusday and Thursday drawing sessions, and I expect other groups will charge similar rates.

This isn't art school, but if you want some helpful advice on how to improve your work, excercize your social bone at these events. Chat with other attendees during model breaks. Most skilled artists I know are more than happy to offer helpful criticisms and advice, and are flattered by the compliment inherent in being asked for advice.

Perhaps you don't live in or near a big city, and there aren't any art centers nearby. Perhaps you've had no luck finding one. You've been asking all your artist friends about it, looking for leads, but no fish are biting.

So why not start one of these sessions yourself?

There are a number of websites that cater to models-for-hire, such as Model Mayhem (www.modelmayhem.com). Try your luck there, but I've heard that the best bet is word of mouth. Since professional artists will often work from reference photos they take, or paint live from a model, get in touch with local professionals and ask them about trustworthy models that live in your area. Get your artist comrades together and pool money for the evening to hire the model for an hour or two. Be sure the model has a space that can be heated, and have a small space heater handy. A fan is also helpful to have during hotter months. A model will generally need a 5 minute break every 30 minutes, and a long break of 10-15 minutes at some point during the session. You and your friends will need chairs or drawing benches. The model will need a comfortable chair, clean pillows, and cleans drapes (a plain beach towel will work).

I recommend opening with a period of quick drawing sketches. For these, you'll need a stopwatch or some other timer, and you'll need to moderate time (or delegate keeping to one of your friends). Poses for quick sketches can vary in length, but are generally between 30 seconds to 5 minutes in length and are progressive in nature, meaning you start with shorter poses and move on to longer ones. These are intended as warm-up drawings, and since they won't have to be held for long, the poses can be more dynamic and energetic. I recommend doing this for 30 minutes.

For long poses (for this example, we'll assume between 25 and 90 minutes), you'll need a comfortable surface for your model. Don't expect vigorous or energetic poses here - the model won't be able to hold them this long, and will need a break to stretch, get some coffee or water, etc. Seated and reclining poses are ideal here.