A few months ago I learned about a figure drawing class not far from here. They offer weekly classes on a drop-in basis and I really wanted to try it out. But somewhere in between Dave's twice monthly monday engagement, teaching, and end of year tasks, I couldn't fit it in.
Yesterday afternoon I had a funny thought that for the first time I had no pressing plans to attend to in the evening! Ah, a night free of obligation... and I'm so out of practice I have no idea what to do with myself. Then I remembered the figure drawing class!
I grabbed my little drawing kit, some charcoal, my bigger pad and headed out the door after dinner.
Dave :: Have fun at your class drawing naked people!
Me :: Thanks! (pause) I forgot about that part...
Annabelle :: NAKED PEOPLE! That's funny!
I walked into the studio so confidently and then faltered. People had brought wide ranging setups that included easels, paints, special instruments, many different sizes of paper, special stools, toolboxes filled with all sorts of art supplies, rags, and more. And they were all talking to each other and sharing their drawings. Suddenly I was the one who felt naked.
I was out of my element and out of my league. There were three older men sitting in the front row, so I parked myself behind them in the corner. I would be able to watch them draw and nobody would be able to see what I was drawing! Perfect.
The model sat on a stage in a robe looking very bored. Then she announced that she would do twenty 1-minute poses, ten 2-minute poses, four 5-minute poses and after that, 20-minute poses for the rest of the night. Immediately she disrobed and posed. The entire first pose I sat there just trying to adjust... Twenty poses? I thought she would just do one and that was challenging enough! I picked up my pencil and got started, barely drawing her leg and she was already on to the next pose. I tried to pick up my pace but it wasn't until we were well into the 2-minute poses that I finally achieved drawing her entire form.
Sitting behind the three men had been a good choice - one painted, one dipped his pen in ink and the third drew with charcoal. All three were excellent artists and their comfort was contagious. Just as I relaxed I also realized I was very tired. When I looked up I was surprised to see that two whole hours had passed in a blink of an eye.
I didn't make it through the third hour, but I was really surprised to look over my drawings and see how many I made. It was a night of good work. Some lines were more successful than others, but it was really fun.
