Life-Drawing Class Sparks Creativity

By Marie-Christine Perry

I had seen the sign on the lawn in front of the Joseph Eldridge House on the Yale campus last summer and been intrigued. I did not pursue it, being new to the town of Norfolk and not sure how to proceed. This year, when the sign appeared (I walk my dog, Louis, around the campus several times a day), I was tempted again by the promise of life-drawing sessions with a professional model. I inquired, and a couple of friends told me they had taken advantage of the sessions in the past, and that I just needed to show up. They even provide materials, someone said one.

And so, armed with an oversized sketch pad and some supplies, just in case, I went to the Art Barn for my first session on a Saturday morning. The atmosphere was very casual, materials were indeed available on some tables at the entrance to the upstairs studio, and easels were arranged around the stage where the model was getting ready. The room filled up with about 10 artists, and we sketched for a couple of hours, alternating short poses with longer ones, with several breaks. The model was very dynamic and took interesting poses, so I worked hard and took home several satisfying sketches.

I returned for the Tuesday night session, and for several sessions after that, and I met a few artists, including the two Yale student-coordinators, whose job is to make sure the room is set up and the model arrives on time, and who guide the model by establishing the length of the poses and timing them. I surveyed the group, and although only a couple of people were professional artists, everyone there considered themself an artist.

There was discussion during the breaks of how wonderful it would be to keep this group going all year round, and how this could be achieved. Someone mentioned a life-drawing class at the library in Sheffield which met all year, on a Wednesday evening. It was evident that apart from a couple of newcomers like me, most of the artists were regulars at these sessions every summer.

I for one would be quite interested in attending life drawing sessions in Norfolk all year and have been wondering how to make that happen. It is evident the Norfolk Artists & Friends group should be involved, indeed they may have tried to organize something similar in the past. I would love to have this conversation start (or restart), to provide local artists with a weekly opportunity to get together to sketch. 

Photo, top, by Marie-Christine Perry: A community life-drawing class was offered again this summer by the Yale Norfolk School of Art.