For 14 years Montague Art and Craft Society Life Drawing Studio Group has been meeting each Friday from 10am until 12noon. Two of the five regular models, and some members, have been with the group for that whole time. The session starts with about five quick 2-minute poses, a few 5-minute poses, and a few 10-minute poses. Then a short break for morning tea/coffee and a chat. In the second half there are some longer poses, perhaps a 10-minute, a 15-minute, and a 20-25 minute pose. There is a life model each week and usually around six to ten people to draw at either easels or tables. Friday morning is an untutored session, but Life Drawing Workshops are held from time to time, usually on a weekend. Attending life drawing sessions is good preparation for doing a Life Drawing Workshop. So what is the value of life drawing? Especially in the quick poses, there is no time to think. There is just time to get a few descriptive lines onto the paper. The focus is on quickly seeing where the shapes are and how they interact. No time to make a perfect drawing. Just a few lines that capture the pose. The large range of possible poses of the figure forces the artist to deal with foreshortening, one of the most difficult aspects of drawing. A foot in the foreground has to be drawn illogically large to look correct. And too, because the proportions of the human figure are really familiar, the drawing needs to be accurate. With a tree or a flower, the drawing just has to look believable once away from the original. A drawing of the human form finds it harder to pass the ‘believable’ test. In short, life drawing is a great way for beginners to quickly hone their seeing skill and therefore their drawing skill. Life drawing is good training for general drawing, and experienced artists use life drawing as ‘ongoing maintenance’ for their drawing skill. Historically there is a mystique to life drawing - Academy and all that. Here on the ground in Narooma, MACS members “just want to draw”. Mostly the drawings produced in studio are not intended to be finished work, so beginners have no need to be concerned - no one looks at what others are doing. All present and past members of MACS Life Drawing Group are invited to the 14th Birthday Party of MACS Life Drawing at MACS Studio, 24 Glasshouse Rocks Road, Narooma at 12 noon on Friday 28 September
