Monday Night live Life-drawing Session

Hey peeps, 

Thought I'd do a little post with the scans of the drawings I completed during my first live life-drawing session in a long while. 

Our flat is very close to a wonderful pub that, it turns out, hosts 2h life-drawing sessions every Monday evening, for £10. It is literally a 4 min walk, so I was looking forward to having a go at it.
I'd love to be able to go every week, as, as much as I like being a hermit and not going out of the house too much, I know that it can't be good for either my social skills and life in general, but also for my mind as an artist. Social interaction, although difficult and wearing for me, is still an enjoyable experience when I do it sparingly and at the right times, and I could definitely feel the benefit of it when I went out last Monday.
I didn't actually chat to many people, everyone seemed quite shy, which I suppose isn't too unexpected for a bunch of artists, hahaha, but I am naturally chatty and friendly so I quickly got into a fun conversation with the guy to my left.
He was drawing on an iPad and let me have a go, and we chatted about a bunch of art things, and honestly, it was wonderful. (An iPad and Procreate are definitely something I would love to splurge on if I ever had that money to spare. Which won't be any time soon, but I like to dream sometimes, haha).

I can't do social interaction with strangers for extended amounts of time as I get very socially exhausted quite fast, but I think those drawing sessions are ideal for the small injection of human contact I need occasionally. Not only is it a great way to meet new people, but those people are highly likely to be interested in the same kinds of things I am, and we have the perfect setting to provide us with a plethora of ice-breakers, and fuel conversation.
Plus, we are not required to keep talking for awkward amounts of time, since we can only chat in between poses. So all round perfect in my book, haha.

Apparently, the sessions alternate between short poses and long poses from week to week, and I walked in on a long pose day.
We did 5 poses in total, starting with 2x 25min poses, then a 30min pose, a break, and then 2x 20/25 min poses. 

I felt rusty,  and could really feel the difference between doing life-drawing online and the real thing. However, after the session ended (and the organiser awkwardly asked everyone to put our drawings on the floor in the middle of the room to take pictures and suddenly everyone became a wallflower), I felt energy coursing through me, and felt very happy to have gone.
There is a special kind of energy to a room where everyone is focused and enjoying the process, and creating together. Will definitely go again.
I won't be able to afford going every week, as it basically becomes a £40/month thing, but I will try and go maybe twice a month, at least once.
Not only was it all round beneficial to me, it scared me, which is a good reason for me to push myself to try it again, haha. 

If you are interested in the materials I used for this, I drew all the poses in my life-drawing sketchbook, which is actually a bit small for live life-drawing (It's 9.8"x9.8"), so I will probably be getting a bigger one for the next session.
To draw, I chose my Derwent Drawing pencil in Chocolate. It is quite a thick pencil, with a fairly soft lead, and it difficult to erase, which is partly why I chose it. It allows a great range of values, and it deliciously buttery to draw with.
I recently rediscovered those pencils, I've had them for a few years, but forgot them for some reason, and unearthed them again recently.
I also used my Pentel Pocket Brush pen for the 30 mins drawing, although I regret doing that. I think I should have stuck to the pencil. 

Enjoy the scans,  
I hope you are all well, 

M

(Really admired the model for being able to sustain this pose for 15 mins, haha)

(This pose was the hardest and most awkward for me to draw. A good challenge!)

(Another difficult one!)