Thank you to everybody who gave feedback in the recent survey, it has helped us shape a clear plan for the future of Draw - this will include a strong online presence for the next year or more to support the vulnerable members of the community who are in isolation and our new friends from outside of Brighton who have joined our community through this Patreon! We also have a plan for re-opening classes in real life, but we will be doing that cautiously, informed by the best scientific advice a...
2020-06-20 09:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Elle is a circus artist and coach who has been running online balance classes throughout the pandemic. As well as being an amazing gymnast and teacher she is a life model at Draw, a classical musician and has been completing an MA in microbiology in lockdown.
We posted Elle's gymnastics set last month and have a portrait rotation here including a range of more varied head angles - in response to our rece...
2020-06-19 10:39:56 +0000 UTC
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If you'd like to join us for the all-tiers life class tonight, just grab your drawings materials and log into the Zoom app - test it to make sure that it works with plenty of time before the class starts. You'll need the following meeting ID and password to get access, or the link and password:
Times: 7-8pm (optional 8-8:45 social afterwards)
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2020-06-17 16:46:00 +0000 UTC
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The torso forms the core of most of the gestures we draw. Because of its large mass, much of the dynamism in a pose can be conveyed with a well-drawn torso. It is split into two sections, the ribcage and the pelvis, connected by the spine, which means they are always moving relative to each other.
On the torso there are a lot of essential landmarks in the skeletal and the muscular systems. These help with proportion, but are also key to linking gesture to a more finished drawing. The vi...
2020-06-17 10:08:13 +0000 UTC
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(John Singer Sargent – 'Study for Madame X')
The nose is a surprisingly challenging feature to draw, despite not moving like the lips and eyes. The challenge comes from the lack of sharp edges, as everything is rounded, and its forms vary from person to person. It is easy to be heavy handed when drawing this feature, with firm lines and shadows, so we will look at how artists handle this, alo...
2020-06-14 08:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Despite a relative short history at Draw, Joe (aka @pink_turns_puke) has become a regular fixture at classes both as a life model, a keen student and a stalwart of the Wednesday evening pub trip. His drawings have blossomed in lockdown and he has drawing some genuinely engaging portraits of friends, making excellent use of the Patreon reference photos.
- Next Friday we'll be releasing Elle's por...
2020-06-12 08:01:00 +0000 UTC
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After a wonderful 8-week blog series from Shelley Morrow which focused on life drawing in a variety of different drawing media, we have a new 6-week series from Lancelot Richardson, looking at ways to use historical drawings to study anatomy. You will be able to resist these blogs any time by scrolling through our feed, or using the tags to separate out blog posts.
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Working from historical artists' drawings and artwork is a time-tested way to improve our own drawi...
2020-06-11 08:00:59 +0000 UTC
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The eyes are one of the first features we notice in a portrait, often becoming an important focal point to the drawing - because of this we are sensitive to any mistakes, and tend to over-fixate on this feature. Common pitfalls to drawing the eyes include adding excessive detail, and drawing them too large, as well as more general drawing issues of wonky placement and mis-proportioning. In this post,...
2020-06-07 11:30:18 +0000 UTC
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In 2015 John Cooper, the Keeper of the Natural Sciences at the Booth Museum, invited the Drawing Circus to take over Brighton's beloved museum of natural history. It was John's final event before his retirement and won 'Best Event in a Museum' at the Big Draw's annual awards - the cash prize went towards paying the taxidermist to stuff the cheetah which now sits mid-prowl in t...
2020-06-05 09:01:32 +0000 UTC
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Mark is a musician and life model who used to model regular across London and Brighton before the pandemic, modelling for both Draw's sessions and my classes at Cass Art as well as being a regular fixture at the Royal Drawing School - like lots of life models he has now turned to modelling for online life classes.
- Next week we'll be releasing Joe's life modelling set for everybody on the Life Dr...
2020-06-05 08:00:02 +0000 UTC
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In place of our usual weekly blog we have a request to ask of you - we'd like to get your feedback on what you'd like to see from the Drawing Patreon in the future - would you like to see more online classes? More reference photos? Would you like us to start making instructional youtube video? We also want to know what you'd like to pay for these resources in the future, bearing in mind of course that you can increase and decrease your patronage at any time.
We'd love to get your ...
2020-06-03 08:39:53 +0000 UTC
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A long portrait study is a good way to develop accuracy and general drawing skills, giving you time to notice details and explore more subtle ideas. When starting out with portraiture, it can sometimes seem hard to find visual information, and after a certain length of time, like there is nothing that can be added. In this step by step demonstration, I will cover the visual informati...
2020-06-01 14:08:50 +0000 UTC
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Since her inclusion in our debut photo-set Ariane's face has become a mainstay on the Draw instagram feed. In this recently updated set we've added some extra clothed poses for you to draw from!
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About the Model
In this follow up to last weeks Stitch blog we have some new exercises that will help you to introduce some colour into your stitch drawings. Inks work well on fabric, you don’t need anything special, just ordinary drawing ink will do and you won’t need any brushes or special equipment. You will be working quite freely to begin with, exploring colour on fabric and embellishing the stains with stitch and then you can try out recreating a drawing with stitch as in part 1 but onto your stain...
2020-05-27 08:01:00 +0000 UTC
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People love to look at faces, making the portait a popular subject. In this first post of a nine-week series I will use a constructive drawing approach, building from simple shapes to the observed shapes of the face but there are many other ways to draw a portrait that all produce different results - don't be afraid to experiment and combine different ideas. It is a good idea to apply wha...
2020-05-24 13:26:04 +0000 UTC
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The lovely Tilli is our model for this weeks life modelling photoset. Alongside her playful and expressive poses Tilli is always a ray of sunshine in the otherwise-curtained life drawing studio and we miss her terribly, not least because she makes a cracking cup of tea. You can follow Tilli's life modelling exploits on instagram here.
- Next week we'll be releasing Arianne's clothed photo-set f...
2020-05-22 08:01:00 +0000 UTC
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If you'd like to join us for the life class tonight, just grab your drawings materials and log into the Zoom app - test it to make sure that it works with plenty of time before the class starts. You'll need the following meeting ID and password to get access, or the link and password:
Times: 7-8pm (optional 8-8:45 social afterwards)
Meeting ID: 862 0539 7191
Password: ham...
2020-05-20 16:50:01 +0000 UTC
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Sewing, stitching and embroidery are terms that are frequently associated with decorative craft and hobbies but they also can be applied to drawing or painting. Textiles and sewing are steeped in history all across the world and have much to offer in contemporary art. In this post you will be shown how to recreate your own drawings with hand stitch onto fabric. You don’t need any prior knowledge of sewing to be able to use these techniques, just some basic materials and a selection of drawi...
2020-05-20 08:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Hi everybody,
At the tail end of Hester Berry's Draw Instagram takeover (when you may well be feeling inspired by her mastery of light and sensitivity to the passing moods of the landscape) I thought it would be the right time to share Lance's reflections on painting Weather and Time, including views from his studio window (a...
2020-05-17 07:58:20 +0000 UTC
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Trib (previously Carissa) is currently completing their final year at Sussex University and has been modelling and drawing at Draw throughout their studies, including a brief stint as a Circus Lion in the 2018 Rise and Fall of the Drawing Circus at the Old Market theatre.
Stay well and keep drawing,
Jake
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Guidelines for using the photographs
Please <...
2020-05-15 08:00:02 +0000 UTC
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This post is about considering your paper surface before beginning to draw. Drawing on a pristine white surface can sometimes be a bit intimidating as it can often feel like it is calling out for a perfect work of art. If our surface has been softened with marks or stains, it can help us with a starting point and there is less pressure to make something perfect. There are a variety of materials and prepared surfaces we can draw on, so we will take a look at some discarded materials and some t...
2020-05-13 08:01:00 +0000 UTC
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I hope you're all getting through the weekend ok. We're turning our attention to the outdoors this week. With the lovely weather outside we're thinking a lot about the abundance of nature and wide open space - even if we can only jog through it at speed. This week Lance's blog focuses on drawing the landscape and during the week our instagram will be taken over the 2020-05-10 08:22:52 +0000 UTC
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After becoming a ubiquitous face on our social media, we have some more photos from the wonderful Jade Hylton in some fluid and dynamic dance-like poses. When we are able to photograph our next set of pictures we're planning a range of filmed moving poses alongside these still images for those who like to draw from movement - we'll keep you posted!
- For those on the portrait drawing tier and above, we are...
2020-05-08 08:30:01 +0000 UTC
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Elle has been life modelling at Draw for over a year, her ambitious poses informed by her practice as a circus artist. Elle's gymnastic clothed poses demonstrate her incredible strength and balance; this set is a bonus that we're making available to all supporters as a thank you for your ongoing patronage.
- For those on the life drawing tier and above, we'll have Jade's life drawing photoset coming ...
2020-05-08 08:00:03 +0000 UTC
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If you'd like to join us for the life class tonight, just grab your drawings materials and log into the Zoom app. If you don't have one yet, you'll need to register a free Zoom account here, and download the app first - test it to make sure that it works with plenty of time before the class starts. You'll need the following meeting ID and password to get access, o...
2020-05-06 16:41:00 +0000 UTC
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Introduction
Last week’s post explored the use of Conté crayon and this week we will use Conté crayon again in combination with soft pastels. Adding colour to your drawings can really liven them up and give them an extra dimension by bringing energy and atmosphere. The use of colour in these exercises has more to do with drawing rather than painting, you don’t need any ex...
2020-05-06 09:30:59 +0000 UTC
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(Henri Matisse -'Dishes and Fruit')
Still life painting is a broad genre, as it can encompass any static objects we find, and can bleed over into interior painting as we start to include some of the surroundings. This overlap with daily life makes it accessible, and a convenient way to practise our painting.
2020-05-04 07:23:05 +0000 UTC
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With the exception of our joyful summers at the Phoenix Studios, The Sleep of Reason was our last big Drawing Circus event. Few photographs exist of the strange and wild day at the Old Market theatre where one of our photographers, entailed in briars, never showed up. The night remains a fitful dream of 25 models in dramatic tableau lit by the cold blue light of an artificial moon. Instead, in this photo-set we are sharing photos from the first run of the Sleep of Reason at the Bosco Theatre ...
2020-05-01 09:14:22 +0000 UTC
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Virgile is a third year painting student at the University of Brighton; as a life model he brings his engagement with painting to the class, quoting and subverting poses from historical artworks. He has been running figure drawing class 'The Drawing Sesh' for his fellow students since 2018, a session which has now gone virtual with o...
2020-05-01 08:33:58 +0000 UTC
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Thank you all for your sustained support - over the past 6 weeks the Draw Patreon has been the main source of income for many of the models and tutors at Draw. Although we initially used the money raised to pay freelancers for canceled work we have almost entirely switched to commissioning new tutorials, articles and artwork to send out to you in thanks. Until we're able to re-open Draw we will be running as an online platform and we've been making plans to expand and improve what we're offer...
2020-04-29 10:01:00 +0000 UTC
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