Life Drawing Sketchbook Update

When I was at University and college, I didn’t enjoy life drawing…

How the tables have turned as now I actively pay to attend most weeks!

As a result, I thought I’d share a few pages from my latest sketchbook.

The sessions I go to are untutored and last around two hours, which I really enjoy. There’s a great group of people there and the atmosphere is always lively and relaxed.

Whenever I attend, it feels like a good excuse to put the phone away, pick up a pen and spend a couple of hours just drawing.

Within this life drawing sketchbook update, the poses vary quite a lot throughout the sessions. Starting with really quick 1-minute poses before gradually moving into 2, 5, 10, 15 and eventually 30-minute poses.

I actually enjoy the shorter poses just as much as the longer ones because there’s no time to overthink anything.

You have to look, make a decision and get the movement down on the page before the pose is gone.

For these drawings I’ve mainly been using a brush pen and pigment liner. I like the combination because they give me very different types of marks. I have to admit that I love drawing with pigment liner!

It’s useful when I want a more controlled line. In contrast, the brush pen is much looser and allows me to vary the weight of the line quite dramatically.

I’ve also been adding little bursts of colour to some of the drawings, which I think gives the pages a bit more energy.

A big focus for me during these sessions has been gesture and movement, but I’m also trying to become more accurate with my proportions and observation.

That balance can be quite difficult when you only have a minute or two to work, but that’s also what makes it so enjoyable.

The longer poses give me a chance to slow down and look more carefully at the figure, but I still try not to get too caught up in making everything perfect. These sessions are really about practising, experimenting and seeing what happens when I give myself permission to draw quite freely.

So, here are a few of my favourite drawings from the latest session…

Many thanks for reading about my life drawing sketchbook update today! You can follow what I’m up to on my Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram pages, I’ll really appreciate it if you do, and don’t be afraid to say hi to me! Many thanks again, and have a great day!