On Wednesday night in an Olin Arts Center studio, the only sounds were charcoal on paper and hands sweeping over sketches as local residents joined students for a nude figure drawing session.
Meghan Cleary 鈥�18, an art and visual culture major from South Burlington, Vt., was the model for this session in the聽weekly Life Drawing series. New to modeling this year, Cleary has already gained a level of comfort. 鈥淚 was a little nervous the first time, but once you鈥檙e up there it鈥檚 pretty easy to zone out,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more like just drawing shapes, rather than seeing a naked person.鈥�
Artist John Bowdren of Pownal, Maine, has been coming to the weekly sessions for over a decade. 鈥淎 lot of people have been coming for a long time, so it鈥檚 nice to catch up and hear what鈥檚 going on in the art world locally,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no teaching, which is nice. People do little critiques but nothing serious, so it鈥檚 everyone just doing their thing.鈥�
Figure drawing is "more like just drawing shapes, rather than seeing a naked person.鈥�
Maine residents join 乐播传媒 students for a Figure Drawing session in Olin on Wednesday evening, Mar. 8 2017.
Meghan Cleary '18 of South Burlington, Vt, holds a pose. (Josh Kuckens/乐播传媒 College)
Deshun Peoples '17 (left) of Chicago is among the artists who joined the figure drawing session on March 8. (Josh Kuckens/乐播传媒 College)
John Bowdren, a painter from Pownal, Maine, holds up his pencil to "measure" units based on the model's head size. (Josh Kuckens/乐播传媒 College)
The informal aspect of the drawing session appeals to students like Deshun Peoples 鈥�17. 鈥淚t鈥檚 helpful to have this uninterrupted session of just drawing the figure consistently. It helps a lot in a way that is different than class time,鈥� said Peoples, an art and visual culture major from Chicago.
He also noted the college-community aspect of the sessions. 鈥淚t gives you a chance to interact with the population, especially artists, which is not something that鈥檚 a common occurrence.鈥�
