Should you go to a figure drawing class?

I’m struggling to find some time to attend a figure drawing workshop, but I have too many things going on right now. I haven’t been drawing that much for the past two weeks, which has me a little bit anxious. And people ask me—Why would you want to go to a figure drawing workshop?? Can’t you just draw from pictures?

It’s true, I could just draw from pictures, but I found that it is not the same. When you are working from a live model, you get to see so many different things that you just miss on a picture. Mainly because you are on a multidimensional environment and also because your senses are more alerted because of time constraints. A true teacher can help you understand any problem you encounter when trying to translate the forms to a paper.

The lighting is another goodie of a figure drawing workshop. When you work with pictures, say magazine pictures, most of the time they have multiple light sources and you can’t truly appreciate the form in all its volume. Have you seen this photographs, where the model just looks flat?? –yes, multiple light sources.

A figure drawing class is a whole different experience than drawing just from pictures, and if you’re serious about learning to draw you should attend one. Plus you could make some good friends there ;)