Find the best (and most unusual) life drawing classes in London with our guide to sketching in the city
The idea of joining a life drawing class can be intimidating, especially if you’re not the most-trained artist. But broadening your creative horizons doesn’t have to be scary, and you’ll find a bunch of welcoming classes across the capital, from more casual drop-ins with an emphasis on socialising to ones dedicated to really honing your skills and your artistic eye. Give it a go, and you might end up creating your finest body of work yet – maybe one day your drawings could end up in our list of London's top ten art exhibitions or even the 100 best paintings in London. And if not, don't worry – just keep on sketchin' those bodies.
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Best for: Improvers
Expert day and evening courses with one-to-one attention from an experienced and practising art tutor justify the prices on these courses, held in a studio inside the Academy. Occasional Friday night classes offer a cheaper chance to learn from the RA’s experts. Sessions of all price points usually sell out in a flash, though, so hop on the mailing list to get a heads-up before they drop. Check the Royal Academy website for course details and dates.
Best for: Dedicated students
Royal Drawing School’s classes are less of a casual drop-in and more of a commitment to pick up some new skills. Most of its courses, including various life drawing ones, run for nine or more sessions, so signing up is only for the serious. By the time you’re finished, though, you should have refined your drawing prowess a lot – whatever level you start at. Art students studying in London can join a free 10-week course, too, if the £250-plus price tag for the regular class is off-putting.
Best for: Advice
Adrian Dutton’s been running life drawing classes in London for 12 years and prides himself on running sociable and friendly drop-ins. There are regular classes in Clerkenwell, Bethnal Green, Hoxton and De Beauvoir, as well as cheese and wine nights, and special drop-ins on Fridays for long poses.
Best for: Variation
Two-, 20- and 45-minute poses with models of both sexes make this class a good place to pack a lot of practice in. It’s untutored, so don’t expect a teacher to be walking around giving you tips as you sketch. The venue’s big enough for up to 50 artists, and the big crowd means the classes are usually rounded off with a trip to the pub.
Best for: Socialising
Dulwich Art Group and School runs a whole host of life drawing classes and some of them are geared towards socialising as you sketch. For the single artists, its ‘Date & Draw’ nights give you the chance to meet new people – and maybe a prospective partner – as you put pencil to paper. ‘Dine & Draw’ sessions, meanwhile, brings together attendees over cocktails, grub and their canvases.
Best for: Imaginative exercises
The three contemporary artists who run LDG events started the series to get more people drawing. Tours at the National Gallery teach drawing by observation of works on display, and drop-in classes pick unusual topics such as internet porn. Teaching is hands-on and helpful.
Best for: New skills
Notting Hill artist Bobby Gill teaches Tuesday classes and drop-ins on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Each class focuses on skills like perspective, line, tone, movement, context and media. Drawing materials are available, but you should bring your own paper.
Best for: Value
This hands-on untutored class is small, beautiful and affordable (prices start at £7) and happens four times a week in the evenings, in person and on Zoom. Two tutors mill around, offering advice (if you want it), before taking the class to the pub. Materials are available to buy on the day.
Don’t worry, Naked Brunch isn’t a load of naturists tucking into smashed avocado and scrambled sriracha eggs (though that does sound more interesting than the queue for The Breakfast Club, let’s be honest). Instead, you’ll enjoy a glass of fizz with brunch (which you will need to pre-order) and then get stuck into a 90-minute tutored life model sketching class. There’s no need to be a starving artist when there’s bacon sarnies on the menu.
Whether you’re familiar with east London’s strip pubs or not, this life-drawing class – organised and run by a strippers’ collective – welcomes people in for a twist on the average life-drawing class. The East London Strippers' Collective regularly hosts sessions at The Crown & Shuttle, with strippers taking on the role of models. Classes are £16.50 while materials are available for a £2.50 donation, or you're welcome to bring your own.
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