Each spring since 2019, the Walker has been hosting a series of monthly life drawing workshops led by artist and instructor Leslie Barlow. Unlike traditional life drawing classes, these sessions have been free and open to the public. Barlow spoke with Public Programs Assistant Aysha Mazumdar Stanger in more detail about how this series of classes have differed from traditional ones.
AYSHA MAZUMAR STANGER (AMS)
What does life drawing mean to your practice?
LESLIE BARLOW (LB)
Life drawing is such an important part of my practice. Life drawing classes in college had a huge impact on the way I understood and translated the human form to paper and canvas. Although I don’t get out to life drawing classes now as I often as I would like, I see so much value in continuing to practice drawing from life—observational drawing and sharing space with real people. You feel like you’re carrying on this great tradition in some ways. Humans have been drawing and painting each other for thousands of years, and we have always been fascinated in sharing our stories and understanding ourselves through depictions of our bodies. There’s also of course the technical aspect of it that I find useful, whether it’s gesture drawing or a longer pose, life drawing helps you learn a lot about how to draw with accuracy, fluidity, and confidence. And possibly—even more poetically—there’s this other thing that happens in life drawing. A reflection and connection between you and the model through these drawings, a reflection on the essential nature of humanity.
AMS
What life drawing opportunities are there in the Twin Cities?
LB
Most life drawing opportunities I know of take place in the classroom, like at a college or community program, or you can also find them in artist-led cooperative groups. Where I teach currently, the University of Minnesota, we give students the opportunity to draw from models both in drawing classes and in separate evening workshops. There aren’t a ton of opportunities that I know of for emerging artists who aren’t enrolled in a program to access a free life drawing workshop, but I do know that the Minneapolis College of Art and Design offers low-cost, open life drawing sessions year-round.
AMS
How does the traditional practice of life drawing fit into a contemporary art museum?
LB
The human figure has been the subject of drawings and
AMS
In light of the cultural moment we’re living in now, how is life drawing as a practice relevant/important?
LB
Life drawing requires focus and a sort of alignment with your mind, eye, and drawing tool. In the very fast-paced, social-media-driven, body-shaming world we find ourselves, I don’t think it’s very often that the average person puts their phone away for two hours and sits and draws and tries to capture something beautiful about the movement of the human form. It’s a lovely way to slow down, appreciate the moments, practice a skill, and be a little out of your comfort zone (in a good way). A sort of carpe diem.
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Photo: Carina Lofgren
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Photo: Carina Lofgren
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Photo: Carina Lofgren
AMS
What were your goals with leading these classes? How do you think they’ve been going?
LB
Honestly, my desire for leading these classes comes from my core belief that art is for everyone and that anyone can gain something from creative expression. For those who maybe have wanted to try figure drawing but were nervous or saw figure drawing spaces as inaccessible, I wanted to try to break down some of those barriers to entry. It seems like everyone so far is really enjoying the event, and seeing participants return again and again affirms that. The models have come back to me with positive feedback about the experience as well—there’s just a really good community energy in that room.
AMS
How does this series of life drawing classes differ from traditional ones?
LB
I’m sure there are infinite different ways to approach a life drawing class, but in the ones that I have taken (in school) there was a lot of instruction from the teacher about what the goal was for the drawings that day. Maybe we were focusing on five-minute gesture drawings the entire time, or maybe we were only going to draw the skeleton (as if we were seeing through the flesh to just the structure of the pose). This series of life drawing classes offers small windows into that experience, of course, but more fluid in a sense. I’m not requiring anything from attendees except an open mind and a desire to draw. I’m available for help or to give feedback on work if people want it, but two hours goes rather quickly, and my presence in the space is mainly to make sure everything runs smoothly and that the models have everything they need. Anyone can come into this event with any level of art experience, and just enjoy two hours practicing drawing.
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