Spending my Saturday Looking at a Naked Man.
After some trouble finding Elysium’s Gallery 3, I enter my first ever life drawing class, with minutes to spare. The class is packed into a little studio, where people of all ages sit amongst an array of paper, paints, pens and pastels. It’s almost overwhelming. I find a place at an easel and settle myself into the chattery buzz of excitement in the room. We’re tightly packed in today; it’s a bit chaotic. But chaos breeds creation.
At the centre of all this chaos stands a rather imposing old man. Grey hair fluffed and a colourful scarf slung across his hip. The gentleman’s strong roman nose sticks out of his crumpled face. ‘He must be the teacher’, I assume.
I’m somewhat shocked, then, when he begins taking his clothes off. Shirt then scarf. Completely naked. Old-man penis looking me right in the face. Yes, life drawing means drawing all parts of life, I discover. How had this not crossed my mind? I get over it quickly, though, trying to avoid looking at ‘it’ head on. The actual instructor, a middle-aged, zebra-print-clad lady, informs us of the structure of the class: Three five-minute poses, then two ten-minute poses, followed by a fifteen-minute pose, all from our lovely nude model (apparently, he’s called John). Proceeding each pose, the teacher demonstrates or recommends different techniques to capture light and shadow, and life that we can try ourselves.
After a quick coffee and cigarette break, we’re back at it with two separate twenty-minute poses, using any medium and style we want. This time, I choose to dabble with some watercolours I find stuffed at the back of a cupboard in the studio. Others have chosen charcoal and oil pastels for their final pieces. The focus in the room is palpable. Heads bent and shoulders curved over. The sound of scratching and scraping and some vigorous shading somewhere in the room is all I can hear. It’s a very mindful activity. Peaceful. Emotional almost.
When the two-hour class is over, John puts his clothes back on (Is it bad to say I’m thankful?) And everyone lays out their masterpieces in the adjacent gallery space. It’s a wonderful mélange of unfinished and not-quite-human looking shapes. We’re all beginners here, and despite the less than real creations, we are all smiling and natter for a long time afterwards. Instagram and Facebook details exchanged we all head off in our separate directions, fulfilled after such a creative out-letting.
I decide then, that I’d quite like to come back for some more art classes at Elysium.
*Elysium is a non-profit gallery and arts/studios provider based in Swansea. Their life drawing classes run on alternating Wednesdays and Saturdays and are for beginners/intermediates. To find out more or to look at what’s on click this link Elysium Gallery & Studios - Swansea .
